Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of Hip-Hop that is characterized by the violent lifestyle of youth from underprivileged areas of the principal coasts of U.S.A like Long Island or Compton. It was prevalent during mid 80's to late 90's. Gangsta is from the word gangster. The genre arose around the mid-1980s in the United States at the hands of rappers like Schoolly D and Ice-T, and was popularized in the latter part of the 1980s by groups like N.W.A. Thanks to the media attraction that Ice-T and N.W.A achieved between the late eighties and early nineties in their country, Gangsta Rap went on to become the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop. Some gangsta rappers in the United States have been associated outside the music circuit with real gangsters, affirming the existence of ties to gangs such as the Bloods or the Crips.

Sometimes the aesthetic is banned at bars and venues with rules like no white t-shirts or baggy clothing. The offical reasoning is usually that this style is commonly worn by gangs, but this could also lead to discrimination (or intentionally be racist) as many black people are part of the aesthetic without actually being gangsters.

This aesthetic can be described as very gloomy or dark variation of the Hip-Hop style. Enthusiasts of this aesthetic take these factors into account: