The Boom of Basketball and Boomboxes
The rise of the “Showtime” Lakers during the time Gangsta Rap became mainstream.
By: Christian Wills
In the summer of 1988, the world’s eyes were on California to watch the makings of the following Sports Dynasty. The Los Angeles Lakers are two games away from defeating the
Detroit Pistons. The Lakers are considered the new standard of the league, and the Pistons’ rough style and take-no-prisoners defense gives them the nickname appropriate for their style — the Bad Boys. However, California’s eyes were on another team changing the status quo.
Enter the group Notoriously known as N.W.A. N.W.A is a rap group from South Central Los Angeles that is almost solely responsible for elevating Gangsta rap from a street phenomenon to national prominence. Coming off of their hit single “Panic Zone” N.W.A was gaining notoriety for their raw, unfiltered, songs about the things that happen in South Central.
The 1980s was a pivotal decade that saw the convergence of sports, music, and culture on an unprecedented scale. As the National Basketball Association (NBA) gained immense popularity, the Los Angeles Lakers emerged as a dominant force on the basketball court, captivating fans with their electrifying style of play. Simultaneously, Gangsta Rap was taking root in the vibrant music scene, providing a raw and unfiltered voice to the urban struggles and realities of the time. These two cultural phenomena would be pivots for not only the growth of their respected brands but each other as well.
In 1979 real estate tycoon Dr. Jerry Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers during a time when the risk was higher than the reward. The NBA ticket sales were steadily declining, and the Lakers weren’t nearly as valued as they are today. In Jeff Pearlman’s book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s” Dr. Buss’ mother and accountant Jessie Buss saw this purchase as “impulsive” and a “complete was of time”. The Lakers were coming off a Western Conference Semifinals loss to the Seattle SuperSonics. Kareem was still dominating the league, but his team was becoming stagnant and could figure out how to get over the hump to bring a championship to Los Angeles. That would soon change in the 1979 draft when the Lakers would draft Earvin “Magic” Johnson from Michigan State University. Magic was coming off a stellar performance in the NCAA tournament where he would lead his team to a National title against Larry Bird and Indiana State University. With Magic added to the Mix, the Lakers would go on to win the NBA finals in Magic’s rookie season, kicking off what would be the start of Showtime Lakers. Showtime Lakers, led by the iconic Magic Johnson, epitomized a new era of basketball. Their style of play was characterized by fast breaks, no-look passes, and an entertaining brand of basketball that set them apart from their contemporaries. They would go on to win over 72% of their games from 1979–1991 and would appear in 9 out of 12 finals winning 5 of them. Acclaimed writer Skip Bayless would describe the Showtime Lakers as “One of the best run offenses of all time”. However, The Lakers’ success during this period was not only about winning games but also about transforming basketball into a form of entertainment. Dr. Buss believed Lakers games should be the talk of the town. In the 1960s, he was a regular at The Horn, a nightclub in Santa Monica, California, that attracted an upscale clientele. Buss loved the excitement of the club’s famous opening act, which included a dimming of the lights followed by a dramatic singing of their signature tune, “It’s Showtime”. After he purchased the Lakers and The Forum from former owner Jack Cooke, Buss embarked on creating a grand-scale version of The Horn. Like a nightclub act, he believed a basketball game should be entertaining. The team’s high-scoring, fast-paced games became the talk of the town, attracting celebrities, musicians, and a global fanbase.
While the Lakers were dominating the basketball scene, a new genre of music was taking the world by storm. Hip-hop is still fresh on the scene and reflects party culture. Dominated by the New York MCs like Run-DNC, Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J rap is becoming the new sound of the block party. However, on the West Coast, there was a social unrest that would hover over the people who weren’t in a partying mood. Dealing with the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement and the dissolvement of the Black Panther Party, African Americans would deal with new forms of systematic prejudice in the forms of Redistribution of district lines and police brutality. The youth looked for an outlet for their feelings towards the conditions they lived in and their frustrations towards law enforcement. Gangsta Rap offered an unapologetic and gritty portrayal of urban life. In 1982 an artist by the name of Ice T hits the scene. Originally coming from New Jersey, Ice T moved to Los Angeles as a teenager, and after his close friend getting jail time for a crime he committed, Ice T would focus on his rap career releasing” Cold Wind Madness.” In the Documentary “Hip-Hop Evolution” Ice T said, ‘“I would forever be in debt to him for taking the fall. Cold Wind Madness would be wildly popular in the underground scene in Los Angeles but would get a chance to blow up nationally due to the vulgar lyrics. At this stage, Gangsta rap is just an underground thing for the youth. Then in 1987 a group called N.W.A shows up and disrupts the whole game. With the revolutionary West Coast production by Dr. Dre, witty, but hard-hitting lyrics from Ice Cube, and the undeniable swagger from Easy-E the group would use their voices to not only express their day-to-day struggles but the struggles of inner-city communities from gang violence and police brutality. In their early days, there was a belief that they would suffer the same fate as Ice T due to the harshness of their lyrics. Band member DJ Yella in one of his interviews with VladTV said his old boss of a nightclub told him their song would never reach the radio. They did. Their first Album “Straight Outta Compton” would go platinum and would put gangsta rap on a world stage. This would also put them in the crosshairs of the FBI. Milt Ahlerich, an assistant director of the FBI sent a letter to Ruthless and its distributing company Priority Records, advising the rappers that “advocating violence and assault is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action.” N.W.A would continue to perform unapologetically and set the stage for a new form of Activision. Artists like N.W.A., Ice-T, and Public Enemy used their music to shed light on issues such as police brutality, gang violence, drugs, and socioeconomic disparities.
Both the Lakers and Gangsta scenes had meteoric rises to prominence but what makes this cultural intersection fascinating is the similarities in cultural importance while simultaneously being viewed as completely different from each other. Both the Lakers and Gangsta rap had major players and contributed to altering their cultures. The Lakers needed excitement and youth for their team, so they got magic. Gangsta rap needed a more brash sound and a voice of the people which is what N.W.A provided. The Lakers showed the dream life of LA while Ice T and Ice Cube voiced the harsh realities of the city. These cornerstones of their respective fields would open up the possibilities and opportunities to highlight each other needs later down the line. Using their new-found popularity, basketball players would use their platforms to express the social concerns N.W.A reflected. Gangsta rap would become the main form of rap in the next couple of decades becoming mainstream enough to partner with the NBA in multiple ways including commercials with top players and brand ambassadors for teams. Without the boom of Los Angeles culture in the 80’s the case can be made both the NBA and Hip-hop aren’t what they are today.
