Quote:
Originally posted by ThurgreedMarshall
I don't go to any hip hop shows, so I'm not going to argue with you on that. It may even be that way in New York. I do know that those groups tend to make their music for black people. I also know that when I go to Nostrand Ave or Flatbush that everyone knows who Dead Prez are. I don't think if I went to Eden Prarie anyone would know who they are. But maybe I'm wrong.
For a long time there have been many white people who seek out and love underground hip hop. You know where I went to school. I could talk about true hip hop with a good number of white people at my school and the ones who loved the music wanted as much as they could get and learned shit from me and exposed me to shit as well. But on the whole, most white people there could only talk about MC Hammer, if you asked them.
As for the phenomenon of white people attending underground hip hop shows in MN, I don't know what's up with that. I can guess that because there are few blacks in MN and because they are as removed from places like Brooklyn or Chicago's south side as anyone else in the state that maybe they only spend their money on Fifty Cent and Jay-Z concerts and albums. Or maybe they're into that Dirty South/crunk crap that so many non-New Yorkers love (not to say there aren't plenty of New Yorkers who love that crap too).
Also, I've noticed that white kids who truly love hip hop (and the fact that hip hop is so big now means that there are generations who have grown up on it and seek out the best of it), feel like they want to be down. And knowing what's up in the underground is a great way to prove that they can be.
I think the two main points I'm trying to make are the same, though (and I don't think we've ever disagreed on this topic). The first is that mainstream hip hop is run by big labels and big labels are selling an image of urban america to the suburban kids who actually buy the albums. The second is that the groups you mention make music that is true to hip hop and black culture. That does not mean that white people are barred from participating. But it's very different music than what most people think about when they think about what rap music is.
TM
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I was not around when this debate began, but based on what you are saying, I don't disagree with your main point. In fact, I'm totally on board with your last paragraph. But there are white kids in Eden Prairie who know the Dead Prez. And in Golden Valley and Maple Grove and White Bear Lake and Coon Rapids and all of the unfortunately named, predominantly white suburbs of the Twin Cities. They are a minority of the population there, just as all people who listen to underground music are a minority of the population. Otherwise, the music would be, by definition, mainstream. There is a strong underground hip hop community in Minneapolis, thanks in part to the Rhymesayers crew (whose most famous rapper, Slug of Atmosphere) is white. Because of them and their collaborations, we get to see lots of underground hip hop crews like Def Jux and Living Legends come through town, and their is good support for underground hip hop in general, including the groups you mentioned, each of whom Ihave seen more than once in Minneapolis, generally playing to decent or good-sized crowds. But I think a large part of the Rhyemsayers fan base is white kids from Minneapolis and inner ring suburbs. And I know that it drives some of those rappers crazy, while at the same time they appreciate the support.
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