MUSI1002b Essay: Hip Hop Music, Race Constructs, and Authenticity

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between race constructs and authenticity within the realm of hip-hop music. It examines the historical and contemporary debates surrounding racial identity and the genre, particularly focusing on the authenticity of white artists like Eminem. The paper explores how the mainstream music industry has impacted the genre and the propagation of stereotypes. The essay analyzes the concept of authenticity, the role of class, and the impact of racial criticism. Furthermore, it discusses how mainstream hip-hop can betray its original message of self-determination and self-pride by promoting racist imagery. The essay also highlights how record labels and the industry can influence artists to adhere to certain standards, often leading to censorship and the promotion of stereotypes. The paper concludes by summarizing the key arguments and emphasizing the significance of class in shaping authenticity within hip-hop.

HIP HOP MUSIC: RACE CONSTRUCTS AND AUTHENTICITY
Student’s Name
Subject
Date

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Hip Hop Music: Race Constructs and Authenticity
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................1
On Authenticity..........................................................................................................................3
Eminem...................................................................................................................................4
Racism and hip-Hop...................................................................................................................5
Hip Hop “Sell-Outs” Promoting Stereotypes.........................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The questions of racial authenticity have no doubt dominated various social
researches regarding hip hop music since its early inception. Many people have not paid
attention on hip hop. The general or basic assumption have existed for a long time remains to
be that hip hop singers as well as authenticity on the black identity has been legitimize while
white identity is regarded as suspect or invalid.1 Many of the very well-rehearsed debates on
the issue of hip hop and authenticity have concentrated on the overall contested capacity of
white hip-hopper. There have been questions whether white individuals promote the
development.2 In essence, the overall juxtaposition of whiteness, as well as hip hop music,
continues to raise various sociological questions in the contemporary society.
1 Aaron, van Klyton "All the way from… authenticity and distance in world
music production." Cultural Studies 30, no. 1 (2016): 106-128.
2 RaShelle, Peck R. "Love, Struggle, and Compromises: The Political
Seriousness of Nairobi Underground Hip Hop." African Studies Review 61, no. 2 (2018):
111-133.

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Moreover, concerns over white participation in black avenues particularly of cultural
production have continued to fuel a good deal of ‘authenticity works’ set by black American
with the aim of securing hip hop as their musical genre. Notably, hip hop has facilitated
genetic construct in society as a significant social problem. “I see no changes, all I see is
racist faces, and misplaced hate makes disgrace to races” – this is a verse from a song called
“Changes” that was recorded in the year 1996 by the late rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur.3
Irrespective of the year that his song was released, the lyric is applicable in modern times
undeniably; various changes have taken place to erase the racism on the overall American
culture since the African American Civil Rights Movement in the early 1950s. Nonetheless,
the issue of equality is far from being realized. This paper tends to analyze the overall
connection between race constructs and authenticity.
On Authenticity
Authenticity is regarded to be a slippery concept that has recently taken center stage
into fashion particularly of popular music, racial, ethnic groupings as well as subcultures. In
this light, hip hop music tends to occupy the intersection of all the three fields. At some point,
3 Tom, Parkinson. "Towards an epistemology of authenticity in higher popular
music education." Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education 14, no. 1 (2015): 93-
127.

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authenticity demands that an individual’s performance, or rather objects adheres to a set or
constructed within a socially agreed-upon official standard.4 In this light, authenticity is never
regarded to be an organic quality naturally established within tangible things, but instead, it is
a claim that is constructed within rejected or even accepted societal settings.
Eminem
Various rappers have faced success and failures regarding the aspect of
authenticity. Ideally, Eminem is an excellent example of a white rapper who has continued to
gain credibility as well as respect throughout his musical career, selling over 1.7 million
copies particularly of his sophomore label album known as The Marshall Mathers LP.5 He is
very familiar with the aspect of abject poverty. Eminem is considered an authentic product
4 Matthew, Oware. "“We Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb...” Underground White
Rappers’ Hegemonic Masculinity and Racial Evasion." Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2,
no. 3 (2016): 372-386.

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particularly in terms of class pedigree. Most of his experiences in lower class upbringings are
well articulated in the works or Martin Huxley entitled Eminem: Crossing the line. Eminem
was brought up by a single and a teenage mother on welfare as his father left him while he
was small. Huxley’s father terms Eminem’s poverty experience and the way it motivated him
to write a hip hop song. Many of the rap stories in Eminem’s songs are credible regarding his
economic struggles while he was a child. He underwent various financial, and the only way
he had in mind of releasing the pain of poverty was by committing suicide. Through his hip
hop song “Angry blonde 18-19”, he embodies the overall downtrodden working-class
community that was within Detroit where he was brought up.6 In this light, Eminem is an
example of an authentic hip hop singer who has rap various credible accounts regarding his
life experience, particularly of poverty.
Racism and hip-Hop
The fact that hip hop plays a significant role in the mainstream music industry has
led for the splitting of hip hop music, therefore, creating a new type of rap music which tend
to promote the racist stereotypes of the African Americans contrary to the uplifting as well as
“underground” ideology. In this light, mainstream music has considerably betrayed its
original message of self-determination, self-pride as well as an expressive form of oppressed
5 Matthew, Hodgman. "Class, race, credibility, and authenticity within the hip-
hop music genre." Journal of Sociological Research 4, no. 2 (2013): 402-413.
6 Kareem, Muhammad R. "Everyday people: public identities in contemporary
hip-hop culture." Social Identities 21, no. 5 (2015): 425-443.

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individuals in the society.7 Moreover, mainstream music acts as a serves as a significant
representation of the African American culture in the eyes of the majority of the Americans.
Hip Hop “Sell-Outs” Promoting Stereotypes
Rap music is no doubt one of the most popular factions of hip hop and, therefore, is
considered to be very influential in society. The popularity that hip hop attracted in the early
80s particularly in the American society resulted in the overall creation of mainstream hip
hop music which appeals to a broader audience in contemporary society.8 The main problem
of hip hop being considered as a piece of mainstream music is the fact that it abuses its
original ideology. According to researches, hip hop music was created based on realness as
well as authenticity where the idea was so simple, “keeping it real.” In this light, a rapper is
often judged based on different credentials- the overall ability to live by his or her verbal
negative side.
Consequently, many rappers in the mainstream industry brand themselves as
“realness.” However, the problem is that many rappers are either faking things in their songs
or even lying with the aim of fitting into a particular “standard of realness,” which for a long
time has turned out to be a reference point of negativity.9 The main reason why rappers
7 Peter, McLaren. "Gangsta pedagogy and ghettocentricity: The hip-hop nation
as counterpublic sphere." In Revolutionary Multiculturalism, pp. 150-191. Routledge, 2018.
8 Treva, Lindsey B. "Let me blow your mind: Hip hop feminist futures in
theory and praxis." Urban Education 50, no. 1 (2015): 52-77.
9 Kytölä, Samu, and Elisna Westinen. "“I be da reel gansta”—A Finnish
footballer’s Twitter writing and metapragmatic evaluations of authenticity." Discourse,
Context & Media 8 (2015): 6-19.

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behave in this manner is simply that young African Americans are striving to make sure that
they are accepted into the culture of hip hop as well as authentic rappers even though they
may not represent the original message of the culture. The notion that such rappers are
hijacking the “keeping it real” philosophy is the main reason why hip hop music is regarded
to be an authentic representation of the African American culture. Nonetheless, such ideology
is considered as a medium for promoting racist imagery in society.
Racial criticism has been constructed in the society by stereotypical images
particularly on TV depicting African American as the only people who have the ability of
singing, telling a joke, or even dancing. Since hip hop gained popularity and some of the
significant records had started investing, many of the African American sees singing as a
means of making money and escaping poverty in society.10 The main problem of being a
mainstream rapper id the fact that an individual has to know how to adapt to the existing
systems other the system will not let him or her in. Label records are tasked with editing their
artist’s work before they are released in the market. The main aim of the label I to make the
hip hop song released in the market more profitable.
In most cases, they release songs that are mainly appealing to a white-dominated
audience. According to research, close to 80 percent of young suburban white men and
women consume hip hop music in the United States.11 This industry dates back to 1991 where
the music industry has set mainstream hip hop culture to be appealing to those specific
demographics. This is where racism plays a major role in the hip hop culture.
10 Adam, Kruse J. "Toward hip-hop pedagogies for music
education." International Journal of Music Education 34, no. 2 (2016): 247-260.
11 Ginger, Jacobson. "Racial Formation Theory and Systemic Racism in Hip‐
Hop Fans’ Perceptions." In Sociological Forum, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 832-851. 2015.

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Furthermore, various record labels tend to sign and to employ those artists whose
music appeal to the white audience, which in the United States is hugely influenced by
stereotyping the African Americans individuals. In many occasions, mainstream hip hop has
promoted the notion that the African Americans are ‘ignorant people and hyper-masculine
thug” while the song portrays the African American women as being “oversexed.” In those
times, in case an artist failed to adhere to the standards of a particular record label then their
songs risked being censored. One example of such song was the Mos Def’s song which is
called “Rape Over.” In the song, the artist suggests that most of the record label owners are
the Caucasian who took advantage of the African American individuals. While this song was
intended to be in his album, “the new danger’, the record label omitted it intentionally from
the playlist.12 This is just an example which showcases how the hip hop music industry used
to work. There various hip hops songs that have portrayed the aspect of racism and
authenticity even in contemporary society.
12 Eberhardt, Maeve, and Kara Freeman. "‘First things first, I'm the realest’:
Linguistic appropriation, white privilege, and the hip‐hop persona of Iggy Azalea." Journal of
Sociolinguistics19, no. 3 (2015): 303-327.

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Conclusion
This article has showcased that class has developed as a significant indicator of
authenticity in the hip hop genre. While various hip hop rappers rap about credible accounts
of their lives, there are those who try to fit in the set standards by faking their life experience
to come up with a well-refined work of art. On the other hand, various rappers have in the
past promoted the existence of racial discrimination in society based on what they sing and
portray themselves.

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Bibliography
van Klyton, Aaron. "All the way from… authenticity and distance in world music
production." Cultural Studies 30, no. 1 (2016): 106-128.
Peck, RaShelle R. "Love, Struggle, and Compromises: The Political Seriousness of Nairobi
Underground Hip Hop." African Studies Review 61, no. 2 (2018): 111-133.
Parkinson, Tom. "Towards an epistemology of authenticity in higher popular music
education." Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education 14, no. 1 (2015): 93-
127.
Oware, Matthew. "“We Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb...” Underground White Rappers’
Hegemonic Masculinity and Racial Evasion." Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 2, no. 3
(2016): 372-386.
Muhammad, Kareem R. "Everyday people: public identities in contemporary hip-hop
culture." Social Identities 21, no. 5 (2015): 425-443.
McLaren, Peter. "Gangsta pedagogy and ghettocentricity: The hip-hop nation as
counterpublic sphere." In Revolutionary Multiculturalism, pp. 150-191. Routledge,
2018.
Lindsey, Treva B. "Let me blow your mind: Hip hop feminist futures in theory and
praxis." Urban Education 50, no. 1 (2015): 52-77.
Kytölä, Samu, and Elisna Westinen. "“I be da reel gansta”—A Finnish footballer’s Twitter
writing and metapragmatic evaluations of authenticity." Discourse, Context &
Media 8 (2015): 6-19.
Kruse, Adam J. "Toward hip-hop pedagogies for music education." International Journal of
Music Education 34, no. 2 (2016): 247-260.
Jacobson, Ginger. "Racial Formation Theory and Systemic Racism in Hip‐Hop Fans’
Perceptions." In Sociological Forum, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 832-851. 2015.

Student’s Last Name 11
Hodgman, Matthew. "Class, race, credibility, and authenticity within the hip-hop music
genre." Journal of Sociological Research 4, no. 2 (2013): 402-413.
Eberhardt, Maeve, and Kara Freeman. "‘First things first, I'm the realest’: Linguistic
appropriation, white privilege, and the hip‐hop persona of Iggy Azalea." Journal of
Sociolinguistics19, no. 3 (2015): 303-327.