Are white people who say "I don't like hip hop" yet listen to it when white people make it really saying "i don't like black people"?

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hahhaha, yeah, i swear he's a nice guy. Not into Hitler at all. But I think that even after the mainstreamiziation of hip hop over the past ten years, there's still a lot of white people who are put off by music they associate with being too "ghetto" (obviously doesn't matter that Chuck D and others grew up middle class or suburban) in the sense that it is somehow threatening - as opposed to Motown or Blues.

Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Monday, 27 June 2005 18:27 (eighteen years ago) link

All the artists you mentioned, though, have at a least a nominal "rock" subtext to their work

as does run-dmc ... and public enemy ... and dmx ... and jay-z ... and outkast ...

fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 27 June 2005 18:34 (eighteen years ago) link

Most of my buddies will buy Beck and the Beasties over, to pick two random examples, Jay-Z and 50 Cent. They think they relate more to Beck than to the two black rappers, but they haven't given the matter much thought. The striking grotesqueries in Beck's lyrics have as much to do with my life (or anyone else's) as Jay-Z's hustla jive. And Jay-Z's beats are better. I bring up the matter so often that they think I'm representin' for the PC squad, i.e. "You must listen to more black music."

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:29 (eighteen years ago) link

there's more to relating to something than simply lyrical content.

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:32 (eighteen years ago) link

Beck, despite his grotesqueries, still makes sense as someone who white people may identify with more. Hip-hop = camp for the dude, he writes really bad poetry and mumbles a lot.

miccio (miccio), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:33 (eighteen years ago) link

"my black friends say they like hip hop, but they don't listen to the beastie boys, beck, or prefuse 73. are they really saying they don't like white people? i hope so!"

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:33 (eighteen years ago) link

"Hip-hop = camp for the dude, he writes really bad poetry and mumbles a lot."

And Conor Oberst?

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:39 (eighteen years ago) link

I think one of the major problems I have with so called 'black hip-hop' is how self derogatory it often is. I kinda get tired of hearing 'muther fuckin this, and muther fukin' that,' bleating on about whuping your 'hos and bitches, lets kill some cops, etc. Call me boring but I'd like to hear something deeper going on in the lyrics, something which gets beyond the 'life on the street' schtick. I often like the music though, I just wish the narrative moved on a bit.

tolstoy (tolstoy), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:43 (eighteen years ago) link

dude, you haven't heard enough hip-hop. I hearby direct you to: De La Soul, Tribe Called Qwest, Biggie, DMX, Kanye West, Outkast, Mos Def, Common, and lots more.

Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:47 (eighteen years ago) link

let's kill some cops.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:49 (eighteen years ago) link

tolstoy to blacks: raise yr standards!

haha cuz ya know indie/white hip hop has sooo many different themes!

1) We're not "commercial bling bling" rappers
2) We have feelings
3) Bush sucks
4) The Twin really need to increase their run production if they have any hope of catching the White Sox in the division
5) It sucks that Firefly got cancelled
6) Have you tried that new Coca-Cola Zero? It tastes almost the same!

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 27 June 2005 19:58 (eighteen years ago) link

i'm not a fan of the "hos, clothes, and bankrolls" theme and the hyper-machoism, but the manner in which it tends to be criticized ("it's not deep") causes me to want to distance myself from the naysayers even though I agree with them on the basic gripe. (also, "fuck this gangsta shit, i'm gonna rap about some DEEP shit" type thinking almost always produces worse hip hop)

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:08 (eighteen years ago) link

maybe he just prefers the sound of whiny voices?

He'll love Akon then.

Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:16 (eighteen years ago) link

I often like the music though, I just wish the narrative moved on a bit.

Man, have you heard the narrative in most Rock/Pop? This is not philosophy.

Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:20 (eighteen years ago) link

Yes, why would you only eat seedless oranges when you don't care about the seeds in yr apples?

Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 27 June 2005 20:39 (eighteen years ago) link

Funny thing is, most white people don't have too much common ground with Eminem background-wise ... he comes from pretty far down on the socioeconomic ladder.

Lukas (lukas), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Funny thing is, most white people don't have too much common ground with Eminem background-wise ... he comes from pretty far down on the socioeconomic ladder.

wtf.

deej.., Monday, 27 June 2005 20:55 (eighteen years ago) link

you mean there's a white guy out there who isn't a millionaire like me???????

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:55 (eighteen years ago) link

haha.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:56 (eighteen years ago) link

Most white people aren't as broke as Eminem was. I don't see why that's a shocking statement; most PEOPLE aren't as broke as Eminem was.

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:57 (eighteen years ago) link

i love the sound of prefuse 73's "plastic," but i cringe at the sentiment (mainstream rap = shallow/manufactured! really!) almost every time i listen to it.

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 27 June 2005 20:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Dan, there are SO many people of all races in this country who were as poor as Eminem was.

deej.., Monday, 27 June 2005 21:00 (eighteen years ago) link

Is there something ambiguous about the meaning of the word "most"?

The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:02 (eighteen years ago) link

i'm not sure yr correct about it. "most." You might be. i thought otherwise.

deej.., Monday, 27 June 2005 21:03 (eighteen years ago) link

Can't speak for these other white people, but for me Beck and Beastie Boys is all I have to go on as far as white hip hop. I happen to like these two examples better than any other hip hop I know of... and I don't even think of either as hip hop, actually. I think what sounds better about these two examples is that their music tends to be more nonsensical and less aggressive-sounding. I really dislike Eminem. Never heard Buck 65, Prefuse 73 or the "etc."

Stoner Guy, Monday, 27 June 2005 21:04 (eighteen years ago) link

Why does black people never want to rock?

That One Guy (That One Guy), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:04 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.rrojasdatabank.org/income~5.htm

1997, median household income of the second-lowest quintile was around $22k. I'm guessing Em's mom didn't clear that. So yeah, most Americans came from slightly plusher circumstances than Eminem.

Lukas (lukas), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:09 (eighteen years ago) link

thats a pretty small amount. Especially for a parent with kids. Isn't that around the poverty line?

deej.., Monday, 27 June 2005 21:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh definitely it's small. Dunno what the poverty line is.

Lukas (lukas), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:17 (eighteen years ago) link

Will Smith chimes in:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050627/ap_on_en_mu/music_will_smith

choice cut from the Fresh Prince: "Black radio, they won't play me though," he raps in one song. "Guess they think that Will ain't hard enough. Maybe I should just have a shootout ... just ignorant, attacking, acting rough. I mean then, will I be black enough?"

Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:22 (eighteen years ago) link

He didn't name names then, in terms of criticism. But then he did diss Eminem and Dre a few years back presumably (hence Dre dissing Smith back and Eminem accepting an MTV award wearing a rubber Will Smith mask).

Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:27 (eighteen years ago) link

More rap race-o-rama:
http://complicatedfun.com

Pete Scholtes, Monday, 27 June 2005 21:28 (eighteen years ago) link

MC 900 Foot Jesus to thread.

-rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:28 (eighteen years ago) link

But instead of the usually loose flow and unhurried instrumentation of most "black" rap records
wtf

-- Banana Nutrament (straightu...), June 27th, 2005 3:16 PM. (ghostface) (link)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

yeah I thought that was wierd!
-- M@tt He1geson (matt@game[remove]informer.com), June 27th, 2005 3:18 PM. (Matt Helgeson) (link)

I'm just saying that, given the choice between The Chronic and Master of Puppets, I'd probably take Metallica every day of the week because that's just how I'm wired. It's not a race thing. It's a sound thing.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm totally sympathetic to Will's take on rapping, I just wish his music was more interesting.

deej.., Monday, 27 June 2005 21:31 (eighteen years ago) link

yeah did he ever think maybe black radio doesn't play him cause he rhymes enough with enough?!

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 21:33 (eighteen years ago) link

Hahaha! He's totally racist! Come on, I'm white I can't identify with what Eminem says. He talks about killing his wife and who knows what the fuck his pop songs like "Just loose It" are about, that shit's just gibberish. I relate to lil jon more than eminem, lil jon is like black sabbath of rap music. If someone says they can honestly relate to the beastie boys and not, say, run dmc or anything else off of Def jam during that era, i mean that's just stupid. speaking purely sonicly, if you like paul's boutique and hate Fear of A Black Planet, yeah, i dont know what the fuck ur problem is.

tonyD (noiseyrock), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:13 (eighteen years ago) link

skeet skeet

jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:15 (eighteen years ago) link

To go back to the initial question, I don't think it's a case of individual listeners demanding that the hip hop they listen to accord to their "white" values - the idea that the Beastie Boys "speak" for the experiences of white people is pretty laughable really.

Rather, it's that such listeners are only meaningfully exposed to (and thus turned on to) hip hop which the indie/alternative structure as a whole has decided to endorse. It was, I think, impossible to have a passing interest in alt. rock throughout the 90s without coming across much praise of the Beastie Boys as trailblazers, but it would be comparatively easy to effectively ignore the existence of 2Pac etc. This insofar as, for many listeners, mainstream radio play is treated as little more than background noise, but the recommendations of friends, college radio DJs and certain magazines count for a great deal.

There seems to be a rebuttable presumption enforced by this structure of endorsement that whiteness is a prima facie sign of good values and innovation. This can be overcome both ways - ie. white people can be kicked out and black people can be invited in, but they have to make an extra special effort on both sides. Bubba Sparxxx is not part of the club because all of his associations are distasteful (a fat hick who talks about sex as crudely as any black gangsta rapper!) but Michael Franti is because he has good old fashioned uni leftist politics, flirts with rock/soul/etc. and uses live instruments (The Roots and Andre 3000 have been issued guest passes for similar reasons).

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:24 (eighteen years ago) link

I dunno, I "meaningfully" exposed some of my white friends to black hip hop acts, and for the most part they were turned off by the "i'm a hard muhfucker! won't catch me smilin" attitude that many of them have naturally or, frequently, cop. white rappers are more willing to be goofy. (yes yes there are some goofy black rappers)

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:32 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, but who says "I only like goofy Rock bands?"

Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:34 (eighteen years ago) link

I mostly agree, Tim. That would be why Digable Planets and Arrested Development would find space on mid-90's alternative stations (the "positive messages"). But then there were moments when the indie establishment flirted with hip hop - Matador with the Arsonists and Non-Phixion (and there's a good example of white hip hop - along with Ill Bill's bro Necro - that is distasteful to most).

It also comes from the perceived position of the person - why it's okay for someone to like Ben Folds' cover of Bitches Ain't Shit because it's perceived to be "ironic" while NWA would never be given that kind of credit.

Jacobo Rock (jacobo rock), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:38 (eighteen years ago) link

straight white guys can't relate to: (a) chicks; (b) cars; (c) having nice/cool stuff; (d) wanting fuck up at least one other person REALLY bad; (e) being the best that you can be at whatever yer thing is (or at least wanting to be the best); (f) getting pissed off at chicks (to the point of calling 'em bitches and hos)? ignoring subtextual issues, that's what jay-z and 50 cent talk about a lot.

and re those subtextual issues, i trust that some of these white "i can't relate to black rappers" dudes are solidly middle-class and are totally immune to what life experiences underlie the above subjects for jigga and fiddy.

Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:41 (eighteen years ago) link

"I'm just saying that, given the choice between The Chronic and Master of Puppets, I'd probably take Metallica every day of the week because that's just how I'm wired. It's not a race thing. It's a sound thing."

Haha genetically programmed to like Metallica.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:43 (eighteen years ago) link

I dunno, I "meaningfully" exposed some of my white friends to black hip hop acts, and for the most part they were turned off by the "i'm a hard muhfucker!"

Yeah but if it wasn't just you but every seemingly tasteful rock fan they knew who was repping for black hip hop you can bet they'd strain harder to hear the value in the music. Having a friend play you stuff isn't enough in this regard - there needs to be an entire culture of validation such that the hip hop-skeptic feels under pressure to question their own position.

The changes in the coverage policy of Pitchfork is a good example of this process occurring on a wider scale - it's not like the quality of street hip hop has changed dramatically in the last five years, rather it's the critical environment which has changed to the extent that media organs who had previously consciously ignored this music no longer feel quite so comfortable doing so.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:48 (eighteen years ago) link

It really bothered me around '97, when Eminem started to blow up, that the Detroit rock radio played the shit out of "My Name Is." I lived in Detroit at the time and distinctly remember thinking "wait a sec, I can sort of understand why I hear "Brass Monkey" on 89X or 96.3 every once in a while, but here's a guy with no "rock" in his sound whatsoever, affiliated with Dr. Dre, etc etc. Are they playing him only because he's white?!" And sure enough, they were.

joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:52 (eighteen years ago) link

the friends i'm speaking are basically out of the loop when it comes to music culture. they aren't influenced by whatever the white rock consensus is. they don't know any seemingly tasteful rock fans! they like what they like. whatever suits their style and aesthetics. and the majority of black hip hop just doesn't.

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:54 (eighteen years ago) link

i mean maybe there's a reason other than outright, hostile rascism WHY "tasteful fock fans" (at least in years previous) found certain people like the beastie boys easier to get into than rakim or jay z in the first place.

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 22:58 (eighteen years ago) link

I like my music gay, thx

xxxxxpost

Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 27 June 2005 22:58 (eighteen years ago) link

why don't black people en masse like beck or the beasties as much as jay z and dmx? is it because tasteful hip hop fans" haven't repped for them strongly? if so, why haven't they?

oops (Oops), Monday, 27 June 2005 23:03 (eighteen years ago) link

If I identify with Redman moreso than Eminem, does that mean I am black?

The Reverend, Saturday, 31 January 2009 03:56 (fifteen years ago) link

"plunging deep into their souls and culture"

nicky lo-fi, Saturday, 31 January 2009 05:22 (fifteen years ago) link

back before I registered here I would read threads like this all the way through and wonder what I would say if given the opportunity.

james k polk, Saturday, 31 January 2009 05:43 (fifteen years ago) link

"If I identify with Redman moreso than Eminem, does that mean I am black?"

im not sure im too concerned. either way, you cant overlook the fact that eminems 'white' take on rap is what got him over to so many people who probably wouldnt like redman.

p-noid (titchyschneiderMk2), Sunday, 1 February 2009 11:16 (fifteen years ago) link

now is your chance, james k polk

dugong.jpg (jabba hands), Sunday, 1 February 2009 11:27 (fifteen years ago) link

I have never met one of these people, have you?

thirdalternative, Sunday, 1 February 2009 14:58 (fifteen years ago) link

Does Redman still live in that duplex with his cousins crashing on the first floor and the money jar to buy groceries with?

Philip Nunez, Sunday, 1 February 2009 18:18 (fifteen years ago) link

There's much more to Beck and TV On The Radio musically than just hip-hop (I mean, hip-hop is just one out of several influences), but white people who dislike rap and are heavily into Eminem and Beastie Boys you may wonder about.

Geir Hongro, Sunday, 1 February 2009 22:13 (fifteen years ago) link

http://i43.tinypic.com/29pbyuo.jpg

TACO BIZZLE (The Reverend), Sunday, 1 February 2009 22:21 (fifteen years ago) link

two years pass...

http://mikedoesthings.com/?attachment_id=45

nakhchivan, Monday, 1 August 2011 02:45 (twelve years ago) link

one month passes...

irish

potato originated in Peru fyi

fuckin white people...

― I saw Mike Love walk by a computer once (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 September 2011 22:55 (Yesterday)

diouf est le papa du foot galsen merde lè haters (nakhchivan), Thursday, 15 September 2011 23:48 (twelve years ago) link

White people even say, "Pete Rock is bitchin"

Like Tito, white kids think I'm neato

(J Ro on "Pass Out")

any more of these?

A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 16 September 2011 20:47 (twelve years ago) link

his forte causes caucasians to say

symsymsym, Saturday, 17 September 2011 03:56 (twelve years ago) link

it comes down to how much people associate a group's image with whether they like them or not

i don't wanna say i'm "above image", but i can succesfully ignore a lot of what a band/group/whatever "stands for" and appreciate them on a musical level. dudes who only listen to beastie boys still prolly can't shake this.

Hullo, I'm Jon Moss (kelpolaris), Sunday, 18 September 2011 05:15 (twelve years ago) link

my guess is beastie boys-only fans prefer the music from their more boorish days, so problematic image doesn't seem a likely culprit.

Philip Nunez, Sunday, 18 September 2011 05:24 (twelve years ago) link

two weeks pass...

"to white boys I'm rad"

--Pismo, "Artform"

A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 7 October 2011 18:01 (twelve years ago) link

i dont think there's anything wrong with liking the Beasties but not really being a hip-hop fan - the Beasties aren't really like anyone else out there

frogbs, Friday, 7 October 2011 18:23 (twelve years ago) link

lol

unorthodox economic revenge (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 7 October 2011 19:59 (twelve years ago) link


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