The article by David Hayes entitled Fear of (And Fascination With) a Black Planet: The Relocation of Rap by White Non-Urban Youth was basically about whiggers, i.e. white kids who dress and act in a hip hop fashion. Hayes uses a Canadian suburb for his study. He brings up the issue of these kids having no connection with the black community. They therefore get all of their information from rap songs, which is rarely true to the actual circumstances present in reality; it is more of a caricature. Overall, I think that the article is very critical of white hip hop fans in general. This raises the question of what it means to be able to identify as hip hop. Can a white person identify as hip hop? Does one have to be urban? What is the subcultural capital for this scene? If it IS race and urbanity, why is the subcultural capital so stringent? Does being white go against the basic ideals of hip hop?
For Discussion:
Do you have to be black to be hip hop?
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