Hip Hop Realness and the White Performer

It is interesting to see how white rap artists have tried to cement their status within an overly dominant African American rap culture. Many white artists have faced the burden of trying to establish credibility in a musical genre that considered them too privileged and too fortunate to be a part of the social struggle that many African American rappers express in their music today.

Throughout the decades, Hess explains that the 'whiteness factor' in white rap music had shared varying degrees of exposure. That is, white rappers have modified the ways they've addressed their whiteness in songs. In the early 1990's, white rappers like Vanilla Ice relied on cultural immersion to establish credibility in a black rap environment. Vanilla Ice rapped about attending all-black schools and living the socially underprivileged life (all proven to be false) In the later years, rappers like Eminem have acknowledged their whiteness as being a disadvantaged position in hip hop while addressing the struggle of fitting in at the same time.

The concept of hip hop realness in the white performer really took its toll during the Vanilla Ice scandal. As aforementioned, Vanilla Ice did not share the ghetto upbringing he bragged about in his songs. It really brought forward the idea of how important it was for white rappers to be authentic by having a ghetto upbringing. Failure to do so would immediately label them as outcasts within the industry. Vanilla Ice failed to follow today's "conventional code" of hip hop realness, which is when "artists perform as unique individuals while maintaining a connection with the original culture of hip-hop."

The Vanilla Ice scandal clearly had major ramifications, making it harder for the white rapper to break into the mainstream. This was until the Beastie Boys and Eminem broke into the scene a couple of years later. One reason they were more accepted by the black community was the obvious. They let their lyrics and vocal style take charge in creating their personal identities instead of overly flaunting a false blackness like Vanilla Ice did. Furthermore, Eminem turned towards a different construction of his white identity. He already knew he was at a disadvantage for being a white rapper so he encouraged listeners to look past his identity through his lyrics.

One reason why Eminem has been such a successful white rapper because of his authenticity. He was raised in the Detroit ghetto and emphasizes his struggle in his songs. He has made it very clear he despises "false people", such as rapper Avalanche, a blues singer turned country star who acted Muslim when he was in fact, Irish white. Eminem clearly addresses the downfalls of white rappers in his songs and knows that the media will criticize his lyrics. His preparation in anticipating the media backlash to his music is what makes Eminem successful. He is able to answer critics' questions before they are asked, and nothing is left to surprise or suspicion when Eminem confronts his doubters so cleanly and gracefully.

To conclude, there is a magic formula in helping hip hop realness with white performers. They include not flaunting your blackness in overly dramatic ways and not using it as the sole advantage in marketing yourself and to adapt your own lyrical style and identity like Eminem has done. In the hip hop industry, much respect is given to performers who keep in tune with the hip hop culture while not selling out to non-ghetto forces in any way. In this case, it is easy to see why Vanilla Ice and Eminem have nothing in common except the color of their skin.