Where were you when you first heard Post Malone's single, "White Iverson?" I remember being at a friend's place with someone controlling the aux and the song being played. And when I heard the song, I didn't know what the artist looked like, I just knew the song was a banger. The production, the melodic flow, everything about the song was top notch, an instant classic on first listen.
It was so good, I had to find out more about the artist. I found out the artist name was Post Malone and that he was Caucasian, had braids and gold teeth. Personally, I didn't care what he looked like. I'm the type of person who still likes Milli Vanilli songs even though they didn't sing it because if the song is good, it's good, but how he looked like did
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And you have to understand the severity of culture vulturing. Even the highest selling rapper of all time Eminem had to admit on his song, "Without Me" that he made money off the culture in the way of the lyric, "I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley, to do black music so selfishly, and use it to get myself wealthy."
So, when you are potential seen as a culture vulture because of the way you look, you have to really convince everyone that you aren't. And for Post Malone, it wasn’t easy and he was subsequently asked about it in interviews. In one particular interview on the Breakfast Club, Charlemagne Tha God directedly asked, "Are you afraid as a white rapper that you may be considered a culture vulture?" Post Malone's answer in 2015 is really why he's successful currently. Post Malone answered the question and said, "I'm not scared because I'm not trying to be anybody that I'm
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But Post Malone proved us all wrong and knew it. On his mixtape, "August 26" he said on his song, "Hollywood Dreams/Comedown" the lyric, "They thought I was fuckin done with Iverson, but I'm still balling on these bitches, let them know."
And on top of his massive success in his single, "Rockstar" his debut album, "Stoney" is also doing extremely well, well after its release now being four times platinum and generating four platinum singles. Now as of right now, Post Malone is currently the most streamed artist in the world with over three billion collective streams across Spotify and Apple Music. The crazy part is not even Post Malone envisioned this success.
In an interview with Paper Magazine this past month, Post Malone said, "I don't even understand how I got where I am and how I did it. It doesn't make sense to me." Now based on numbers, his current success in music and streaming, it's clear that his upcoming album, "Beerbongs And Bentleys" will turn him into a superstar, so the music world needs to start preparing now because a storm is coming. And just like Donald Trump becoming president, In 2015 when Post Malone released, "White Iverson" nobody saw this coming. Not even Post
Hip-hop culture has been a global phenomenon for more than twenty years. When introduced into the American culture, the black culture felt that hip-hop had originated from the African American community. The black community was being denied their cultural rights by the supremacy of the white people, but hip-hop gave the community the encouragement to show their black pride and televise the struggles they were facing in the world. The failure and declining of the movements, the influential, rebellious, and powerful music is what reshaped Black Nationalism, unity and to signify the struggle. The African Americans who suffered from social and political problems found that they similar relations to the political movements, which allowed the blacks to be able to voice their opinions and to acknowledge their culture openly.
Hip hop is a culture, it is a way many people use to connect to one another, it allowed many African Americans to express their own point of view in their story. But in the early 2000’s it became commercialized and went from storytelling from many perspectives like a party, politics, self-celebration, and gangstas to consisting of mainly of the lives of hustler, pimps, and hoes. Though it has become quite profitable and a successful form of music it cause arguments in American of whether it is more detrimental than beneficial to black community. Hip hop is in fact in a crisis and critics of hip hop believe it is just angry stories of black males and females but do not see it as proof that black behavior was created from the condition of living in a ghetto.
The purpose of this study is determine why and how African American music that’s is so deeply rooted into the community is being culturally appropriated. This is a topic that has been the on the foreground of race for years. Activists and celebrities like Adrienne Keene, DeRay McKesson, Azealia Banks, and Jesse Williams helped bring the issue into the national attention. Most of the world or better yet the appropriators have very little knowledge of what the word actually means. In order to understand the problem we must first understand the word Culture and Appropriation. Culture being defined as the beliefs, ideas, traditions, speech, and material objects associated with a particular group of people. Appropriation the action of taking something
All of the articles dealt with hip hop as an industry and how that industry is portrayed to African Americans through the commercialization of hip hop and stereotypes in society. The articles also discuss how that portrayal influences the opinions of African Americans to others and themselves.
I was so interested in the truth that I suspended my assumptions about West as I pursued more information through research, giving me an objective lens. It truly rattled me to have been so wrong in my assumptions, it felt weird to know that because of something I didn’t know, I had believed something. It genuinely shook my self-confidence. I really prided myself on my knowledge of Hip-Hop, I thought I knew all the classic albums, how could I have overlooked this one for so long? So, jolted by this sting of self embarrassment, I searched further, I wanted to know what else I had been oblivious to. It became increasingly clearer to me that there were two completely opposite views about Kanye, the more popular view: he’s a worthless egotistical pop star, who’s created nothing of value, and, as I was shocked to learn over time, the informed view, and the truth, that he was and is one the most influential artists of the 21’st
However, that is not the case. White artists are taking the styles and genres of African Americans and turning them into a mockery, and on top of all that, they are being rewarded for it. When said they turn these styles into mockery, it means that they change up the style into something completely different than what it originally was. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are prime examples of artists appropriating hip-hop. “During the 2013 MTV’s Video Music Award, artists Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won an award for best hip-hop video, beating popular African American hip hop artists. Two white men won an award for appropriating hip-hop. Hip hop originated from African Americans, and having a two white artists win an award for misusing our culture’s music is not acceptable” (Cadet). In hip hop, African American artists talked about their plight as African American men and about the struggles growing up. However, these white artists won an award for just taking the style and talking about anything important. They do not talk about their plight because they do not have one comparable to African Americans. They do like musicians did in the past: take the music from African Americans, and then take away the color. “But we cannot blame individual white artists for the inequitable way they are received by the American public—the way their performance of black cultures is
The group I would like to be apart of is G.O.O.D Music. G.O.O.D is an acronym for “Getting out our dreams.” This group is a recording label founded by Kanye West, who is also a music artists signed under G.O.O.D Music. They do have other music artists in the group such as, John Legend, Big Sean and Pusha T. Kanye west is actually the main reason why I would like to join the label. Throughout this paper I 'm going to address who Kanye West is, what I can learn from being in the group, and why I think I fit well with G.O.O.D Music.
As hip hop culture became prevalent in pop culture, so did black culture. Hip hop stems from black struggle. Their vernacular, songs, and spiritual ways were different from what whites were used to. Their different lifestyle of “living on the edge” was intriguing yet inaccessible for the whites living among them. Thus, this initiated America’s fascination with the culture. It became about what people assume and perceive about black people rather than what they actually are. In essence, an essential to cool is being on the outside, looking in. In the media and celebrities today,
Kanye Omari West, rapper, producer, professional celebrity, and with an ego to match, has forced himself into the limelight of the music industry. Kanye West has made a lasting impression on all of those around him, whether it be a good one or bad. With seven full length albums, a multimillion record label company, and a successful fashion business all under his belt, it’s fair to say that Kanye has done his fair share of creating. Over the last twelve years Kanye went from a young Chicago kid just trying to get his flows off, to one of the most decorated musicians of all time. With over 20 Grammy’s and 3 of his albums ending up on the Rolling stones “500 greatest albums of all time”. He has continuously created, entertained, and spoken his mind for years. Whether it be “George Bush does not care about black people” or “Taylor imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
Now artists can post a song on a music streaming service and become viral because of social media. The events that Post Malone talks about in his songs provide great imagery as to what becoming famous is. To infer, the evidence Post Malones has in his music provides great information on what may become the future of the hip-hop
Black culture in our society has come to the point where it is allied with pop culture. The most popular music genres, slang terms, to dance forms it all comes from black culture. Hip hop emerged from black culture, becoming the soul of it that is seen in the media. Hip hop helped the black community by creating new ways of expressing themselves, from breakdance, graffiti, rap and other music, to slang. This culture was rooted in their tradition and created from something new. Hip hop created a new form of music that required the use of turn tables, ‘cuts’, loops, rhythm, rhyme, stories, and deep-rooted emotions, but also incorporated black oral forms of storytelling using communal authors.
Now that you understand his childhood, you can understand his music much clearly. His music isn't about killing cops or raping a girl, but of hope for people like him out they're selling drugs to survive. He gives the clear message of hope to everyone who makes the effort and realizes that drugs isn't the way to go and to never give up on life and to live life to the fullest.
Rap music has given me personally something to look up to. Not a role model but hope of continuing my dreams because rappers successfully made it. “For what’s money without happiness, or hard times without the people you love” is from a song called “Love Yourz” by J. Cole. He clearly understands how there is “beauty in the struggle and ugliness in the success” because he’s lived that life. Other songs such as “2Face” or “The Autograph” were instantly relatable to me because he has been through several struggles from the beginning of his childhood. Cole’s father left when he was six leaving his mother and younger brother alone. Cole became “the man of the house” but becoming a rapper is not as easy as it seems. Cole’s messages in these two songs are relative because I too, have had several issues with my mother and father creating a sense of lonesome. Hearing music like Coles helped me overcome my
His Comeback: How he turned his act around, started spending more time with family, and making better music.