Ok so this "rap"(N.W.A. days) started off in the ghetto's and was only heard by ghetto ears. There was no youtube and there was no rap on MTV so white kids knew nothing about it. At first a black kid in the middle class in the suburbs wouldn't have even heard it. Then finally N.W.A made it unto MTV and rap made it from just being some noise in the ghetto that could be a small fad to something that people across the country eventually heard and learned about rather they liked it or not. Still wasn't really mainstream though. Then around the early 2000's whites who listened to rap were really considered wiggers(at least where I stayed).
Before we go any further, let's fix your timeline.
I won't go into everything but I'll hit the main points. Rap originated in the South Bronx, NY during the early 70s (yes, that's as ghetto as it gets). Over the next few years it expanded throughout NYC largely through house parties, park jams, underground tapes and some popular 12" singles (back in the days of actual "records"). By 1979, The Sugarhill Gang released "Rapper's Delight" which would become rap's first mainstream nationwide hit. For millions that don't live in NY this was their 1st exposure to hip hop.
Fast forward a few years to Run-DMC. 2 rock infused singles were not only hits on the streets but endeared them to a number of white kids,
Rock Box from their self-titled debut album (one of, if not the 1st rap video to gain airplay on MTV) and
King of Rock from their 2nd album of the same name. Then, for
Raising Hell, the groups 3rd album, the lead single was the re-imagining of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" assisted by the rockers, themselves. This made them full-fledged superstars. With these 3 albums they had rap's 1st gold album, 1st platinum album & rap's first album to ship gold (meaning pre-orders for the album exceeded 500,000 copies). Being that hip hop's core audience actually buys a very small percentage of albums, it stands to reason, the group had a large white following. It should also be noted that this is about the time LL Cool J, Public Enemy and of course our very first white rap stars, The Beastie Boys, all started to gain national exposure.
Fast-forward another few years to NWA. They did a couple of things. They helped pioneer gangsta-rap, practically creating the sub-genre. 2nd, they sold a whole lot of albums with hardly any radio play or any play from MTV. The network actually banned the group's video for "Straight Outta Compton." They made it onto MTV because rap's overall growing popularity could no longer be denied and the network made an attempt to garner some of that audience for themselves and created "Yo! MTV Raps". NWA's own popularity was largely based not only on the fact they cursed & used the N-word, but they were actually deemed dangerous. The FBI had a file on them and all sorts of parent-groups & politicians denounced them. As is always the case, that just made them more popular with kids of all races. The 3rd thing they did was let the world know that rap was no longer just a NY art form (even though they weren't really the first non-NY rappers).
So well before 2000 there was a huge white rap audience, this is no new phenomena. It's estimated that at any given point in the artform's history, white people purchase anywhere from half to three-quarters of the genre's albums. What is fairly new is that white rap fans, like the rest of us, who were into it from the beginning (or at least its infancy) are getting older. Seeing 30-something white guys bumping (insert hot rapper here) is growing in frequency.
But now in 2009 anyone can listen to rap and not stand out doing it. I've seen scene white girls with only 1 black friend listen to some rap songs, goth guys like some artist. I had plenty of rednecks at my school who listen to rap.
Unless they have a skinhead or live in Alabama or Mississippi, any white person listening to rap doesn't even warrant a 2nd glance as they pass by. It's just normal now.
My question is why hasn't rock made it's way into the black community as hard and do you think it ever will?
I don't know if it's blacks not being open enough or if it's just the way the music is and more importantly how it's marketed.
I mean, why do rich white kids who live in the richest of suburbs and probably have never seen more than 10 black people at one time in person enjoy listening to The Game talk about how his life was in Compton?
My only guess is that mainstream rap that's on the radio mainly talks about getting money and girls which every guy wants no matter the race.
umm that's all I got.
Anyone else got any ideas or know the answer?
Blacks make up what 20% of the country, how did this rap thing spread to all races and social classes while rock music doesn't exist to the average black or mexican?
I think I answered how "this rap thing spread to all races and social classes." But there needs to be more historical context added to that side of the equation. Since the abolition of slavery, whatever has become popular among blacks, especially in fashion & entertainment, eventually became popular among whites, generally through the teenagers first who saw embracing the newest black thing as rebellious &/or hip. Eventually, as they get older & their parents become more accepting said activity was just integrated into mainstream pop culture without much fuss. Musically, this happened with both jazz and rock.
Conversely, blacks haven't openly embraced white trends & fads as much because what seems to be an intrinsic need, stemming from slavery, to differentiate ourselves from whites. Enjoying things thought to be enjoyed mostly by white people is seen as wanting to be white and/or distancing oneself from the black heritage, maybe even being ashamed of it and getting shamed for it. So to this day, in any black neighborhood you hear a conversation like...
Black Person 1: You heard that song by Kings of Leon?
Black Person 2: Who?
Black Person 1: Kings of Leon.
Black Person 2: That a rock group or something?
Black Person 1: Yeah.
Black Person 2: C'mon man, that's white folks music. I can't get wit that.
Nice segue to rock & roll, right? Anyhoo...
Go back to rocks roots in the early 1950s and you'll find a black artform. By the late 50s/early 60s, large record companies basically ripped it from the pioneers. The belief was, they could sell more records by putting white faces to the songs. Publishing rights to the early songs were either purchased for cheap or ignored and they were remade by white artists. Some companies that did have black artists recording for them, put pictures of whites on the album covers. And of course, the so-called King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley has a catalogue filled with songs that were originally made by black artists. Black audiences simply became turned off to the artform. That disdain has been passed on from generation to generation. Combine this with that intrinsic need thing I was saying and rock has become doubly taboo in the hood.
black culture is different, it basically put things on to the table and if you don't accept it and live by that way you're an outcast.
FoSi said:
but if you look at the blacks , they cant fall into a certain group and be accepted right off the back...
So basically, there's a lot of truth in these 2 quotes but I've given you at least a large chunk of the why.
It is changing. Slowly but its changing. The popularity with kids of "American Idol" and Disney Channel artists who not only act but sing is helping speed the process up a bit. As well as the increasing amount of interracial relationships and bi-racial children.
