White rappers deserve more street cred

By Jon Juliano
Collegian Staff
February 7, 2007

After The Beastie Boys hit the scene, but before Eminem, there was an underground hip-hop movement originated by the white rapper El-P and the group Company Flow. Since then, there have been many white rappers who flourished in the underground scene because their talent was recognized, not their image. This new scene made it easy for white rappers to be themselves and still be successful.

Slug from Atmosphere, Aesop Rock, R.A. the Rugged Man, Vinny Paz from Jedi Mind Tricks, Sage Francis, Cage, Mr. Eon from the High and Mighty, Ill Bill from Non Phixion, Necro, Yak Ballz and Apathy, just to name a bunch, are all rappers who happen to be white. They also happen to get as much, if not more, respect than any black rapper that may be on the radio or MTV.

In fact, Aesop and Rugged Man might be two of the greatest rappers of all time, and they certainly can flow better than any emcee regardless of race or time period.

In retrospect, I guess VH1 should have consulted these men, or, at the very least, done their homework, before making a mockery of them and turning hip-hop into a gimmick in order to create a horrible reality show. Of course I’m talking about The White Rapper Show.

Saying that the show is an accurate portrayal of hip-hop culture and white rappers is like saying The Real World is an accurate portrayal of, well, the real world. Or that Survivor is a great way to pick up tips just in case you ever get yourself into a Lord of the Flies situation.

It’s very evident that VH1 knows very little about hip-hop. This becomes clear when you see them make a fool of Public Enemy sidekick Flava Flav. It’s sad to see them take advantage of Flav and put him in the spotlight again just so the network’s corporate executives and the American public can laugh at him.

If they had any respect for hip-hop, they would not put a man from a legendary group in this situation, and they would definitely not air a show that demeans hip-hop and makes race a factor when it really isn’t anymore.

The only time Caucasian rap doesn’t work is when the rappers try to be something that they are not. This was the case with Vanilla Ice. The rappers that agreed to be on the show are doing just that, demeaning themselves. It doesn’t seem genuine because it appears they are trying too hard. I’m sure VH1 wanted that, too, as they really grasp for material in order to make white rapper jokes.

The other thing that ruins white rappers is when people focus on what color their skin is and not what they are actually saying. Sadly, it seems these white rappers on VH1 have nothing to say and they are only on the show because they are white.

There is probably some sort of message I should conclude with about how this show is bad for hip-hop on a larger scale, and will create new “white people can’t rap” stereotypes because the Vanilla Ice ones were so old and unfunny by this point.

However, I think this horrible idea to put cameras in front of these numbskulls says more about reality shows, which were already a bad step for television as is, and where they are headed. If this is true, you now will have new reasons to listen to that bug-eyed philosophy professors that wants you to kill your television.

julianoj3@lasalle.edu