CrowleyHead
Well-known member
That's actually funny because I can't think of anyone more authentically hip-hop in my definition who's white, than Tim Westwood. Whereas if you're say, the staff of Stones Throw, I tend to be very very judgmental because they're trying so hard to be this version of hip-hop that has less of a place in the momentum. "Oh dude, what about these leftovers!"
Pyramids and Tea actually hit on what I'm getting at with white dilution resulting in something else. In the regards of being close to the pure forms, they're actually not cutting it, by far. But in what they result in, where they end up taking it, can be entirely rewarding. But you can't always hold it up to the standards of the genre itself. In the case of Bowie, his take on soul did actually have fans in the soul genre. Young Americans, "Fame" especially, were big hits in the R&B market in America. That isn't like, biographical rock-writer myth. And Bowie, for all his success, has always been a relatively cultish figure in the US, so its much easier for him to slip into the R&B crowd on occasion.
When referring to white rappers though, the problem is always that they very rarely adhere their takes to the genre. I guess there's something about the misplacement of rapper's ego and identity that forces them to overtly embody characteristics that's true to them. So say, Eminem, who with Dre was an awkward but not unreasonable hip-hop figure, now stands out like a sore thumb because everything he does has this arena rock filter because he has an audience who cannot be maintained with rap rules.
Interesting someone brought up 3rd Bass as being subtle and blending though, because I'd NEVER say that about them. They certainly fit the parameters of what a rap group should've sounded like at that time, but again, there's something slightly off. The inherent need to police their fellow whites was v.... cute.
