The Catch: Structural Racism, Erasure and Exploitation

"[Eminem] has proven to the oppressed that he is not one of us, but he is down for us—and he has proven to the oppressor that he is not one of them, but he is the product of their extreme idea of “us”—and, by virtue of neutralizing the nebulous medium, Eminem becomes us with supernatural powers beyond us.  Ultimately, he replaces us, paying homage to an old abstract idea."

- Rux (2003:28)

While Hip-Hop’s power to unite is both fascinating and exciting, proponents for cultural protectionism in rap do have reason to fear exploitative appropriation when we consider the role of commercial forces.  First and foremost, there is a serious danger that exists when a white artist, through the hyper-marketing of mass media outlets, and with the help of worldwide structural racism, erases from the national or international spotlight the Black artists who pioneered the art form he is adapting, and thus risks unduly receiving recognition for pioneering an art form that was created and refined by artists of African descent (See rock ‘n’ roll). 

While the idea of a musical form or cultural ritual that is universal and that can be expressed authentically by people across the globe is not new, it seems particularly problematic in Hip-Hop because of the United States’ recurring problems with historical amnesia.  Jared Ball (2005) offers further insight here:

Of course, I want everybody to be able to participate and enjoy… and, obviously, there’s no relationship between melanin level and quality on the mic, quality as an emcee.  But I would like to make sure that people don’t forget that, as an art form, Hip-Hop is a Black cultural expression that is part of an African, global, Diasporan continuum, and that it is born out of a specific experience.  As long as that doesn’t get forgotten, I don’t have a problem with it… I worry about who has access to popular means of distribution of the story… and that that could potentially lead to a forgetfulness. What if one day it was like ‘Eminem originated Hip-Hop?’

Eminem Revisited

It is understandable that an artist like Eminem raises concern when we consider the long tradition of the American music industry’s treatment of race:

[T]he Black body, and subsequently Black culture, has become a hungered-after taboo item and a nightmarish bugbear in the badlands of the American racial imagination.  Something to be possessed and something to be erased—an operation that explains not only the ceaseless parade of troublesome Black stereotypes still proffered and preferred by Hollywood… but the American music industry’s never ending quest for a white artist who can competently perform a Black musical impersonation: Paul Whiteman, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, Sting, Britney Spears, ‘N Sync, Pink, Eminem—all of those contrived and promoted to do away with bodily reminders of the Black origins of American pop pleasure (Tate, 4).

It is here that discussions of authenticity are confounded by the role of structural racism and mass media outlets.  Authors such as Tate are not just talking about the concept of cross-participation; they are also discussing exploitation and mass reception of the form as popular music.  Rux (2003) offers a good summary of opposing viewpoints in this debate:

Some may contend that white artists who pioneer their way into so-called black music forms take the privilege of being allowed to do so seriously and pursue lofty goals of destroying race barriers, thereby bridging gaps of new race perception in America.  But others may contend that race inclusivity diminishes the organic intention of race music until it simplifies into yet another popular entertainment form in the marketplace, where its inventor will compete for a right to exist” (24).

In addition to the issue of the erasure of a music’s pioneers by white artists, Boyd (2003) articulates the troubling trend whereby many writers take Eminem much more seriously as a hip-hop artist than they have ever taken non-white artists:

What is most troubling is that Eminem is taken seriously, this in a world where the genre of music he works in, hip hop, has routinely been ignored at best and rejected at worst. Though there has been much written about hip hop, it has often been writing of a dismissive nature. Yet, with Eminem, the writers went about engaging not only the artist but his lyrics and his music as well… This posits Em as someone and something to talk about, debate, and in turn, be treated as a serious cultural subject, a seriousness that has often eluded discussions of hip hop as it pertains to black artists (129).

Thus, we can see how structural racism can not only benefit a white artist in the context of traditionally Black cultural forms, but also how a white artist can be used to revise and redefine what it means to be authentic in a way that blocks out the music’s originators.

"White Privilege" by Macklemore

Before listening, you may want to stop the background music by clicking the pause button on the music player above.