White man can Rap !

For many years, Hip Hop belonged to "the black man." However, it was before long that the culture was adopted by people of other racial backgrounds. Hip Hop was founded in cities dominated by minorities (of Black or Latino background) and based on the lifestyles they lived.

Then came the "white boy" who wanted to bring light to his similar lifestyle, or the ones who solely enjoyed the music and adapted to the entire culture. For whatever reasons they had, the attraction of whites to Hip Hop culture only increased as it made its way into mainstream entertainment.

One of the first white rappers to recieve mainstream acceptance was Vanilla Ice. Vanilla ice had a short success but after his failure is when he can credit most of his celebrity life. Now a days, when you think of "white rapper" it is Eminem who comes to majority of minds. Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, gained acceptance for not only marketing himself as a white rapper, but because he gained the acceptance from black rappers for being "real." The stories in his lyrics of his broken homes and his drug addicted mother and unstable childhood proved struggle knows no one color, and the white man can rap.

At first, Hip Hop was considered too violent, too vulgar and it was simply too much for mainstream but when it proved to sell, and to attract all races, it was exploited into the various ways it had potential to sell in.

The White rapper show, a reality TV show on VH1 about unsigned caucasian rappers, is an example of how Hip Hop is marketed to the white audience.