User:C evonne

= Whiteness in hip-hop = Whiteness in hip-hop is the idea in which music executives create black hip-hop music for white suburban kids or in which white rapper cultural appropriate black culture in America. From Eminem, Macklemore and Iggy Azalea, white hip-hop artists have been controlling the charts and making money off of the embracement or "cultural appropriation" of African-Americans.

History of Whiteness in Hip-hop
Although hip-hop music has become a global phenomenon, fans and artists continue to frame hip-hop as part of African-American culture. African-American artists often spread this image of the real to frame hip-hop as a black expressive culture facing appropriation by a white-controlled record industry. An early example of this is Vanilla Ice who created a fabricated biography that he released to the press in 1990. Another example is Eminem who does frame his whiteness as part of his struggle to succeed as a hip-hop artist. Both of these rappers use their struggle with class to succeed as a hip-hop artist. However, Eminem is the only one who succeeds in attending also to the privilege his whiteness affords him with listeners.

Cultural Appropriation in Hip-hop
Cultural appropriation by white hip-hop artists is becoming a growing cycle. According to Forbe’s Magazine, hip-hop is run by a white, blond, Australian rapper named Iggy Azalea. Although Iggy is from Australia, she portrays the accent of a young, African-American woman from Atlanta, Georgia. The legendary, Funkmaster Flex, has called her music “trash,” and Iggy’s hit singles have received little airplay on Top 40 “urban,” hip-hop radio stations. While all of these things are true, Iggy Azalea is highly popular and receive top recognition. Iggy Azalea became the only artist since the 1964 Beatles to have her first two singles occupy the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the fourth female emcee to hit No. 1 on the chart. Nicki Minaj, one of the top African-American rap artist, has yet to claim the No. 1 spot. Iggy Azalea is accused of banking off of the impersonation of a Southern black woman yet did not grow up as a minority subject in the United States or any other country with history of colonization and slavery.

Macklemore is another artist besides Eminem who accepted the reality of the success of his career. Macklemore shared with HOT97 that his "whiteness" is the reasoning behind his record sells. While this is true, we must acknowledge that fact that Macklemore pointed out an important thing in the hip-hop industry right now: white supremacy. White supremacy is controlling record sells in the hip-hop industry. Macklemore and Iggy Azalea is prime examples on how powerful whiteness in hip-hop is.