No Race, No Case

No Race, No Case

Hip-Hop is known as being originated by African-Americas, who also continue to dominate the genre. Even though Whites were the ones that nationalized and commercialized the genre through their dominance and resources in society, they have not been able to truly establish themselves in the genre musically. There seems to be a fork in the road for Whites who attempt to make this music and many believe that the issue at hand is race. However, race is not the culprit in this case.

            The amounts of Hip-Hop artists that have profoundly succeeded making music are black, but it’s not due to their racial ethnicity. The composition of the music along with the piece being relatable and enjoyable to many is what attributes to the success. Through the music artists have become successful, regardless of the race, which stands true for an artist that has stood out from start, Eminem.

Also known as Slim Shady, Eminem’s path to his success was not easy or privileged like most would assume because he is white. He came from nothing, residing in the slummed city of Detroit, Michigan where he bounced from trailer to trailer with his family. Trying to survive through these circumstances is what drove Eminem’s desire for music as a form of expression and an escape from all the bullshit, like he would say.

At first, Eminem struggled to reach the hearts and ears of listeners because of the fact he was white and doing what is known as a black thing. However this soon changed once his music was actually performed, even at open-mikes where he claims, “Once motherfuckers heard me rhyme, though, they’d shut up”. This trend continued as Eminem tried to establish his career as a Hip-Hop artist. For instance, when he went to the Rap Olympics in L.A and had a black guy yelling ‘Just give it to the white boy, its over’. Eminem continued to receive respect from not only listeners, but also established artists and producers like Dr. Dre who signed him and exemplified, “But I don’t give a fuck if you’re purple: If you can kick it, I’m working with you” (Rolling Stone).

What is most admired about Eminem and what continues to bring him success is his realness. He does not shy away from saying what’s on his mind which is something that is respected because it is the purpose of Hip-Hop.  According to Rodman (2006), this is seen in one of Eminem’s best songs, The Way I Am (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWmG0ZsUAag), where he goes against how Whites trying to fix his racial identity in ways to allow them to maintain their illusion about the stability of race (p. 110). He rhymes about these cocky Caucasians identifying him as a wigger who tries to be black, but this assumption comes from his talent in Hip-Hop, which is known as a Black thing. Eminem also does something that has appalled the Whites as he uses satirical attacks against the government and the police and middle-class hypocrisy (Grudmann, 2003, p. 30). Nevertheless, Eminem is true to himself and most importantly true to Hip-Hop as he tries to maintain the integrity of it above all else. When it comes to music, there is no question of race with Eminem, he is undoubtedly Hip-Hop.

Unfortunately, Eminem has seemed to be a rare case of success amongst White Hip-Hop Artists. Recently, there have been artists like Mac Miller, MGK and Macklemore who have achieved some success but it tends to be within a certain audience and not the majority of the Hip-Hop community or consumers. However, it’s not their race that doesn’t appeal, it is the composition and texture of the music.

Work Cited

Rodman, G. (2006). Race .. and Other Four Letter Words: Eminem and the Cultural

Authenticity. Popular Communication, 4(2), 95-121.

Grundmann, Roy (2003). White Man’s Burden: Eminem’s Movie Debut in 8 Mile.

            Cineaste. 28(2). 30-35.

Boza, Anthony (1999). Eminem blows up. Rolling Stone. 811, 42.