VH1 Goes More Than Skin Deep

originally published February 14, 2007

New VH1 television series "The (White) Rapper Show" has caused quite a stir, both among hip-hop listeners and Internet bloggers. Many have derided the show for perpetuating racial stereotypes, mocking white people, and casting a general air of silliness over hip-hop culture. Before the show’s first episode even aired, politically minded white rapper Sage Francis posted on his MySpace page an open letter to MC Serch, former member of the trendsetting group 3rd Bass and host of the show, scolding Serch for selling a gimmick as cheap as a show mocking white rappers.

Most of these commentators, unfortunately, have never really sat down to watch the show. In fact, a scanning of many bloggers’ comments on the show will reveal statements like “I watched the first 10 minutes, then I had to turn it off, it was so bad,” and the like. Ironically, some who indict the show for its superficiality have failed to evaluate the program on anything beyond a surface level.

The premise of the show is this: 10 white rappers are selected to live together in a house in Brooklyn. The rappers are confronted by several challenges, including, for example, one in which they go door to door in their neighborhood and perform for the mostly-black residents. There are also gags like a mock game show in which the rappers answer questions about black culture and black stereotypes. The gang also has the opportunity to meet and work with a veritable who’s-who of hip-hop history, rapping alongside members of the Geto Boyz and creating tracks with superproducer Just Blaze. Each episode, one rapper is eliminated based on a final rap-off, in which the contestant's lyrical skills are put to the test. The winner gets $100,000 and a record deal.

So, if "The (White) Rapper Show" isn’t just a cheap gag designed to mock white folks, what is it? It should first be noted that the show isn’t entirely a VH1 production, "Flavor of Love"-style. The production house principally in charge of the show's creation is Ego Trip, publisher of a now-defunct hip-hop magazine and several tongue-in-cheek books on race issues - Ego Trip's Big Book of Racism!, most notably - as well as several other hip-hop and race-focused shows for VH1. The group is well-respected in the hip-hop community, as evidenced by "The (White) Rapper Show"'s access to hip-hop greats such as Grandmaster Flash, Kool Keith and Just Blaze, who have all made appearances on the show.

At its best, the show is an examination of the rich diversity of hip-hop. As rap music and hip-hop culture have grown in popularity, they have adapted to fit into every culture they have touched. Japanese kids rap in Japanese, Parisian kids in French. And white kids rap within the context of their own diverse array of cultures as well.

With its 10 contestants, "The (White) Rapper Show" presents at least 10 different versions of whites in hip-hop. You’ve got Jus Rhyme, the ethnic studies major who raps about race relations; G-Child, the pint-sized “white trash” girl who raps about drinking beers on rooftops and riding on skateboards; Sullee, the cocky Bostonian who raps about girls and fighting; $hamrock, the Atlanta-raised Southern kid and former University of Georgia student, rhyming in a Dirty South flow about cars and grills; Persia, the weathered, Brooklyn-born hood girl with a lot to prove; and on and on.

Viewers who take the time to consider the show can appreciate it as a case study in these different personalities, an examination of the way in which rap music has become an important part of the lives of white kids who are far disconnected from the craft’s origins. Sure, the show has extremely funny moments. For example, when asked to make a music video, one group of male rappers produces the most gaudy, terrible version of hip-hop cliches imaginable: the guys rain dollar bills down on protruded posteriors while they rap about smoking weed and getting paid. Brilliant.

Wisely, though, the show doesn't cast the rappers' mistake in terms of their whiteness; it’s presented more as a mistake of youth and artistic immaturity, and a mistake that would almost certainly have been committed by young black rappers in the same position.

At its worst, the show is didactic: an attempt to “teach these white kids a lesson” about what hip-hop is really about. The cast is taken into Brooklyn neighborhoods, far from their comfort zone, and goofs on how poorly they fit in. But the lesson that viewers hopefully take from the show is that rappers of all backgrounds have legitimate claims to their own versions of hip-hop. Hip-hop has been marketed to white people for years. These people have dedicated themselves to creating their own music - white and otherwise - their own sound, their own style, and their own meaning.

VH1 airs new episodes of the show on Mondays at 10 p.m., and reruns air throughout the week. While imperfect, "The (White) Rapper Show" can and should serve as a springboard for discussion and deconstruction of our now-stagnating views of race and hip-hop. It’s about time that our thinking on these topics evolved, and programs like this may just help move us along.

Jamie Radford

Liner Notes is Flagpole's music commentary column. Former Athens (white) rapper Jamie Radford currently lives and works in Atlanta, and recently posted audio interviews with cast members of the show on his blog at www.jamieradford.com.