Am I contributing to white people stealing Hip-Hop from black culture?

Heavy question, I know. It came to me during my time interning at Christian Hip-Hop news organization Rapzilla. I love music in general, particularly Hip-Hop. I started listening to the genre back in 2008. I never really got into mainstream Hip-Hop until 2016, and even now I limit my consumption due to the messages the genre produces. As my childhood began to disappear, the music industry became more and more of a staple in my life. So much so, that I’ve decided I want to become a music journalist. So I got the internship with Rapzilla. Let me tell y’all, it’s  been fantastic.

Except that question.

The more time I spent working and interacting with artists, producers and others involved with CHH the more I felt disconnected. I am a Caucasian that grew up surrounded by farmland and more Caucasians. I could probably count on one hand, before I started my internship, how many friends I had with a different skin color. Those minority cultures were mostly a mystery to me, and it became more and more apparent as I worked within CHH.

Caucasians are notorious for taking aspects from other cultures, especially African-American culture, and integrating it into their lives. I’ve heard some African-American people say, “white people don’t have a culture,” because we take so many ideas from them. Taking these ideas wouldn’t be a problem if the money and resources generated from those ideas weren’t also taken. Moreover, Hip-Hop is an underdog driven genre. Its serious side has always generally broadcasted a message of succeeding as the underdog in life. The songs that tell of making stacks, selling dope and having big chains aren’t glorifying those things. Some artists and songs do glorify them, but the majority are about how African-Americans got out of the ghettos by those means. Hip-Hop at its core is about beating the suppression of poverty and racism. Middle- and upper-class Caucasians don’t have to deal with the suppression Hip-Hop narrates. So the influx of Caucasians into Hip-Hop has made some claim that we have tainted the genre and morphed it into what we want.

So are white people stealing Hip-Hop from black people? Although it may seem like it from what I have said, I don’t think so. If anything, white people have helped push the genre to where it is today.

While middle and upper class Caucasians, myself included, mostly don’t fully understand what Hip-Hop is at its core, but we still enjoy the music. Because we enjoy it, we put our money and resources into it, boosting the genre’s income. It also inspires great white artists. Guys such as Eminem, Mac Miller and Andy Mineo would have never touched a microphone if white people weren’t allowed into the genre. There are also Caucasian business men who know how to manage money, resources and people to grow an industry. While some artist may alter their content to appeal to the Caucasian audiences, there are still plenty of artists who have not compromised their sound and stuck to their African-American roots. Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Denzel Curry, Logic (some may disagree), Lil Wayne and many others out there still hold true to their sound. So no, Caucasians have not killed Hip-Hop’s core. 

People sometimes choose to look at the negative side of things. Yes, Hip-Hop has had an influx of Caucasians that don’t understand “the struggle,” but a main reason why Hip-Hop has become a world-wide banger of a genre is because of Caucasian support.

Isn’t that what is at the heart of music anyways? That people can come together and have a good time? I think so, and Hip-Hop is accomplishing that goal.