The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Aragon Outlook.
Last summer, Iggy Azalea dominated the radio with her song “Fancy.” This year she is poised to receive several Grammy awards, which has led to some controversy regarding Azalea being the current face of hip-hop. The controversy is over the fact that hip-hop has historically served as an outlet for African Americans to voice the realities of inner city life—the genre itself embodying black empowerment.
Thus, the question becomes: should a white female be the face of hip-hop at the expense of the genre’s black roots?
The simple answer is yes. Much like the evolution of rock, hip-hop should be open to artistic interpretation by many artists—regardless of color.
Yet this issue still persists because of its emotional complexities. Black rapper Azealia Banks claimed last month that white encroachment of hip-hop is indicative of “black culture being smudged out.” Historically, rap was not simply a method by which members of the black community expressed their daily hardships. It was also a creative outlet to counteract the greater issues of oppression and racism.
Unfortunately, racism is still present today—giving greater resolve to preserve the sanctity of hip-hop not only as a music genre but more importantly as a cultural movement. Some critics see Azalea’s success as a blatant disregard and disrespect for all that hip-hop has thrived on.
On the surface, it appears that hip-hop is under siege by white people—that whites are out to invade, conquer and dominate yet another form of music that was born black.
Just look what happened to rock. With the prominence of legendary rock groups such as Queen, Pink Floyd and Elvis Presley, it is easy to forget that Rock began as a medley of Black musical genres. To this end, the declaration, “history repeats itself!” could very well foreshadow a similar fate for the future of hip-hop—a future in which hip-hop is dominated by white rappers while the origins of the genre slip from the forefront of people’s minds.
Now it is easy to fall trap to the realization that Iggy Azalea is only one white artist in a genre that is largely black. But again, look what happened after Elvis—he bridged the musical differences between black and white and went on to pioneer what is largely considered a white-dominated genre in rock.
Let us really examine hip-hop’s race issue. Azalea is a white hip-hop artist. She is not the only one. Nor is she the only hip-hop artist who is not black. Awkwafina is a talented asian-american hip-hop artist on Youtube. Alunageorge is a diverse electro-hip-hop group from England. Granted these artists may not be as well-known as the renowned Iggy Azalea, but that is exactly where the point of contention lies.
Yet this point would not be complete without mentioning the legendary Eminem. Like Azalea, he is also a white hip-hop artist. But unlike Azalea, Eminem’s background is rooted in overcoming poverty and hardship—a thread of similarity that, perhaps, allows his success to be less controversial. Simply put, Iggy Azalea is a foreigner in the truest sense. She is white. She is an Australian. She did not survive the inner city hardships native to hip-hop. So the real issue here is: should we allow someone—an outsider—who is not black to succeed in a genre that is historically black?
Now why does that question sound so eerily familiar? Oh yes. That is because it is reminiscent of the racism and oppression that blacks and minorities faced and continue to face today. To the aforementioned, I offer the following mentality consistent with that line of thinking:
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Should we allow someone—an outsider—who is [insert name of minority here] to succeed in [an environment] that is historically [White]?
Interestingly enough, hip-hop was brought to life as a means of countering oppression and racism. Racism—the act of excluding and discriminating a race. So, just for the sake of clarity, hip-hop was brought to life as a means of countering the act of excluding and discriminating a race. How interesting.
The point is that Azalea’s success should not instigate such outcry when taken at face value. To say that this issue is black and white is to disregard the grayness that lies beneath the surface of this issue—the surface of the artist. At its heart, art is a colorful medium that thrives on depicting a diversity of expression on the canvas of life; hip-hop is no exception (or foreigner) to this purpose and neither is Azalea.
