White Artist Privledge in Music is it real to you?

The worst example was the rumoured 1991 meeting of executives, some say this is rubbish and just an urban legend, but it must have a kernel of truth. Basically the rise of pop rap in the late 80s and early 90s (Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer, 3rd Bass, Heavy D, Fresh Prince etc) caused some of the record companies to have a meeting and decide that their shares in Private Prisons could make more money, if they ahd more felons to do free work for local authorities and groups and they keep the money.

Problem was that crime rates were not increasing enough and maybe we needed some more felons, particularly Black and Latin ones, as they are generally better workers. Basically if the companies could promote rap with harder lyrics and beats with songs glorifying gun crime, drug usage and supply and glamorising being drunk, high, raping bitches, killing niggas and all this other shit, then some of these impressionable men will end up in jail pressing licence plates for the state of Illinois or some shit like that.

It seemed the government plan to put crack in the hood had not doen enough. But with all these new songs and groups like Snoop Dogg and Junior Mafia, Bone Thugs etc joining NWA, it seemed that gang violence was being glorified by shitty rap music and crime rates went up, all of the sudden people were having their caps peeled back and White run companies were spending money trying to find hardcore thugs and bangers like Jay Z (How the mighty have fallen) and 50 cent to make nihilistic rap songs. The plan backfired as white kids got into this music too, yet now a conscious rap group can't have big hits and music is dominated by people like 17 year old Lil Pump who raps about selling drugs, fucking bitches, shooting people and drinking lean and then songs about girls singing about their pussies being licked out.




This video breaks it down as far as it goes, but there is heaps of this stuff on Youtube, some of it is a bit crazy though mentioning the Illuminati. Obscene rap lyrics have also dehumanised the performers now that we are no longer Black men and women, but niggas and hoes/bitches in this shit music and several rappers like Rick Ross are not even gangbangers but just middle class cats acting out this shit.

I'm sorry but this makes no sense to me. First of all, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and Adele are all British. The UK is upwards of 87% white according to the latest census. How does being white put them at a significant advantage compared to their competitors, who are most likely also white? Second, who decides that Whitney is "vastly more talented" than Adele, for example? Both are skilled vocalists but Adele is a better songwriter - and you could argue that Whitney had an advantage over Adele in being 'prettier' and more marketable in that sense. As for your point about artists like Whitney, Prince and MJ never getting the same kind of recognition and exposure as their white peers... seriously? They are universally regarded as three of the biggest stars of the 80s and 90s. The only one that could match their level of fame and success is perhaps Madonna, and it's not like she didn't need to fight for that recognition either. If you're comparing their ability to sell out stadiums later in life to current white artists, I'd say that's more of a generational gap and it's absolutely no different for older white artists. I can't even remember the last time I heard a new Elton John record on the radio. 

Lastly, Rihanna has more Grammys than Madonna. What is your point? Have a look at the Grammy awards + nominations list. You can't seriously be arguing that black artists are underrepresented? Beyoncé has 22 Grammys fgs. Kanye and Jay-Z have more Grammys than Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney. Purely based on statistics, it is entirely normal and natural that there are more successful white artists than black artists in any Western country because that's what you'd expect when the overwhelming majority of the population is white (esp. outside of the US). 

It is also not remotely racist for Europeans or Asians not to identify with traditionally African-American genres like jazz or hip-hop as much as with generic catchy pop music (whether it be by Taylor Swift or Rihanna). If it is, then you have to be consistent and say African-Americans are also racist for not listening to European folk music or Korean Pop. Everyone has certain cultural biases towards things that sound or look familiar to them and that's perfectly fine. It makes it all the more exciting when the lines between these cultures are blurred and we get exposed to new sounds - although some people try to shut this down by calling it 'cultural appropriation'. 

And while we're on the topic of cultural appropriation (sorry for the rant), why is it never acknowledged how much hip-hop samples classical music or how much ballet has influenced urban dance styles? People act like cultural borrowing is a one-way street, with black artists as the creators and white artists as the thieves. Reality is much more nuanced. 

To answer the thread question: I think both white artists and black artists have certain privileges, depending on the genre and the market they're targeting. A black artist is privileged in performing traditional 'black' music because he is seen as more authentic and relatable. People often cite Eminem as a successful white artist doing 'black' music but he is very much the exception to the rule and he had to work damn hard to be taken seriously as a white rapper. Eminem actually did have a pretty rough childhood but a lot of people dismissed him out of hand and said he couldn't relate to life on the streets whereas someone like Kanye West, who comes from an upper middle-class background, never had to struggle to get that recognition or credibility. I also feel that people are generally more hesitant to criticise black pop artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna or Nicki Minaj because they don't want to be perceived as racist, whereas their white peers are judged much more harshly (some would say objectively).

On the other hand, if a black artist and a white artist both perform a similar style of music, there will be a part of the public that favours the artist of their own race regardless of merit. And since white people make up a much bigger portion of the public, this privileges white artists. Although I do believe this is becoming a less significant factor with each generation, as is evident by the disproportionate number of successful black pop artists today. 

Yep, you totally got me
You just managed to pack 4 strawmen into 3 sentences. That's impressive even for you. Not going to address any of it; other readers can simply read my previous post and see that I never said any of the things mentioned above.
That's because blues and traditional R&B are niche genres, they don't appeal to the broader public. The same is true for niche white genres like heavy metal or country music (outside of certain regions of the US). If you think that's racist then like I said, be consistent. If Europeans are racist for not caring about traditional African-American music then African-Americans are racist for not caring about traditional European music. It's as simple as that. Or we can simply acknowledge that people have certain cultural biases towards that which is familiar to them and that's not a nefarious thing, nor is it unique to white people. 

As for the history lesson in the rest of your post, I already said that cultural appropriation was more of a genuine problem in previous generations. This thread is about white artist privilege today though. Let's not pretend like things haven't improved for black artists since 1917. 

No, disproportionate is the word I wanted to use because the number of successful black artists today is way out of proportion to the share of black people in the population. In the US, black people make up around 13% of the population (compared to 61% whites) yet as you say, over the past three years between 33-50% of best selling albums were produced by black artists. I don't think it's fair or realistic to expect perfectly equal representation between white and black artists when there are almost 5 times more white people than black people in society. If anything, the group that is really underrepresented here are Hispanics, who make up around 18% of the population in the US but have only a handful of successful artists either in music or in film.


That is a problem but it affects both white artists and black artists. White artists are told they can't touch black music because that's cultural appropriation; black artists are told they are sell outs when they cross over to a white audience. Boxing artists in like this doesn't just come from white people, other races do it too (accusations of cultural appropriation and selling out tend to come from black people). I'm not denying that racism is still a problem or that actual cultural appropriation exists - I'm just trying to bring a little nuance into the conversation because I feel like some people go overboard with the "white artists steal everything from black artists and don't deserve their success".