Shootin' Up the Charts

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Even before the Atlanta incident, Shakur faced criminal and civil suits from Menace II Society co-director Allen Hughes, who says that after he dumped Shakur from the cast, the rapper attacked him with a lead pipe. Last year he was denounced by Dan Quayle himself after a car thief who murdered a Texas state trooper claimed to have been inspired by Shakur's debut album, 2Pacalypse Now. Though the jury didn't buy that defense in the killer's trial, the trooper's widow brought a multimillion-dollar product-liability suit against Shakur. For his part, Shakur has a $10 million civil rights suit against the Oakland, California, police department, in which he claims that he was beaten by two officers who ticketed him for jaywalking.

A backlash against gangsta has been forming, especially among blacks who may be fans of other, less bloody-minded styles of hip-hop. "They send messages to children, and kids are impressionable" says Von Alexander of the National Political Congress of Black Women, which has launched a national petition drive to bring pressure on record companies. Rap Sheet magazine will no longer accept ads for albums that show rappers with guns.

KRS-One, a rapper who began to sour on the gangsta image when one of his associates was killed, says rap felons are proof that "you can't sweep society's problem children under the rug. When you look under that rug you're gonna get blasted in your face." But Eazy-E, a former member of N.W.A., thinks that, if nothing else, self-interest ought to persuade them to cool ! off. "A lot of rappers are trying to live a fantasy," he says. "They have careers, and something stupid could end everything that's goin' good for 'em."

It's too soon to tell how it will play for the trio of rappers booked in recent weeks. Though Snoop is free on $1 million bail, his problems have delayed release of his solo debut, Doggy Style, which is widely expected to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. It's expected now to be out later this month. How much longer Snoop will be out is another question.