Bad Rap

Its driving beat and chanted lyrics echo the pulse and pitch of inner-city streets. But rap music also draws out a meaner side of ghetto life: gang violence. When some 14,500 fans poured into Long Beach Arena near Los Angeles last week for a concert featuring the popular rap group Run-D.M.C., more than 300 members of black and Hispanic street gangs swarmed through the crowd, attacking everyone around them. Audience members struck back with metal chairs and whatever else came to hand, until police armed with batons broke up the concert. Forty-five people were injured, including a man who was stabbed. The rioting was the fourth major outbreak of violence on Run-D.M.C.'s "Raising Hell" tour this summer, following earlier incidents in Pittsburgh, New York City and St. Louis that left 39 injured.

The next day, fearing another bloody melee, officials at the Hollywood Palladium canceled a Run-D.M.C. concert. The band, however, blamed lax security for the riot. Joseph ("Run") Simmons, 21, who with Partner Daryll ("D.M.C.") McDaniels became the first rap artist to produce a platinum album (1 million copies sold), defended his group. "Rap music has nothing to do with crack or crime," he said. "Check my lyrics. I'm a role model for kids, and I go out of my way to give them a positive message."

Indeed, rappers have produced songs that urge kids to stay in school and avoid crime and drugs. The majority of rap lyrics are concerned with nothing more volatile than partying and macho boasting. Yet since rap became popular several years ago, many performances have been marred by brutality. Says Public Safety Commissioner John Norton of Pittsburgh, where teenagers went on a window-smashing rampage after a Run-D.M.C. concert in June: "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that rap music spurs violence."

Many figures in the entertainment industry contend that rap is no more aggressive than heavy metal, punk and other types of highly charged rock 'n' roll. Rejecting the notion that rap is inherently violent, Psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint of Harvard explains that "rap music really comes from inner-city street kids, some of whom are gang members immersed in antisocial behavior." Promoters have found that when guards are trained to spot gang colors and bar potential troublemakers, rap concerts are trouble free. Meanwhile, Run-D.M.C. is proceeding with the final week of its tour, hoping to raise a little less hell.