“The White Rapper Show” to mock white emcees?
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Contestants will live together in the South Bronx as a series of challenges test their music talent and ability to mesh with black culture. Michael Hirschorn, the net’s exec VP of programming, emphasized that the show would be equal parts culture study and comedy…
Hirschorn was mum on specific situations and obstacles that the competitors will face, saying only that there would be both “creative and cultural trials.” Challenges could include anything from freestyle battles in Harlem’s Rucker Park to selling sno-cones in a hip-hop club.
But some white hip hop heads worry that the show will turn into a mockery of white rappers. (Hat tip to Rafi at Oh Word for the links.) MC Serch has been blogging about the upcoming show on his MySpace page and recently wrote this:
A white rapper cannot be considered a white rapper until he rips in front of a crowd of black people. I am not saying they all have to be black. You can have some spanish, some multi-racial kids mixed in there for flavor, I would even say Asain people. But if you are a white rapper that performs in front of a white crowd then you are not a rapper at all. You are a guy who is simulating what it feels like to rock a crowd.
A white rapper named Sage Francis responded to MC Serch in a long open letter on his own MySpace page, refuting Serch’s points:
If a white rapper cries in front of a black crowd and no one posts it on youtube, is he still emo? If it IS posted on youtube and a black person watches it…does that make him an official rapper? If your group was manufactured by someone who wanted to put two white rappers together and hopefully exploit the race situation…and then someone named Vanilla Ice comes around and gets exploited even BETTER than you…and you beat down a Vanilla Ice impostor in the video to a song that actually makes its way onto commercial charts…are you street? Are you hood? Are you an honorary black person if you co-opt enough black culture? How’s that high top fade doing these days?
It’ll be interesting to see how this show turns out, considering how many tricky issues of cultural appropriation and authenticity are involved. The Egotrip team has done some good shows for VH1, dissecting race issues in pop culture (huh, sound familiar? 
). They were the ones behind “TV’s Illest Minority Moments” and the three-part series “Race-O-Rama,” both of which I thought were pretty entertaining and for the most part, on-point.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Lyonside wrote:
I read EgoTrip’s “Big Book Of Racism” the way I read The Daily Show’s “America” book: humor, parody, and not a little bit of damn-truth
I trust them to do it (and I’m still waiting for them to bite the proverbial feeding hand and bust on FlavaFlav) over another network, like, say, Fox or ABC.
Posted 08 Nov 2006 at 10:47 am ¶
Meera wrote:
“Contestants will live together in the South Bronx as a series of challenges test their music talent and ability to mesh with black culture.”
It’s that last “mesh with black culture” part that I find most problematic.
There was such thing as black culture before hip hop, and a rich culture at that. Therefore, Black Culture does not = Hip Hop Culture. Hip Hop is merely one aspect of Black Culture, something that many people (including black folks) often tend to forget these days.
There are wack emcees of every color, not just white. I’ve heard many a black wack emcee.
Some of them even get record deals.
So let’s hope the Egotrip team takes special care not to let this show get too carried away with cultural stereotypes (they seem to be hip to that already, so hopefully that won’t happen).
But either way, the K-Fed wannabee’s are bound to make it cringeworthy.
Posted 09 Nov 2006 at 2:37 am ¶
Gandalf Mantooth wrote:
Anybody who knows rap history knows that Sage got the best of that one. dayum.
Posted 09 Nov 2006 at 5:20 pm ¶
Daniel wrote:
Is this seriously going to be a show!? I am always amazed at the crap that gets media air time. Did I read correctly that they are going to live in the South Bronx to test their ability to mesh with Black Culture?!! That is ridiculous! I live in the South Bronx and I can tell you that there are multiple different versions of black culture in the neighborhood. Which one will they pick? Oh yeah, let me guess, the ridiculously stereotyped “black hood culture” that MTV loves to proliferate? Yeah, that’s a great idea because we all know that the best of black culture is baggy jeans, gold teeth, timberlands, rap music, etc, etc. Just ridiculous. Anybody with two brain cells to rub together knows that the vast majority of black people are nothing like what is depicted in music videos and these idiotic, racist “reality” shows. Where did they get their story idea from? Borat? Thanks, now I’m disgusted right after lunch.
Daniel
Posted 14 Nov 2006 at 2:51 pm ¶
Jim wrote:
Yo, I think its hot that there making these people live in the South Bronx to get some other types of culture and a chance to break stereotypes for black and white people! Ego Trips is usually on point so if they back it, it must be creditiable.
Posted 04 Dec 2006 at 10:29 pm ¶
john ''DaRaptist'' wrote:
hey,
i started listening to what was called rap back in 79, now called hiphop. and at that time rap was a voice for the black people, i would go as far as to say a political voice. i’ve been writting hiphop for twenty five years and i am white. but over the years i’ve have been discusted with the message in hiphop.i feel it stereotypes blackpeople,woman and even desenceatizes people, young people in general. when you love an art but you feel like no one is letting in because you have a conious, and won’t sellout to what the money making message is what do you do? you don’t sell out , thats real hiphop! and this whitehiphop artist ant selling out. my message in hiphop is going to continue to be possitive and turn young people to the right direction.
Posted 26 Dec 2006 at 12:00 pm ¶
john ''DaRaptist'' wrote:
like da voice of one crying in the wilderness,
this is the day of salvation,da hour of deliverance, repentance and forgiveness wit da out pouring of da spirit, and if yall got ears yall best hear what da spirit of God is sayin,there won’t be no more gameplaying, nothing more remainin, but da words of God, all things are cast away, past away, these are da last days lets all fast and pray, forget about yesturday,tommorrow may not come, yall be looking in the eyes of where yall begun, the father and da son, da holyghost three in one. (one,one, one…)
yall will give account for every ounce da whole amount, da abundance of your heart, da outgoings of your mouth, wit every tribe, and every nation, past and present generations, all dat was, and all dat is ,since da beginning of Gods creation.
john ”DaRaptist” instruct2love@juno.com
Posted 26 Dec 2006 at 6:13 pm ¶
jamie radford wrote:
I’m really excited about this show.. If you want to see my complete sketch of the cast, with some predictions about the show, check out my blog — jamieradford.com/blog
Posted 29 Dec 2006 at 5:19 pm ¶
merq wrote:
Re: John “daRaptist”
are the kids still saying “da” and “dat?”
Posted 29 Dec 2006 at 6:43 pm ¶
Dwight wrote:
Anyone who hates on The (White) Rapper Show should take a look at this..
http://www.idolator.com/tunes/tv/a-few-lines-about-the-white-rapper-show-225748.php
Posted 05 Jan 2007 at 1:17 am ¶
Anonymous wrote:
yallllllllllllllllllllllllllll gay…………………
Posted 30 Jan 2007 at 5:26 pm ¶