Rap music and white people

[Mole]

There's something rather perverse in denouncing behavior one personally engages in. Eh?

You assassinate my character by calling me a racist.

[Jaguar]

You assassinate my character by calling me a racist.

I did no such thing.

[General Napissimo]

I had absolutely no idea where to put this but @permanent_temp 's post reminded me of something I get mixed feedback on and I DO want to understand better...

Obviously, rap music can be a very "afrocentric" (I hope that is the correct word?) genre of music. And often times rappers will use a soft N word and things like that within their music. Over the years whites have enjoyed rap music as well, including having a guy like Eminem in the industry.

So I am obviously willing to hear anyone's educated responses, but I would really appreciate if some of our biracial or african-american/other ethnicities users would comment on this. You are the ones experiencing this issue and I want to understand it better. Because as said I notice some care and some do not.

1. Do you feel whites have a right to enjoy the music? Do you feel disdain when you see white people listening to "Black" music?

2. How do you feel about them, say like the Kendrick experience, when they rap or sing it back, using the exact lyrics even if they used the N word in the song?

3. How do you feel about white rappers in general?

4. What do you think appreciation of rap music should do for your community?

5. Is there a right or wrong way to handle this topic?

6. If you are comfortable, this is completely optional, what race do you identify with?

thank you for any responses.

Let people listen to and sing what they want is my answer to most of these questions lol. For Q2, I'm not in the business of policing language or words myself, so understand I'm speaking from a perspective of taste, not judgment or policy. With respect to singing along to the n-word, anyone with a semblance of American history knows it's directly connected to a horrible epithet attached to a painful history. That's why I understand the general offense many black Americans feel when a non-black person uses even the soft version with an "a" the end (from anecdotal experience). To me, it just seems too proximate to the original epithet, which is why I don't like using it. When I sing along to Cole or 2Pac, I just say "homie" instead XD

Oh, and you know this, but I'm a lil brown boy

[The Cat]

1. Do you feel whites have a right to enjoy the music? Do you feel disdain when you see white people listening to "Black" music?

Music transcends everything else.

2. How do you feel about them, say like the Kendrick experience, when they rap or sing it back, using the exact lyrics even if they used the N word in the song?

I care not.

3. How do you feel about white rappers in general?


I feel nothing.

4. What do you think appreciation of rap music should do for your community?

I try not to spend over much time on the slippery slope of what art "should" do.

5. Is there a right or wrong way to handle this topic?

Yes.

6. If you are comfortable, this is completely optional, what race do you identify with?

Tiefling.

[UnitOfPopulation]

Anti-racism is no longer descriptive but is ideological. Anti-racism has been weaponised. It stirs ugly passions of revenge. Anti-racism can no longer deal rationally and with evidence with racism, it is now about attacking our political enemies, and signalling our moral virtue.

That is so true. The concept of anti racism might have been genuine, independent thought of someone some time. That doesn't hold true at the moment.

I'm not pro racism either. It's just that the anti-racism camp sucks. Maybe everyone sucks. I'd be glad to be away from everyone and everything.

Anti-rasist camp can be compared to a retarded son. He is retarded and the retardation cause grief at every moment. But because he is your son, you will have to love him. So the anti-racist camp is the retarded son we have to love because of oblication, because he is our offspring. But the camp sucks. It really sucks balls all the way.

I haven't needed any fucking anti-racist inputs for any occasions when I've met with arabi or anyone. Anti-racists might have some basic ideas covered but mostly they don't have anything covered.

Hope the anti-racists might turn good some day.

[Doctor Anaximander]

[HongDou]

First of all, I am not black so my opinion isn't really worth that much. But I wanna use my response to extend to nonblack people in general just from some of the things I've noticed.

1. Do you feel whites have a right to enjoy the music? Do you feel disdain when you see white people listening to "Black" music?

I think there's no point in discussing whether or not people have the "right" because there are no structural barriers in place that would ever regulate people's access to music based on their race. That said, I do think sometimes music is created for the purpose of uplifting certain communities and I feel this is definitely true for a lot of hip-hop music and Black Americans. In another sense, I feel some music can only be truly understood by those who are coming from the context of a certain culture. A lot of references and vernacular will be lost on nonblack people who haven't had the same cultural upbringing as Black Americans (yes, no matter how much AAVE you claim to know from Urban Dictionary).

When I see white and nonblack people listening to hip-hop (or any historically "black" genre like R&B or neo-soul), I don't necessarily hold any disdain but I do often get annoyed because I feel that they listen to it in such a performative way. My experience is that nonblack people like to consume black music in a very public manner because they feel it gives them a sort of counter-culture kind of edge - basically it makes them look cooler to listen to black music because people aren't supposed to expect that of them. As a nonblack person myself, I even try to hold myself to this standard because my two favorite artists (Mariah Carey and Tinashe) are two black women who make R&B music. I think the line is drawn at how balanced a person incorporates other musical influences into their public image, because the people that I'm annoyed with are the ones who exclusively or excessively display their love for historically black genres. For me, I also love singer-songwriter, pop (eastern and western), alternative, country, dance (eurobeat, house, and trance especially), and soundtracks.

Basically, the essence of what I'm saying is "I don't really care as long as they're not weird about it." I have the same stance for people who consume Asian-created content as well.

2. How do you feel about them, say like the Kendrick experience, when they rap or sing it back, using the exact lyrics even if they used the N word in the song?

It's 2021 and we should ALL know the N-word is not a slur for nonblack people to claim or use. Just be silent during those parts. Honestly, I keep my mouth shut in general because I like hip-hop but I know I will sound corny and awkward rapping it back lol. I wish a lot of nonblack people had that same sense of self-awareness.

3. How do you feel about white rappers in general?

I don't have the authority or place to say whether it's wrong or okay for them to dive into the genre, but I will say I rarely listen to white rappers. From Eminem to Vanilla Ice to Mac Miller to Iggy Azalea, I don't care for any of it.

4. What do you think appreciation of rap music should do for your community?

If we're talking about the Asian American community, I think 88rising would not exist without the work Black Americans put into their music. Again, it's not my place to say what hip-hop's purpose should be, because it's not my community and it would be unfair for me to place any expectations on them just to cater to my own experience.

5. Is there a right or wrong way to handle this topic?

Usually I think everything is subjective, but in this case I think there is a clear line you can cross as a nonblack person. For those who are Black, I think there probably is more subjectivity and that's an intercommunity discussion to be had.

6. If you are comfortable, this is completely optional, what race do you identify with?

Explained above

[Abcdenfp]

1. Do you feel whites have a right to enjoy the music? Do you feel disdain when you see white people listening to "Black" music?

i think music is universal so it speaks to everyone uniquely

2. How do you feel about them, say like the Kendrick experience, when they rap or sing it back, using the exact lyrics even if they used the N word in the song?

I've never seen this and being a Island white person living on an island where the population is 90% black i am telling you that wouldn't go down well. When I was growing up we only had one radio station so it only played music that 90% of the population identified with and as such became something I identified with besides the interjection of my parents rock was foreign to me. Would I EVER use the N word in any context NO. Have I seen other island white people use it like they can because they are from the island yes and it makes me cringe.

3. How do you feel about white rappers in general?
i enjoy rap regardless of who it is as long as its legit.

4. What do you think appreciation of rap music should do for your community?

i have to think about this..

5. Is there a right or wrong way to handle this topic?

just don't be a dick and have some self awareness

6. If you are comfortable, this is completely optional, what race do you identify with?

Caribbean descent

[Mole]

Dividing us by the colour of our skin is racist.

We divided us by caucasian, jew, asian, slav, negro, and we fought WW II to put an end to this racism, and write and ratify the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

And Jung complemented this somatic racism by dividing us by psychological types.

And we find racism is coming back in full bloom in identity politics, and God help us, with skin colour.

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I will say this:

I'm against rapping alligators.