BlaqueKnight said:

SeventeenDayze said:

I didn't say "white rap" I said "white rapper", meaning the actual person who was rapping was white. I find it curious that you didn't mention the Beastie Boys but I think although they were white they were not "white rappers" in the sense that they were specifically groomed (initially) to be on so-called mainstream radio. They made appearance on black music shows and it was probably because they were not trying to rip anybody off. They were feisty kids from NYC that were on the heels of a genre of music that was about to explode. These days, rap is in its 3rd generation more or less, so the novelty of rap isn't the same as it was during the Beastie Boys time.

The problem is that there are many songs or acts that eventually get what is referred to as cross over appeal but you all know that cross over appeal has always and forever will be referring to people who are white and live in non-urban areas. To say that the music industry doesn't use these phrases and other terminology would be a bit naive.

And who said Iggy was attractive? Just because she's blonde? I swear, some of the most mediocre non-black chicks stay getting a pass but a black woman has to be Halle Berry to be considered hot? That boggles the mind especially given that the vast majority of rappers in the game now are hideous (i.e. Rick Ross)

But, I guess there is something deeply imbedded in the psyche of black American men that makes them more likely to accept mediocrity from white women but just step right over an above-average black woman. If you need impirical or ancedotal evidence, I can start a new thread and chat about it there.

All I'm saying is that this Iggy chick is a blatant knockoff of Nicki Minaj. She drops two singles and become the "savior" of hip-hop. Meanwhile Nicki Minaj is being shown as a hater and you guys are buying into it hook, line and sinker. I can't think of any other group in this country that so willfully cheers on their cultural artifacts being co-opted by other groups when you seldom, if ever, see the opposite happen. Never.

[Edited 7/13/14 10:46am]

[Edited 7/13/14 10:50am]

First off, I'm not "buying into" anything.

I don't know where you are getting this "savior of hip-hop" stuff from but Iggy is just one artist and she is not a savior of anything as far as I can see.

You find it curious that I didn't mention The Beasty Boys?

Beasty Boys - also pop rappers before there was pop rap. There. I said "there were others." I don't have to list every freaking pop rapper there ever was and I won't.

You are saying Iggy is a blatant knockoff but she's being groomed by T.I.

"Pu$$y" doesn't sound anything like Nicki and that's the first song I heard from her. Nothing off Ignorant Art was biting NIcki's flow. Is "Fancy" biting Nicki? Hell yes. Before, she was just a chick rapping; now she has millions invested in her and those investors expect to see returns on their investments.

When Nicki dropped, I thought she was a chick with a unique style and a cool flow, even though the first pics we saw of her was her biting Lil' Kim's pose. Eventually, given time, she proved herself to be very different from Kim. Will that happen for Iggy? Don't know. WHo's to say? If she keeps biting, she will lose her buzz. She was probably under the gun by the label. It paid off for her.

For what its worth, I have never said anything negative about Nicki's style or her flow. I was posting about Nicki on here before she was big, too. Becoming a pop artist doesn't say anything about your level of talent but rather how popular you are.

As far as Iggy being attractive - black American men ain't buying her damn records, young white girls and guys are her main fan base. Now try and tell them she's not attractive and see how far it gets you. That's where the money is coming from now. Look at her shows on youtube and look at the audience.

[Edited 7/13/14 23:29pm]

I didn't say a word about buying albums. Go back and carefully read what I wrote.

The "savior" comment was in reference to a Forbes magazine article.

Maybe this was already answered in this 4page thread but is that Missy Elliot on the cover fixing Iggy's hair?...LOL...

BlaqueKnight said:

MotownSubdivision said:

SeventeenDayze said: I wouldn't say it's another way of saying "white rapper" since I (nor anyone else) would use the term to describe Eminem and his music. But honestly, Iggy is pretty much a pop artist in rapper's clothing. Macklemore can at least be given credit for hustling on his own label for many years dropping mixtape until he broke through the mainstream ceiling; at least he had a natural progression to his fame (though winning all those Grammys and that prosthetic nose stunt hurt his popularity) but The Heist just was not a pure hip hop album, it was hip pop; the very genre that Iggy is an act of though like Macklemore, is being pushed as though she's this real deal, authentic, game-changing deity that that rap game needs. #Politics

Nonsense. I was calling Eminem a pop rapper ages ago. MC Hammer was a pop rapper. Nicki Minaj is a pop rapper...and YES, Iggy Azalea is a pop rapper, too. Vanilla Ice was a pop rapper just like Ja Rule was. LL Cool J - pop rapper before there was pop rap. Drake - pop rapper. Wayne - pop rapper. (but he wasn't always so; he transformed like Kanye) Black Eyed Peas became pop rappers willingly. Macklemore is a pop rapper, too. There are quite a few others, but they exist. Everybody started somewhere and grinded to be successful.

Its not coded talk. Pop rappers rap for the pop charts and/or become pop successes. Pitbulll - pop rapper. Flo Rida? Yep.

Now, somebody pull up my thread on Iggy from a couple of years ago. I called it back then. I also said something similar about Nicki and there they are. Some people are destined for pop stardom. They wanted to make Karmin a huge pop rap act but I guess Amy wouldn't lose 150 lbs. or so. (her boyfriend/other half of the group)

They are a footnote at this point. I guess its easier to imitate a Busta Rhymes flow than it is to create one, eh?

When Iggy dropped pu$$y, I knew she was gonna be a star. She just had broke brothas managing her career. TIP heard and saw what any good marketer would see; a good-looking chick who could flow if she focused. She's a marketing dream. Don't blame Iggy for her success. She is what mainstream pop audiences want and it is their support that has made her famous. Everybody loves to hear an attractive woman talk uninhibitedly about sex. Foxy Brown and Kim were specific tastes (brothas), Nicki was prettier, biracial and more acceptable; she was also more successful. It was just a matter of time before an Iggy came along. If Megan Fox, Scarlett Johansson or Jessica Alba were unknown and came out rapping (proficiently) about sex, they would be snatched up by someone sooner or later, too.

A couple of years ago, the Iggy thread was small and only a few of us even knew who she was. She was R-rated. I said they would tone her back some and she'd blow up. Here we are.

So, in a nutshell, all mainstream rappers are pop rappers, and I presume that includes Run-DMC and Public Enemy.

Chancellor said:

Maybe this was already answered in this 4page thread but is that Missy Elliot on the cover fixing Iggy's hair?...LOL...

SeventeenDayze said:

TonyVanDam said:

There was that one moment in time that Nicki was being a Japanese amine character. Like I've said in many thread before, I'm still not "convince" that Nicki was or will ever been happy to be born a black woman.

That's a really serious accusation. On what grounds are you saying that she isn't "happy" to be born a black woman? Which other famous black women in the music business are accused of the same thing?

Maybe you're thinking of the fact that she has ancestral ties to Trinidad and maybe at one point subscribed to the ridiculous notion that some islanders have of native-born black Americans. But, once they get here, they figure out that the history, slavery, etc. that happened to those here also happened in the islands.

Are you as angry with Iggy for having her fake butt and accusing her of wanting to be a black woman because TI is her "mentor" and she parades around with a black NBA player for the Lakers?

How about on the grounds that Nicki has went from being a Lil'Kim clone to wannabe white woman (Madonna AND Lady Gaga) to wannable Japanese amine character to wannabe white woman again (Iggy Azalea)?!? And lets not forget those before and after pictures when Nicki used to look more natural before she changed her appearaces to get mainstream success.

Excuse me for being "old-fashioned", but I miss the days of Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo, Da Brat, Lady Of Rage, Missy, and Mia X. At least with them, they were/still are black women that knew black was/still is beaultiful.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

SeventeenDayze said:

That's a really serious accusation. On what grounds are you saying that she isn't "happy" to be born a black woman? Which other famous black women in the music business are accused of the same thing?

Maybe you're thinking of the fact that she has ancestral ties to Trinidad and maybe at one point subscribed to the ridiculous notion that some islanders have of native-born black Americans. But, once they get here, they figure out that the history, slavery, etc. that happened to those here also happened in the islands.

Are you as angry with Iggy for having her fake butt and accusing her of wanting to be a black woman because TI is her "mentor" and she parades around with a black NBA player for the Lakers?

That comment he made doesn't even deserve a reply or responce..

And why not?

Beautifulstarr123 said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Nonsense. I was calling Eminem a pop rapper ages ago. MC Hammer was a pop rapper. Nicki Minaj is a pop rapper...and YES, Iggy Azalea is a pop rapper, too. Vanilla Ice was a pop rapper just like Ja Rule was. LL Cool J - pop rapper before there was pop rap. Drake - pop rapper. Wayne - pop rapper. (but he wasn't always so; he transformed like Kanye) Black Eyed Peas became pop rappers willingly. Macklemore is a pop rapper, too. There are quite a few others, but they exist. Everybody started somewhere and grinded to be successful.

Its not coded talk. Pop rappers rap for the pop charts and/or become pop successes. Pitbulll - pop rapper. Flo Rida? Yep.

Now, somebody pull up my thread on Iggy from a couple of years ago. I called it back then. I also said something similar about Nicki and there they are. Some people are destined for pop stardom. They wanted to make Karmin a huge pop rap act but I guess Amy wouldn't lose 150 lbs. or so. (her boyfriend/other half of the group)

They are a footnote at this point. I guess its easier to imitate a Busta Rhymes flow than it is to create one, eh?

When Iggy dropped pu$$y, I knew she was gonna be a star. She just had broke brothas managing her career. TIP heard and saw what any good marketer would see; a good-looking chick who could flow if she focused. She's a marketing dream. Don't blame Iggy for her success. She is what mainstream pop audiences want and it is their support that has made her famous. Everybody loves to hear an attractive woman talk uninhibitedly about sex. Foxy Brown and Kim were specific tastes (brothas), Nicki was prettier, biracial and more acceptable; she was also more successful. It was just a matter of time before an Iggy came along. If Megan Fox, Scarlett Johansson or Jessica Alba were unknown and came out rapping (proficiently) about sex, they would be snatched up by someone sooner or later, too.

A couple of years ago, the Iggy thread was small and only a few of us even knew who she was. She was R-rated. I said they would tone her back some and she'd blow up. Here we are.

So, in a nutshell, all mainstream rappers are pop rappers, and I presume that includes Run-DMC and Public Enemy.

Public Enemy? No, not really. In most cases, most mainstream pop radio stations in the late 1980's were too afraid to play any of PE's tracks apart from 911 Is A Joke with Flavor Flav on lead. I even remember when black radio station were even more afraid to play PE's music at times!

Iggy Azalea is to T.I. as Lady Gaga was to Akon.

Beautifulstarr123 said:

So, in a nutshell, all mainstream rappers are pop rappers, and I presume that includes Run-DMC and Public Enemy.

Nope.

There are many rappers I didn't mention who have achieved pop success. Nobody would call Jay-Z a pop rapper, even though he is popular.

To take it back, Beasty Boys and LL Cool J had mainstream crossover hits but there was no such thing as pop rap when they were most popular. Beasty Boys acquired pop success later on. Vanilla Ice is a good example of a pop rapper. He was just a young, dumb pretty boy. He blew up because the industry made him. The industry didn't make Macklemore, they made his popularity. Same for Iggy.

The thing is, once you start making music to accomodate that popularity, you're pop. (see: Black Eyed Peas)

Iggy changed her style on "Fancy" and it gained her pop success. The problem for her is that she hasn't been around long enough as an artist before her success to establish her sound. Now, the whole world is watching her, millions are invested in her and the pressure is on. She's in a similar position as Vanilla Ice was. The industry is using her whiteness against her. If Fancy was the first thing I heard from her, I would probably REALLY dislike her and dismiss her as a Nicki knockoff. I peeped out Ignorant Art and while it was very rough and unpolished, it showed her potential. It seems like her goals differ from those that the industry has planned for her. She's too dumb to see the manipulation. She just want to rap, make some cash to buy outfits and be popular. The industry has a bigger vision for her. Before Iggy was popular, all you ever saw her around was black people. She put her friends in her videos. The more popular she gets, the more she will be forced to disassociate herself from black people. Forbes called her a "savoir of rap" because that is what the industry wants her to be. She is a marketing savior. She is what the old white guys sitting in the offices at the heads of labels have been dreaming of for about 18 years now: a cute white chick who they could manipulate to become the face of hip-hop. A chick they could take to the top and make barbie doll out of. The industry wants another Spice Girls and they have positioned rap to be the perfect vehicle. They just didn't have a driver. Now they do.

I guess we'll se what happens.

[Edited 7/14/14 8:38am]

BlaqueKnight said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

So, in a nutshell, all mainstream rappers are pop rappers, and I presume that includes Run-DMC and Public Enemy.

Nope.

There are many rappers I didn't mention who have achieved pop success. Nobody would call Jay-Z a pop rapper, even though he is popular.

To take it back, Beasty Boys and LL Cool J had mainstream crossover hits but there was no such thing as pop rap when they were most popular. Beasty Boys acquired pop success later on. Vanilla Ice is a good example of a pop rapper. He was just a young, dumb pretty boy. He blew up because the industry made him. The industry didn't make Macklemore, they made his popularity. Same for Iggy.

The thing is, once you start making music to accomodate that popularity, you're pop. (see: Black Eyed Peas)

Iggy changed her style on "Fancy" and it gained her pop success. The problem for her is that she hasn't been around long enough as an artist before her success to establish her sound. Now, the whole world is watching her, millions are invested in her and the pressure is on. She's in a similar position as Vanilla Ice was. The industry is using her whiteness against her. If Fancy was the first thing I heard from her, I would probably REALLY dislike her and dismiss her as a Nicki knockoff. I peeped out Ignorant Art and while it was very rough and unpolished, it showed her potential. It seems like her goals differ from those that the industry has planned for her. She's too dumb to see the manipulation. She just want to rap, make some cash to buy outfits and be popular. The industry has a bigger vision for her. Before Iggy was popular, all you ever saw her around was black people. She put her friends in her videos. The more popular she gets, the more she will be forced to disassociate herself from black people. Forbes called her a "savoir of rap" because that is what the industry wants her to be. She is a marketing savior. She is what the old white guys sitting in the offices at the heads of labels have been dreaming of for about 18 years now: a cute white chick who they could manipulate to become the face of hip-hop. A chick they could take to the top and make barbie doll out of. The industry wants another Spice Girls and they have positioned rap to be the perfect vehicle. They just didn't have a driver. Now they do.

I guess we'll se what happens.

[Edited 7/14/14 8:38am]

-

I have to co-sign the hell out of this....

BlaqueKnight said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

So, in a nutshell, all mainstream rappers are pop rappers, and I presume that includes Run-DMC and Public Enemy.

Nope.

There are many rappers I didn't mention who have achieved pop success. Nobody would call Jay-Z a pop rapper, even though he is popular.

To take it back, Beasty Boys and LL Cool J had mainstream crossover hits but there was no such thing as pop rap when they were most popular. Beasty Boys acquired pop success later on. Vanilla Ice is a good example of a pop rapper. He was just a young, dumb pretty boy. He blew up because the industry made him. The industry didn't make Macklemore, they made his popularity. Same for Iggy.

The thing is, once you start making music to accomodate that popularity, you're pop. (see: Black Eyed Peas)

Iggy changed her style on "Fancy" and it gained her pop success. The problem for her is that she hasn't been around long enough as an artist before her success to establish her sound. Now, the whole world is watching her, millions are invested in her and the pressure is on. She's in a similar position as Vanilla Ice was. The industry is using her whiteness against her. If Fancy was the first thing I heard from her, I would probably REALLY dislike her and dismiss her as a Nicki knockoff. I peeped out Ignorant Art and while it was very rough and unpolished, it showed her potential. It seems like her goals differ from those that the industry has planned for her. She's too dumb to see the manipulation. She just want to rap, make some cash to buy outfits and be popular. The industry has a bigger vision for her. Before Iggy was popular, all you ever saw her around was black people. She put her friends in her videos. The more popular she gets, the more she will be forced to disassociate herself from black people. Forbes called her a "savoir of rap" because that is what the industry wants her to be. She is a marketing savior. She is what the old white guys sitting in the offices at the heads of labels have been dreaming of for about 18 years now: a cute white chick who they could manipulate to become the face of hip-hop. A chick they could take to the top and make barbie doll out of. The industry wants another Spice Girls and they have positioned rap to be the perfect vehicle. They just didn't have a driver. Now they do.

I guess we'll se what happens.

[Edited 7/14/14 8:38am]

So... she's basically the manufactured female Macklemore.

TonyVanDam said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

That comment he made doesn't even deserve a reply or responce..

And why not?

Your trolling! Trying to turn this thread into a race issue.. What Nicki did with her different looks was no different than what Lady Gaga did! Now she is back to a more natural look. Which shows she is a strikingly beautiful woman. She WAS NOT trying to be white,Japanese whatever. . Nicki is HOTT!!! She has turned herself into a successful brand....

Next you'll be outing her private life as being an undercover hardcore -------

[Edited 7/14/14 10:16am]

MotownSubdivision said:

So... she's basically the manufactured female Macklemore.

On a VERY, VERY basic level; yes.

If you are only looking at it from what they want; yes.

I don't think she's the "racist" (yes, I heard the line long before the media started spewing about it), manipulative, culture vulture clone of Nicki.

I guess that's because I found out about her before she was popular.

Chick ain't evil. She's just young and stupid and caught up in her desires like most early 20-somethings. She wants to be famous; now she is. The question is will she wise up before they spit her out.

Some of you are throwing Nicki under the bus for "wanting to be a white woman" but you don't have a problem with any of Iggy's co-opting "wanna be a black woman antics" because, lemme guess, it's just part of the game right? What about your favorite "Beyawnce" who has been a white woman for over 10 years now and you don't complain about that.

There are many talented female rappers out there who are not getting the media attention because of the way they look. Never in the history of mankind will a male rapper face the same hurdle.

SeventeenDayze said:

Some of you are throwing Nicki under the bus for "wanting to be a white woman" but you don't have a problem with any of Iggy's co-opting "wanna be a black woman antics" because, lemme guess, it's just part of the game right? What about your favorite "Beyawnce" who has been a white woman for over 10 years now and you don't complain about that.

There are many talented female rappers out there who are not getting the media attention because of the way they look. Never in the history of mankind will a male rapper face the same hurdle.

Rap is a male dominated genre, like metal.

Pop music is primarily female-driven as far as money is concerned. Women will always be at the forefront of pop music or at the very least, pretty much on equal footing.

There are many talented rappers period, not just female, who don't get the attention they deserve. The pop game is not about talent. It hasn't been for a long time. Its about marketability. Western society uses pretty women to sell everything, so women will always have a place in pop music.

You don't have to be pretty to be talented but you can't expect to break into the pop game with it being as shallow as it is and always has been.

Anything "pop" is going to have some degree of objectification. That is just the way it is. Its easier for a less attractive woman to get props in the rap community than it is for her to become a pop star in this day and age.

[Edited 7/14/14 22:57pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

So, in a nutshell, all mainstream rappers are pop rappers, and I presume that includes Run-DMC and Public Enemy.

Public Enemy? No, not really. In most cases, most mainstream pop radio stations in the late 1980's were too afraid to play any of PE's tracks apart from 911 Is A Joke with Flavor Flav on lead. I even remember when black radio station were even more afraid to play PE's music at times!

They were pretty radical back then, with black empowerment messages, but it doesn't matter what, both young and old, as well as many races and ethnic groups knew who they were.

BlaqueKnight said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

So, in a nutshell, all mainstream rappers are pop rappers, and I presume that includes Run-DMC and Public Enemy.

Nope.

There are many rappers I didn't mention who have achieved pop success. Nobody would call Jay-Z a pop rapper, even though he is popular.

To take it back, Beasty Boys and LL Cool J had mainstream crossover hits but there was no such thing as pop rap when they were most popular. Beasty Boys acquired pop success later on. Vanilla Ice is a good example of a pop rapper. He was just a young, dumb pretty boy. He blew up because the industry made him. The industry didn't make Macklemore, they made his popularity. Same for Iggy.

The thing is, once you start making music to accomodate that popularity, you're pop. (see: Black Eyed Peas)

Iggy changed her style on "Fancy" and it gained her pop success. The problem for her is that she hasn't been around long enough as an artist before her success to establish her sound. Now, the whole world is watching her, millions are invested in her and the pressure is on. She's in a similar position as Vanilla Ice was. The industry is using her whiteness against her. If Fancy was the first thing I heard from her, I would probably REALLY dislike her and dismiss her as a Nicki knockoff. I peeped out Ignorant Art and while it was very rough and unpolished, it showed her potential. It seems like her goals differ from those that the industry has planned for her. She's too dumb to see the manipulation. She just want to rap, make some cash to buy outfits and be popular. The industry has a bigger vision for her. Before Iggy was popular, all you ever saw her around was black people. She put her friends in her videos. The more popular she gets, the more she will be forced to disassociate herself from black people. Forbes called her a "savoir of rap" because that is what the industry wants her to be. She is a marketing savior. She is what the old white guys sitting in the offices at the heads of labels have been dreaming of for about 18 years now: a cute white chick who they could manipulate to become the face of hip-hop. A chick they could take to the top and make barbie doll out of. The industry wants another Spice Girls and they have positioned rap to be the perfect vehicle. They just didn't have a driver. Now they do.

I guess we'll se what happens.

[Edited 7/14/14 8:38am]

I could remember a time when listening to rap was so fun and real. Now it has become more manufactured, if that's the word.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

TonyVanDam said:

And why not?

Your trolling! Trying to turn this thread into a race issue.. What Nicki did with her different looks was no different than what Lady Gaga did! Now she is back to a more natural look. Which shows she is a strikingly beautiful woman. She WAS NOT trying to be white,Japanese whatever. . Nicki is HOTT!!! She has turned herself into a successful brand....

Next you'll be outing her private life as being an undercover hardcore -------

[Edited 7/14/14 10:16am]

1. THAT^ is 100% pure bullshit & a goddamn lie! No one in trolling in this thread. So stop lying and grow the hell for once in your life.

2. Excuse you, but Nicki Minaj wears a freaking blond wig so she can have the white European-like straight har look. THAT is a perfect example of a black woman wanting straight blond hair like a white woman. And you know good and well that most dark-skinned black women are born with natural nappy hair. So please, spare me your social naive foolishness because TVD is not buying it KCOOL.

3. Using Lady Gaga is not a fair argument at all because I have yet to see her sporting an afro wig (TRANSLATION: Trying to look like a black woman with African-like features.).

Beautifulstarr123 said:

TonyVanDam said:

Public Enemy? No, not really. In most cases, most mainstream pop radio stations in the late 1980's were too afraid to play any of PE's tracks apart from 911 Is A Joke with Flavor Flav on lead. I even remember when black radio station were even more afraid to play PE's music at times!

They were pretty radical back then, with black empowerment messages, but it doesn't matter what, both young and old, as well as many races and ethnic groups knew who they were.

They sure do.

SeventeenDayze said:

Some of you are throwing Nicki under the bus for "wanting to be a white woman" but you don't have a problem with any of Iggy's co-opting "wanna be a black woman antics" because, lemme guess, it's just part of the game right? What about your favorite "Beyawnce" who has been a white woman for over 10 years now and you don't complain about that.

There are many talented female rappers out there who are not getting the media attention because of the way they look. Never in the history of mankind will a male rapper face the same hurdle.

You didn't read my earlier post in respond to Iggy's before and after pictures concerning her booty implants. And excuse you, but I've made my share of negative comment about that Illuminati-driven pawn Beyonce....oops, I mean Weavyonce.

*The author of this piece routinely gets accused for race baiting on this particular magazine site so...

>

Iggy Azalea’s post-racial mess: America’s oldest race tale, remixed

As a white female rapper mistakes appropriation for artistry, here's how black women remain pushed to the sidelines

Brittney Cooper

Topics: iggy azalea, hip-hop, White people, rap, eminem, macklemore, Editor's Picks, Beastie Boys, Language, code-switching, artistry, Appropriation, African Americans, Entertainment News, Politics News

Iggy Azalea (Credit: AP/Joel Ryan)

Recently, my nine year-old nephew came running into the room, eager to find a seat to watch a performance by Iggy Azalea on an awards show. He sat, enraptured by her performance, yelling, “Iggy!” utterly oblivious to the look of chagrin and dismay on my face, as I, too, tuned in to watch this white girl from Australia, turned ATL-style rapper, caricature everything I love about Southern Hip Hop.

The look and feeling of chagrin has stayed with me each time I turn on my radio and hear Iggy’s hit song, “Fancy” coming through my speakers. And some of the dismay I feel is at myself, because almost without fail, I immediately start bobbing my head to the beat.

Iggy is a protégé of T.I., one of my all-time favorite rappers. Though T.I. is known for Atlanta-style, crunk Southern bravado that is a hallmark of Black culture in that city, recently he expressed disappointment that “we’re at a place in America where we still see color.” Apparently, color is only relevant when he’s talking about racist acts against Black men, but not when he has to think through his complicity in white appropriation of Hip Hop music.

As a born-and-raised Southern girl, who believes that lazy summer evenings are best spent with your top back or your sun roof open, bass-heavy music booming through nice speakers, while you slowly make a few blocks through the neighborhood, to see who’s out and what’s poppin,’ I resent Iggy Azalea for her co-optation and appropriation of sonic Southern Blackness, particularly the sonic Blackness of Southern Black women. Everytime she raps the line “tell me how you luv dat,” in her song “Fancy,” I want to scream “I don’t love dat!” I hate it. The line is offensive because this Australian born-and-raised white girl almost convincingly mimics the sonic register of a downhome Atlanta girl.

The question is why? Why is her mimicry of sonic Blackness okay? Though rap music is a Black and Brown art form, one does not need to mimic Blackness to be good at it. Ask the Beastie Boys, or Eminem, or Macklemore. These are just a smattering of the white men who’ve been successful in rap in the last 30 years and generally they don’t have to appropriate Blackness to do it. In the case of Southern rappers like Bubba Sparxx or Paul Wall, who do “sound Black” as it were, at least it is clear that they also have the accents of the places and communities in which they grew up.

CynicKill said:

*The author of this piece routinely gets accused for race baiting on this particular magazine site so...

>

Iggy Azalea’s post-racial mess: America’s oldest race tale, remixed

As a white female rapper mistakes appropriation for artistry, here's how black women remain pushed to the sidelines

Brittney Cooper

Topics: iggy azalea, hip-hop, White people, rap, eminem, macklemore, Editor's Picks, Beastie Boys, Language, code-switching, artistry, Appropriation, African Americans, Entertainment News, Politics News

Iggy Azalea (Credit: AP/Joel Ryan)

Recently, my nine year-old nephew came running into the room, eager to find a seat to watch a performance by Iggy Azalea on an awards show. He sat, enraptured by her performance, yelling, “Iggy!” utterly oblivious to the look of chagrin and dismay on my face, as I, too, tuned in to watch this white girl from Australia, turned ATL-style rapper, caricature everything I love about Southern Hip Hop.

The look and feeling of chagrin has stayed with me each time I turn on my radio and hear Iggy’s hit song, “Fancy” coming through my speakers. And some of the dismay I feel is at myself, because almost without fail, I immediately start bobbing my head to the beat.

Iggy is a protégé of T.I., one of my all-time favorite rappers. Though T.I. is known for Atlanta-style, crunk Southern bravado that is a hallmark of Black culture in that city, recently he expressed disappointment that “we’re at a place in America where we still see color.” Apparently, color is only relevant when he’s talking about racist acts against Black men, but not when he has to think through his complicity in white appropriation of Hip Hop music.

As a born-and-raised Southern girl, who believes that lazy summer evenings are best spent with your top back or your sun roof open, bass-heavy music booming through nice speakers, while you slowly make a few blocks through the neighborhood, to see who’s out and what’s poppin,’ I resent Iggy Azalea for her co-optation and appropriation of sonic Southern Blackness, particularly the sonic Blackness of Southern Black women. Everytime she raps the line “tell me how you luv dat,” in her song “Fancy,” I want to scream “I don’t love dat!” I hate it. The line is offensive because this Australian born-and-raised white girl almost convincingly mimics the sonic register of a downhome Atlanta girl.

The question is why? Why is her mimicry of sonic Blackness okay? Though rap music is a Black and Brown art form, one does not need to mimic Blackness to be good at it. Ask the Beastie Boys, or Eminem, or Macklemore. These are just a smattering of the white men who’ve been successful in rap in the last 30 years and generally they don’t have to appropriate Blackness to do it. In the case of Southern rappers like Bubba Sparxx or Paul Wall, who do “sound Black” as it were, at least it is clear that they also have the accents of the places and communities in which they grew up.

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Not so with Iggy Azalea, who left Australia at age 16. To be clear, I know all of the problems with the phrases “sound Black” and “sonic Blackness.” As a kid, I was mercilessly teased for and accused of “talking white,” “acting white” and basically attempting to “be white.” I learned during those difficult days to dissent from social norms that suggested that the only English for Black people is a vernacular English that stands adjacent to “corporate,” “standard,” or white English. I balked at such suggestions and reveled in my ability to master “standard” English.

Still I knew that at home, around my family and especially around my Grandmother, my tongue got lazier, as I spoke of things I was “fin (fixing) to do,” as I yelled at my cousins about how “nary a one of them” (which sounded more like “nair one”) treated me right, as “th” sounds at the beginning of words easily became “d” sounds, and as the “g” sounds fell off the end of -ing words. At home, in the safety, comfort and cocoon of my Southern Black family, I talked how my people talked.

In the predominantly white classrooms of my school days though, proficient use of “standard” English showed those white folks that I had every right to be there, that I was just as good if not better. What I’m describing is what communications scholars have called for decades “code switching.” The kind of literacies necessary to master communicating with different communities of people is a hallmark of what it means to grow up as a minority subject with the U.S. and any other country with a history of colonization and slavery.

Iggy Azalea interlopes on this finely honed soundscape of Southern Blackness to tell us “how fancy” she is, and ask “how we love dat.” Her recklessness makes clear that that she does not understand the difference between code-switching and appropriation. She may get the science of it, but not the artistry. Appropriation is taking something that doesn’t belong to you and wasn’t made for you, that is not endemic to your experience, that is not necessary for your survival and using it to sound cool and make money. Code-switching is a tool for navigating a world hostile to Blackness and all things non-white. It allows one to move at will through all kinds of communities with as minimal damage as possible.

But it is also rooted in a love and respect for one’s culture and for the struggle. That kind of love and respect for sonic Southern Blackness made Zora Neale Hurston one of the greats. Hell, it made Mark Twain one of the greats. But Iggy is more like the Joel Chandler Harris of Hip Hop.

Even though I have taken issue with the way that hip hop fans stand for Macklemore, I appreciate that he has a vocal critique of white privilege and the way it operates in his own life and career.

Not so, with Iggy. More than one blogger has ferreted out her problematic tweets about race, which suggests that while she may love hip hop, she has very little appreciation of Black culture or the problematic ways that white privilege can colonize that culture to ...of dollars.

That Black men have no sustained critique of the politics of caping for white women in hip hop is lamentable. That their race politics don’t extend far enough to include Black women in any substantive way is downright unacceptable. Forty years ago, Black male race leaders told us that race was the only thing that mattered, feminism be damned. Now in this political moment of My Brother’s Keeper, in the cultural arena, rap crews like Lil Wayne’s Young Money Cash Money and T.I.’s Grand Hustle Entertainment throw their weight behind white women rappers without a second thought. From this, Black women are supposed to conclude two things: 1) race does not matter, except if you are a Black man and 2) if Black men do anything for any woman, it’s the same as being hospitable and/or progressive to every woman.

By riding for white female rappers to the exclusion of Black women, Black men collude with the system against Black women, by demonstrating that our needs, aspirations and feelings do not matter and are not worthy of having a hearing.

Black men keep on proving that when given access to power, money and influence, be it political or cultural, it is not Black women they ride or die for. They want our unwavering devotion, even as they make choices that contribute to the silencing of women of color in a culture we helped to build. And young, oblivious white women, caught up in fanciful ideas about a post-racial universe, climb on board, taking my unsuspecting nephew and his friends for the ride of their lives.

In all cases, Black women remain relegated to being what poet Jessica Care Moore calls “hip hop cheerleaders,” “cheering from the sidelines of a stage we built.”

The ability of Blackness to travel to and be performed by non-Black bodies is supposed to be a triumph of post-racial politics, a feat that proves once and for all that race is not biological. Race does not have any biological basis, but I maintain that there is no triumph and no celebration when we embrace a white girl who deliberately attempts to sound like a Black girl, in a culture where Black girls can’t get no love.

How can I “love dat,” when this culture ain’t never loved us?

Iggy profits from the cultural performativity and forms of survival that Black women have perfected, without having to encounter and deal with the social problem that is the Black female body, with its perceived excesses, unruliness, loudness and lewdness. If she existed in hip hop at a moment when Black women could still get play, where it would take more than one hand to count all the mainstream Black women rap artists, I would have no problem. Iggy would be one among the many. But in this moment, she represents a problem of co-optation. She represents the ways in which hip hop is on a crash course to take exactly the path that rock ‘n roll took such that 20 years from now, people my nephew’s age, will look at the Macklemores and Iggys of the world as representative of Hip Hop Culture, with nary a Black soul making their top ten list of hip hop greats.

This kind of cultural appropriation of Black women’s labor and creativity for white women’s gain, white men’s gain and Black men’s gain, is not new at all. It is the oldest race tale on American soil, remixed for a new era. And I ain’t got no love for that.

I strongly agree with THAT^ essay. It's just too bad that most hip-hop producers/beatmakers are no longer interested in searching for next black female rap artist like they used to.

If you think black women are no longer a factor in hip-hop/rap already, just wait within the next 10 years from now when the next female rap artist will be an Asian girl from Japan or South Korea. When this happens, game over.

TonyVanDam said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Your trolling! Trying to turn this thread into a race issue.. What Nicki did with her different looks was no different than what Lady Gaga did! Now she is back to a more natural look. Which shows she is a strikingly beautiful woman. She WAS NOT trying to be white,Japanese whatever. . Nicki is HOTT!!! She has turned herself into a successful brand....

Next you'll be outing her private life as being an undercover hardcore -------

[Edited 7/14/14 10:16am]

1. THAT^ is 100% pure bullshit & a goddamn lie! No one in trolling in this thread. So stop lying and grow the hell for once in your life.

2. Excuse you, but Nicki Minaj wears a freaking blond wig so she can have the white European-like straight har look. THAT is a perfect example of a black woman wanting straight blond hair like a white woman. And you know good and well that most dark-skinned black women are born with natural nappy hair. So please, spare me your social naive foolishness because TVD is not buying it KCOOL.

3. Using Lady Gaga is not a fair argument at all because I have yet to see her sporting an afro wig (TRANSLATION: Trying to look like a black woman with African-like features.).

DUDE! There has been COUNTLESS black female rappers and singers, that have sported blond wigs & even dyed their hair blond! It has NOTHING to do with wanting to be white...Nicki is not the first or the last!! Lil Kim did it over a decade ago. So why single Nicki out? In fact it has become a trend now with black women.

You are making yourself out to look VERY stupid and ignorant...

Eat crow dude! Stop trolling!!!!

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

TonyVanDam said:

1. THAT^ is 100% pure bullshit & a goddamn lie! No one in trolling in this thread. So stop lying and grow the hell for once in your life.

2. Excuse you, but Nicki Minaj wears a freaking blond wig so she can have the white European-like straight har look. THAT is a perfect example of a black woman wanting straight blond hair like a white woman. And you know good and well that most dark-skinned black women are born with natural nappy hair. So please, spare me your social naive foolishness because TVD is not buying it KCOOL.

3. Using Lady Gaga is not a fair argument at all because I have yet to see her sporting an afro wig (TRANSLATION: Trying to look like a black woman with African-like features.).

DUDE! There has been COUNTLESS black female rappers and singers, that have sported blond wigs & even dyed their hair blond! It has NOTHING to do with wanting to be white...Nicki is not the first or the last!! Lil Kim did it over a decade ago. So why single Nicki out? In fact it has become a trend now with black women.

You are making yourself out to look VERY stupid and ignorant...

Eat crow dude! Stop trolling!!!!

Eat crow my ass! And BTW, Gaga doesn't look like a black woman at all in THOSE^ picture. For anything, she looks like that late Eric Carr of KISS!

[img:$uid]http://hardrockhideout.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/ericcarr.jpg[/img:$uid]

So and your damn crow.

[Edited 7/16/14 8:33am]

TonyVanDam said:

SeventeenDayze said:

Some of you are throwing Nicki under the bus for "wanting to be a white woman" but you don't have a problem with any of Iggy's co-opting "wanna be a black woman antics" because, lemme guess, it's just part of the game right? What about your favorite "Beyawnce" who has been a white woman for over 10 years now and you don't complain about that.

There are many talented female rappers out there who are not getting the media attention because of the way they look. Never in the history of mankind will a male rapper face the same hurdle.

You didn't read my earlier post in respond to Iggy's before and after pictures concerning her booty implants. And excuse you, but I've made my share of negative comment about that Illuminati-driven pawn Beyonce....oops, I mean Weavyonce.

Hey simmer down I haven't logged in for a while. I'll go back and answer what you wrote soon.

Beautifulstarr123 said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Nope.

There are many rappers I didn't mention who have achieved pop success. Nobody would call Jay-Z a pop rapper, even though he is popular.

To take it back, Beasty Boys and LL Cool J had mainstream crossover hits but there was no such thing as pop rap when they were most popular. Beasty Boys acquired pop success later on. Vanilla Ice is a good example of a pop rapper. He was just a young, dumb pretty boy. He blew up because the industry made him. The industry didn't make Macklemore, they made his popularity. Same for Iggy.

The thing is, once you start making music to accomodate that popularity, you're pop. (see: Black Eyed Peas)

Iggy changed her style on "Fancy" and it gained her pop success. The problem for her is that she hasn't been around long enough as an artist before her success to establish her sound. Now, the whole world is watching her, millions are invested in her and the pressure is on. She's in a similar position as Vanilla Ice was. The industry is using her whiteness against her. If Fancy was the first thing I heard from her, I would probably REALLY dislike her and dismiss her as a Nicki knockoff. I peeped out Ignorant Art and while it was very rough and unpolished, it showed her potential. It seems like her goals differ from those that the industry has planned for her. She's too dumb to see the manipulation. She just want to rap, make some cash to buy outfits and be popular. The industry has a bigger vision for her. Before Iggy was popular, all you ever saw her around was black people. She put her friends in her videos. The more popular she gets, the more she will be forced to disassociate herself from black people. Forbes called her a "savoir of rap" because that is what the industry wants her to be. She is a marketing savior. She is what the old white guys sitting in the offices at the heads of labels have been dreaming of for about 18 years now: a cute white chick who they could manipulate to become the face of hip-hop. A chick they could take to the top and make barbie doll out of. The industry wants another Spice Girls and they have positioned rap to be the perfect vehicle. They just didn't have a driver. Now they do.

I guess we'll se what happens.

[Edited 7/14/14 8:38am]

I could remember a time when listening to rap was so fun and real. Now it has become more manufactured, if that's the word.

You mean like this. Those days are long gone. I can't even call this stuff hip hop. Its more like talking over watered down pop music. These fools don't even try to flow on beat. Its sad to see something so real, intense and vibrant devolve into nothing.

SeventeenDayze said:

TonyVanDam said:

You didn't read my earlier post in respond to Iggy's before and after pictures concerning her booty implants. And excuse you, but I've made my share of negative comment about that Illuminati-driven pawn Beyonce....oops, I mean Weavyonce.

Hey simmer down I haven't logged in for a while. I'll go back and answer what you wrote soon.

I attended the Espy Awards last night. Iggy's performance was HORRIBLE!!!

TonyVanDam said:

SeventeenDayze said:

That's a really serious accusation. On what grounds are you saying that she isn't "happy" to be born a black woman? Which other famous black women in the music business are accused of the same thing?

Maybe you're thinking of the fact that she has ancestral ties to Trinidad and maybe at one point subscribed to the ridiculous notion that some islanders have of native-born black Americans. But, once they get here, they figure out that the history, slavery, etc. that happened to those here also happened in the islands.

Are you as angry with Iggy for having her fake butt and accusing her of wanting to be a black woman because TI is her "mentor" and she parades around with a black NBA player for the Lakers?

How about on the grounds that Nicki has went from being a Lil'Kim clone to wannabe white woman (Madonna AND Lady Gaga) to wannable Japanese amine character to wannabe white woman again (Iggy Azalea)?!? And lets not forget those before and after pictures when Nicki used to look more natural before she changed her appearaces to get mainstream success.

Excuse me for being "old-fashioned", but I miss the days of Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Yo-Yo, Da Brat, Lady Of Rage, Missy, and Mia X. At least with them, they were/still are black women that knew black was/still is beaultiful.

I think we have to take into consideration that the artist doesn't always have control of the work that the put out and this includes the fact that they don't always control their look, per se. With that said, I still think it's far-fetched to say that she has a psychological issue with being a black woman OR if it's simply the result of everything blonde being placed on a pedastal. I have seen countless women considered as "hot" by the mainstream media but they're just average looking (Kate Upton)

But, as the article stated, a lot of black men in the industry throw black women under the bus to support a white woman who is mediocre. This Iggy chick is a perfect example of this. Where are all these black men in the industry to defend Nicki's place on top of the hip-hop throne? Oh, that's right, she spent too much time going "mainstream" and lost her hip-hop fanbase. Those pop bands that she was catering to are now on the Iggy bandwagon. I seriously doubt the opposite would happen. There are a lot of complex issues playing out with her rise to so-called fame but one thing that is clear is that she's nothing more than the result of someone's pipe dream that all sorts of black music genres would be taken over by those that are substantially less talented.