poor white boys and the future of hiphop
by charles chea
www.nathanielturner.com/p...hiphop.htm
Poverty is definitely not restricted to any specific
area. But ask a group of youth, or even adults, what
"ghetto" means to them and you'll find that most will
limit it by race or region. People from or near urban
areas may classify inner-city projects and east and
west coast black ghettos as the exemplar of poverty in
the United States, while people in rural areas will
immediately discuss rural representations such as
trailers or the "rez" life of Native Americans.
Urban poverty has an advantage, however, in that it is
the overwhelmingly represented narrative of mainstream
hiphop, while the inclusion of rural and international
narratives has only recently become more popular. The
saturation of contemporary black urban struggle in
hiphop, a music form that has precedence and huge
influence in other media markets, persistently
overshadows other realities that further
disenfranchise urban and rural peoples.
The recent increase of rural and southern narratives
may be a hint of greater change in the future for
some, but I would assert that the mainstream market
will attempt to saturate another face: poor white
boys.
The black urban narrative and its stronghold in
mainstream hiphop makes it almost impossible for any
other story to break through. So why has Eminem been
able to take such precedence in mainstream hiphop to
be considered one of the top rappers? For one, as a
white person, it is often humored that their
"realness" needs to take huge strides among blacks.
Many people profess that Eminem proved his realness
through a legacy of underground rap battles and unique
lyrical wordplay that has often shut down the best of
rappers. When we look and listen to underground
'backpack' hiphop, however, complex rhyme scheme and
wordplay is nothing unique. Every year, there is a new
and upcoming nobody who dominates the battle circuit.
As with everyone else in mainstream hiphop, I would
argue that it's a fact of marketability. A few market
strategies come to mind when I think about Eminem and
the attempt to propagate his realness: entourage of
black men, 8 mile and Detroit 's derelict, and
trailers. The "entourage of black people" is nothing
new for white music artists' who are attempting to
enter the urban music market.
This is not evidence of the "rural hi-jacking" I
anticipate, but Eminem's association and depiction of
8 Mile is. I am not going to debate its falsehoods and
realities in general depiction, but I'd like to
emphasize and consider his association to
trailersminor but important. The trailer is a
significant out reach to the stereotype of rurality
and the movie (as his lyrics) often emphasizes being
raised in that environment, not necessarily Detroit.
The suggestion of "country living," in minor and major
ways, has also been in affect for other white upcomers
being pushed in mainstream markets. Memphis based Lil
Wyte, an associate of the Three 6 Mafia, freshmen
album and music video, "I Sho Will" has a Southern and
suggestively rural backdrop. Nashville raised Haystak
has a name associated to rural stereotypes, as well as
"Portrait of a White Boy," his most recent release
that features a drawing of a farm in the background.
Timbaland-discovered Bubba Sparxx, who hails from a
very rural LaGrange, Georgia, often incorporates rural
narratives into his lyrics. And of course, there is
Northwest Houston's Paul Wall, who has been making
moves with Mike Jones into the national mainstream
market.
It is too much of a risk for the mainstream market to
associate itself with white people from or near urban
areas because they are often the predominating
representations of middle/upper-class United States,
and whose authenticity is often questioned.
Corporations, however, understand that huge profits
can be made if they are able to find a white boy (or
girl) who is "down." Whereas urban hiphop has already
been racialized to be almost exclusively black and
Latino, rural and Southern hiphop has been in an
ambiguous racialized state.
White poverty is often thought of in the image of the
past, such as with the Depression, and other images
have continued into contemporary times such as the
"hick." Southern accents and country music has often
been a major stereotype more prone to whites, and with
the rise of Southern hiphop subgenres such as crunk,
corporations know that it will be much easier to
promote white rappers in this category. Once they
tweak the formula for the Southern white rapper, I can
only imagine corporations will push it fiercely in
hopes of enormous profit. It'll be Elvis again--and
again and again.
We need to see the "Elvis formula" in more recent
times, however. Native Americans are often
participating in hiphop, creating a small but growing
scene that offers narratives pertaining to their
struggles with a long-standing poverty and
representation. Asian Americans are also offering
hiphop narratives about their struggles as refugees
and immigrants, which is rarely heard in the
mainstream but happening in their enclaves.
These voices won't be heard soon because diversity in
the United States goes only as far as how much money
you can make with it. Instead, the next step of hiphop
"diversity" is the inclusion of the poor white boy
narrative and if that becomes saturated, it'll make a
major and unfortunate impact on the psyche of
listeners as to what poverty and struggle is.
Hiphop, I would argue, has greater influence in the
consciousness of general listeners than what is
learned from schoolwhich is not to say that schools
in the United States don't need revamping either. We
should be careful to not look at the inclusion of poor
white rappers as a revolution in the name of diversity
and acceptance, but question its intention among
corporations.
* * * *
Charles Chea is a Sociology student at UMass-Boston
who is originally from Philadelphia.
chea@asiavists.org - www.asiavists.org
by charles chea
www.nathanielturner.com/p...hiphop.htm
Poverty is definitely not restricted to any specific
area. But ask a group of youth, or even adults, what
"ghetto" means to them and you'll find that most will
limit it by race or region. People from or near urban
areas may classify inner-city projects and east and
west coast black ghettos as the exemplar of poverty in
the United States, while people in rural areas will
immediately discuss rural representations such as
trailers or the "rez" life of Native Americans.
Urban poverty has an advantage, however, in that it is
the overwhelmingly represented narrative of mainstream
hiphop, while the inclusion of rural and international
narratives has only recently become more popular. The
saturation of contemporary black urban struggle in
hiphop, a music form that has precedence and huge
influence in other media markets, persistently
overshadows other realities that further
disenfranchise urban and rural peoples.
The recent increase of rural and southern narratives
may be a hint of greater change in the future for
some, but I would assert that the mainstream market
will attempt to saturate another face: poor white
boys.
The black urban narrative and its stronghold in
mainstream hiphop makes it almost impossible for any
other story to break through. So why has Eminem been
able to take such precedence in mainstream hiphop to
be considered one of the top rappers? For one, as a
white person, it is often humored that their
"realness" needs to take huge strides among blacks.
Many people profess that Eminem proved his realness
through a legacy of underground rap battles and unique
lyrical wordplay that has often shut down the best of
rappers. When we look and listen to underground
'backpack' hiphop, however, complex rhyme scheme and
wordplay is nothing unique. Every year, there is a new
and upcoming nobody who dominates the battle circuit.
As with everyone else in mainstream hiphop, I would
argue that it's a fact of marketability. A few market
strategies come to mind when I think about Eminem and
the attempt to propagate his realness: entourage of
black men, 8 mile and Detroit 's derelict, and
trailers. The "entourage of black people" is nothing
new for white music artists' who are attempting to
enter the urban music market.
This is not evidence of the "rural hi-jacking" I
anticipate, but Eminem's association and depiction of
8 Mile is. I am not going to debate its falsehoods and
realities in general depiction, but I'd like to
emphasize and consider his association to
trailersminor but important. The trailer is a
significant out reach to the stereotype of rurality
and the movie (as his lyrics) often emphasizes being
raised in that environment, not necessarily Detroit.
The suggestion of "country living," in minor and major
ways, has also been in affect for other white upcomers
being pushed in mainstream markets. Memphis based Lil
Wyte, an associate of the Three 6 Mafia, freshmen
album and music video, "I Sho Will" has a Southern and
suggestively rural backdrop. Nashville raised Haystak
has a name associated to rural stereotypes, as well as
"Portrait of a White Boy," his most recent release
that features a drawing of a farm in the background.
Timbaland-discovered Bubba Sparxx, who hails from a
very rural LaGrange, Georgia, often incorporates rural
narratives into his lyrics. And of course, there is
Northwest Houston's Paul Wall, who has been making
moves with Mike Jones into the national mainstream
market.
It is too much of a risk for the mainstream market to
associate itself with white people from or near urban
areas because they are often the predominating
representations of middle/upper-class United States,
and whose authenticity is often questioned.
Corporations, however, understand that huge profits
can be made if they are able to find a white boy (or
girl) who is "down." Whereas urban hiphop has already
been racialized to be almost exclusively black and
Latino, rural and Southern hiphop has been in an
ambiguous racialized state.
White poverty is often thought of in the image of the
past, such as with the Depression, and other images
have continued into contemporary times such as the
"hick." Southern accents and country music has often
been a major stereotype more prone to whites, and with
the rise of Southern hiphop subgenres such as crunk,
corporations know that it will be much easier to
promote white rappers in this category. Once they
tweak the formula for the Southern white rapper, I can
only imagine corporations will push it fiercely in
hopes of enormous profit. It'll be Elvis again--and
again and again.
We need to see the "Elvis formula" in more recent
times, however. Native Americans are often
participating in hiphop, creating a small but growing
scene that offers narratives pertaining to their
struggles with a long-standing poverty and
representation. Asian Americans are also offering
hiphop narratives about their struggles as refugees
and immigrants, which is rarely heard in the
mainstream but happening in their enclaves.
These voices won't be heard soon because diversity in
the United States goes only as far as how much money
you can make with it. Instead, the next step of hiphop
"diversity" is the inclusion of the poor white boy
narrative and if that becomes saturated, it'll make a
major and unfortunate impact on the psyche of
listeners as to what poverty and struggle is.
Hiphop, I would argue, has greater influence in the
consciousness of general listeners than what is
learned from schoolwhich is not to say that schools
in the United States don't need revamping either. We
should be careful to not look at the inclusion of poor
white rappers as a revolution in the name of diversity
and acceptance, but question its intention among
corporations.
* * * *
Charles Chea is a Sociology student at UMass-Boston
who is originally from Philadelphia.
chea@asiavists.org - www.asiavists.org
