Journal
Article Analysis
Tiffanie
Cook
HUMN240-E1WW
Professor
Deborah Rosenstock
September
11, 2012
The article that was chosen was “Eminem
and the Tragedy of the White Rapper”. This article has a very different outlook
to white rappers. The article was written by Ian Verstegen and he writes about
the differences between white and black rappers. Verstegen discusses on how he
feels that so many white rapper artist fail and never get their careers up and
running, but most of all he discusses the well-known rapper Eminem. Verstegen
tries to figure out on what Eminem has done differently than any other white
rapper, and what techniques Eminem used to be very successful in his rapping
career. In my analysis for this article I will provide all of Verstegen main
points and decide whether or not I agree with them, and describe whether or not
I think this article is important to everyone’s knowledge.
One of the points that I do not agree
with is Verstegen states that white rap music ends up to be a bad influence for
the future. When the situation is compared with mainstream Jazz or Rock and
Roll, which has completely successfully co-opted the ancestral forms that were largely
a black invention, one can see how enforced the situation in rap is (Verstegen,
2011). This can only be due to the much enhanced notion that rap is identical
to violence and poverty in ways that other black musical forms were not. It is
high time to reflect on the fact that, for the most part, rap music has been a
tragedy for the white rapper and search for its causes (Verstegen, 2011).
Another point the author brings other
white rappers into the picture like Vanilla ice and Snow. White people do live
in urban, black settings, they do rap and even then they are perceived as
different, thus earning them the names we later scorn—‘‘Vanilla Ice,’’ ‘‘Snow’’
(Verstegen,
2011). There have been a lot of white rappers in the music industry that has
succeeded in this business. The comments that were made in this article were
racial to the music industry and along with the race. Verstegen wants rap music
to stay in the black man’s world and not in the White man world. The audience
for white rappers, on the other hand, is educated writers and journalists, even
academics (Verstegen, 2011).
I did not enjoy the article. I felt that
the author was out of line on how our culture reacts to music and how he thinks
that white rappers should fail. Eminem is very talented musician. The author
does show that Eminem is very strong and detailed in his music and what he
writes about, but he may have been in too much detail. I do not think that it
was relevant to bring up the detailed in the city that he rapped about. The
authors point was to bring mass media into his personal life and it was not
necessary. Eminem has proven society wrong that a white man can’t make it in a
black genre. He has taken the industry by storm and has conquered the black
market as well, and these are the points that the author brings up that come
across offensive.
This article is not important to me or
anyone else that reads this article. I feel that Eminem worked hard to get
where he is at as a talented musician. In the article is does give good incites
on how he r\writes his music and it shows that Eminem always has a story to
tell. Just like any other song that is out there. Eminem has a different style
that the popular culture enjoys. He may not show the style that everyone agrees
with, but it Eminem way of expressing how he grew up and how he had to grow up
in Detroit. Instead of talking about being poor and getting high or violent life,
he began to rap about his personal problems with his family and the way he
dealt with his fame (Verstegen, 2011).
Overall, Eminem is a great rapper, and
he blends in well with other rappers in every race. Verstegen talks about on
how the other white rappers did not make it but Eminem succeeded and will
continue to do so.
References
Verstegen, I. (2011).
Eminem and the tragedy of the white rapper. The Journal of Popular Culture.
Vol. 44, No. 4. Wiley Periodicals. Pgs. 872-889
Tiffany, you brought up some very good points in your analysis. I have to agree with you on this. Before I read this article, I didn't know that rappers were basically a "black" culture. Not that I'm a big rap fan but from what I have seen, I have never made the distinction that they were mostly black. The performers I have seen are both. And who's to say that whites can't make it in the rapper world as well. It's like saying, just because blacks appear to be better athletes, it doesn't mean that whites can't perform well in sports as too!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your article review. I also disagree that white rappers are not successful because rap music is considered to be black music. I agree that Eminem has been very successful as a rap artist. I am not a fan of rap music but I do know that rap music is not just for the black culture anymore and successful rappers are not all black.
ReplyDeleteTiffany,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your article analysis. More so because I did mine on the blues and B.B. King. It appears there is such a stigma attached to certain genres that they must be either black or white and cannot be just art of expression by anyone. It is not about competition but conveying thoughts, feelings and experiences no matter the color of your skin!
I really enjoyed the Franklin live presentation you gave on this article analysis. I want to fist start off by commending you on continuing to read the article after you seen the negative way that the author was trying to portray rap music. I personally know that it can be hard to receive information and have an unbiased outlook on it when you don't agree with the way the message is being delivered. I also have to agree with you that rap music is not just a black thing but has become more of a generational thing. It was also very brave of you to state your opinion of the author when you don't know if others will agree with you. Over all Good Job!!!
ReplyDeleteYes I agree this article was not entirely fair to white rappers. Although I do not know a large portion of white rappers the ones I have heard were very good. Music is not a black or white thing, it is the one thing in the universe that should transverse all races and creeds. All races enjoy all kinds of music from rock to classical, it should not be the sole property of one people but of all people. Great Post!!
ReplyDeleteI personally like Eminem and his music and I do not agree with the writers point of view. However I think you did a great job explaining the article and your own point of view. Color shouldn't be looked down upon when you are an artist, whether your a rapper or a rock artist. Its just another stupid stereotype.
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting because I don't see how anyone can argue with Eminem's success. Whether you like his music or not, he is as well known as any black rapper. It is interesting, however, how few successful white rappers there are. I remember when Eminem first became popular. I was a teenager and loved his music. Not that I could relate to it, I just thought he was "hot" and his lyrics were pretty interesting. I thought your analysis was really good, and I agree that the author was pretty hard on white rappers and I disagreed with a lot of the articles points.
ReplyDelete