For those puritans and racially sensitive people who take offense to the title of this post...Fuck You and stop reading my blog. This post is recognition of Hip-Hop's cultural diversity. When I use the term white boy, it refers to any rapper of mostly Caucasian descent. I say mostly cuz almost every being on the planet is mixed with more than one race.
The reason white rappers were always associated by their race is because Hip-Hop started out as a minority music genre. It was composed of a diverse group of Blacks, Latino's and a few Asians that were down with the culture. The first white rappers I ever heard were the Iconic 80's group 3rd Bass. It was composed of MC Serch, Pete Nice, and DJ Richie Rich (who was Black). Serch and Pete Nice were groundbreaking at the time cuz there were no other white rappers exposed to the mainstream and successful.
Their success along with the group Beastie Boys opened the door for artists like Vanilla Ice, Mark Wahlberg aka Marky Mark (who back in 1992 had a hit single called Good Vibrations) and numerous other rappers. Due to the stigma that white guys couldn't rap, there was a lot of negativity from insiders on the whole phenomenon. Vanilla Ice was rumored to have been held over the balcony at his hotel by goons because he lied about being from the hood, when he was really a rich kid from the suburbs. Marky Mark had friction from numerous rap groups cuz although he was from Boston he wasn't known in the hood. Plus the fact his older brother was in boy band New Kids on the Block didn't help his gangsta persona.
Since then there have been many white rappers, but few (House of Pain) who have sustained a presence in the music industry. One guy who never let his race (or the stigma around it) stop his hustle is R.A. the Rugged Man. He has never been known as a white rapper he is always referred to as a dope MC. R.A. has spit with legends Biggie, Kool G. Rap, Wu Tang Clan, Mobb Deep and to many more to mention. He is one of the MC's along with Kid Rock that championed the white rapper movement and changed how people view white boy rap. The reason he is globally respected is because he can actually rap. Their efforts opened the doors for Eminem, Machine Gun Kelly, and other white rappers currently experiencing success.
Below are videos from MC's Slaine, Ill Bill, Celph Titled, Sage Francis, Vinnie Paz and R.A. the Rugged Man. They are all MC's that prove you can't judge a person's talent by their color.
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