If, when it was new/newish, white audiences, for whatever reasons, like to listen to black rappers addressing subjects in a manner that fits their perceptions of blackness, and record execs then identify that particular style/subject as being financially lucrative, then perhaps they're more likely to gamble on artists who deal with those market tested issues than they are on artists who, I don't know, rap about their experience as a gay male or about the importance of respecting women. Fast forward twenty or so years, and you have an entire generation of listeners and artists who have grown up with the expectation/understanding that hip-hop = x, y, and z. The above is all hypothetical, of course, and completely tangential to the discussion of Judd's comments, but the underlying point is that the potential impact of a largely white audience makes it impossible to realistically discuss hip-hop as the reflection of black culture alone.
Reply With Quote
