"I'm Probably Gonna Regret This, But..."
I saw the first episode of a reality show titled, "The (White) Rapper Show", and I can honestly say I don't get it.
And here are the reasons why:
1.) Reason 1: At least three of the contestants are obviously not white. They're likely Half-White, but being half doesn't make you White, it makes you Half-and-Half, which is a rare and beautiful thing. I know that many people who're half-something likely list one over the other, as it is obvious that they're mixed, but if you're mixed, you shouldn't claim to be something that you're not... that's why there's a designation on most forms that says, "Multi-Ethnicity". After all, it's called "The (White) Rapper Show"... shouldn't there be a little truth to the title and just have White people performing on the show?
2.) Reason 2: Sure, a lot of White people live in the suburbs, but that doesn't mean that their love of Hip-Hop music and culture is any less profound than if they were Black, Asian or Latino. When I was a kid (before listening to Hip-Hop and being White became popular) I was often mocked and treated like I didn't know anything about the history behind the lyrics used by my favorite Emcees. Ironically enough, this treatment was often from Black kids who didn't know shit about Hip-Hop... they only knew what they liked on the radio, and often what's on the radio isn't Hip-Hop, it's cookie-cutter bullshit put out by sell-outs that exploit their own people for monetary gain... those artists know who they are... I don't even have to mention names at this point.
3.) Reason 3: The kids on the show didn't know anything about Prince Paul or MC Serch, aside from videos that appeared on MTV (back when they actually had real Hip-Hop artists on their shows, that is). Of course, any real Hip-Hop head will tell you that Serch was in 3rd Bass and was an executive producer on Illmatic, which is a seminal Hip-Hop album, and that Prince Paul was in Stetsasonic in the late 80's and The Gravediggas in the mid-to-late 1990's. I know from having seen a couple of these reality shows in the past that picking the odd intentionally-ignorant-participant is common, but it seems to me that if these kids are representative of the new generation of Hip-Hop fans, and they apparently don't know shit about Hip-Hop as a whole... that's the last thing we need on TV.
4.) Reason 4: White people are the main reason that (aside from it's originality of course) Hip-Hop has become so successful, and that's a fact that is often glossed-over by not only the performers, but by mainstream culture in general. At least 70% of sales of all Hip-Hop albums (both Commercial and Underground) come exclusively from Whites, and yet, White people are constantly told that if you want to perform or enjoy Hip-Hop music, you're "Just trying to be Black...". Also, White performers in Hip-Hop aren't as rare as people would like to think, as the majority of the most celebrated artists in Underground Hip-Hop are White, such as Qwel, Aesop Rock, Slug, Sage Francis, Anticon and Adeem, and they aren't stereotypical White guys trying to be cool, they're genuine artists. In addition to the Underground, there have been several acts that were successful in the mainstream as well, such as Madchild of Swollen Members, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, House of Pain, 3rd Bass, The Beastie Boys and Everlast after he went solo from House of Pain... so why all the attitude about White people being involved? Who knows...
The key thing for me is this: White people take the most shit on a regular basis for our love, support and appreciation of Hip-Hop, and this show isn't going to help us in any way, shape or form. This is a well-intentioned show, to be sure, but in the end, it's just going to reinforce old stereo-types that say that White people are incapable of being skilled lyricists... which is like saying that all Black people can't swim, or Latinos breed like rabbits or that all Asians are proficient in the use of the abacus. Stereotypes don't help us people, they only make the world easier to understand to the simple-minded, racist and ignorant among us. Every person is unique, and while there may be a few White people out there that the stereo-type may in one way or another apply to, they're not emblematic of us all.
Just my opinion... keep an open mind people, and have a great weekend.
And here are the reasons why:
1.) Reason 1: At least three of the contestants are obviously not white. They're likely Half-White, but being half doesn't make you White, it makes you Half-and-Half, which is a rare and beautiful thing. I know that many people who're half-something likely list one over the other, as it is obvious that they're mixed, but if you're mixed, you shouldn't claim to be something that you're not... that's why there's a designation on most forms that says, "Multi-Ethnicity". After all, it's called "The (White) Rapper Show"... shouldn't there be a little truth to the title and just have White people performing on the show?
2.) Reason 2: Sure, a lot of White people live in the suburbs, but that doesn't mean that their love of Hip-Hop music and culture is any less profound than if they were Black, Asian or Latino. When I was a kid (before listening to Hip-Hop and being White became popular) I was often mocked and treated like I didn't know anything about the history behind the lyrics used by my favorite Emcees. Ironically enough, this treatment was often from Black kids who didn't know shit about Hip-Hop... they only knew what they liked on the radio, and often what's on the radio isn't Hip-Hop, it's cookie-cutter bullshit put out by sell-outs that exploit their own people for monetary gain... those artists know who they are... I don't even have to mention names at this point.
3.) Reason 3: The kids on the show didn't know anything about Prince Paul or MC Serch, aside from videos that appeared on MTV (back when they actually had real Hip-Hop artists on their shows, that is). Of course, any real Hip-Hop head will tell you that Serch was in 3rd Bass and was an executive producer on Illmatic, which is a seminal Hip-Hop album, and that Prince Paul was in Stetsasonic in the late 80's and The Gravediggas in the mid-to-late 1990's. I know from having seen a couple of these reality shows in the past that picking the odd intentionally-ignorant-participant is common, but it seems to me that if these kids are representative of the new generation of Hip-Hop fans, and they apparently don't know shit about Hip-Hop as a whole... that's the last thing we need on TV.
4.) Reason 4: White people are the main reason that (aside from it's originality of course) Hip-Hop has become so successful, and that's a fact that is often glossed-over by not only the performers, but by mainstream culture in general. At least 70% of sales of all Hip-Hop albums (both Commercial and Underground) come exclusively from Whites, and yet, White people are constantly told that if you want to perform or enjoy Hip-Hop music, you're "Just trying to be Black...". Also, White performers in Hip-Hop aren't as rare as people would like to think, as the majority of the most celebrated artists in Underground Hip-Hop are White, such as Qwel, Aesop Rock, Slug, Sage Francis, Anticon and Adeem, and they aren't stereotypical White guys trying to be cool, they're genuine artists. In addition to the Underground, there have been several acts that were successful in the mainstream as well, such as Madchild of Swollen Members, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, House of Pain, 3rd Bass, The Beastie Boys and Everlast after he went solo from House of Pain... so why all the attitude about White people being involved? Who knows...
The key thing for me is this: White people take the most shit on a regular basis for our love, support and appreciation of Hip-Hop, and this show isn't going to help us in any way, shape or form. This is a well-intentioned show, to be sure, but in the end, it's just going to reinforce old stereo-types that say that White people are incapable of being skilled lyricists... which is like saying that all Black people can't swim, or Latinos breed like rabbits or that all Asians are proficient in the use of the abacus. Stereotypes don't help us people, they only make the world easier to understand to the simple-minded, racist and ignorant among us. Every person is unique, and while there may be a few White people out there that the stereo-type may in one way or another apply to, they're not emblematic of us all.
Just my opinion... keep an open mind people, and have a great weekend.
posted by Todd Tobin at 9:24 AM
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