Personal Connection

Growing up listening to rap music, I have always been a fan. Though as I have gotten older I have started liking more conscious or "college" rap as I call it, because there is an actual meaning to it and has a message very different than most mainstream rap songs. This has become even more so as I have furthered in my major (CES and Sociology). Being from Seattle I like a lot of local artists, such as Blue Scholars and Macklemore, both who often speak of race. class, gender, and other social constructs and social factors.

Here are some examples...

"I see so many people lost who really try to pretend
But am I just another white boy who has caught on to the trend
When I take a step to the mic is hip-hop closer to the end?
'Cause when I go to shows the majority have white skin
They marketed the windmill, the air flair and head spin
and white rappers albums really get the most spins
the face of hip hop has changed a lot since Eminem
and if he's taking away black artists' profits I look just like him
claimed a culture that wasn't mine, the way of the American
hip hop is gentrified and where will all the people live
it's like the central district, beacon hill to the south end
being pushed farther away because of what white people did, now
where's my place in a music that's been taken by my race
cultural appropriated by the white face
and we don't want to admit that this is existing
so scared to acknowledge the benefits of our white privilege
cause it's human nature to want to be part of something different
especially when your ancestors are European Christians
and most whites don't want to acknowledge this is occurring
cause we got the best deal, the music without the burden
of being black in a system that really wants you to rock
cause all you need is a program and you can go and make hip-hop
and we hate the mainstream cause we're the ones that took it
now we listen to Aesop Rock and wear t-shirts that say Brooklyn
but it's not about black and white right
I mean good music is good music regardless of what you look like
but when you don't give them props isn't that selfish?
that's like saying rock was actually started by Elvis
so where does this leave me?
I feel like I pay dues but I'll always be a white MC
I give everything I have when I write a rhyme
but that doesn't change the fact that this culture's not mine
But I'm gonna be me so please be who you are
this is something that's effortless and shouldn't be hard
I said I'm gonna be me so please be who you are
but we still owe 'em 40 acres now we've stolen their 16 bars
hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to
to counter act a struggle that Ive never even been through
if I think I understand just because I flow too
that means I'm not keeping it true, nope
hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to
to counter act a struggle that I've never even been through
if I think I understand just because I flow too
that means I'm not keeping it true, I'm not keeping it true
now I don't rap about guns so they label me conscious
but I don't rap about guns cause I wasn't forced into the projects
see I was put in the position where I could chose my options
blessed with the privilege that my parent's could send me to college
now who's going to shows the kids on the block starving
or the white people with dough that can relate to my content?
marketed the music now adapted to the lifestyle
what happened to jazz and rock and roll is happening right now
where's my place in the music that's been taken by the media
with white corporations controlling what their feeding ya
I brought up Aesop rock but I'm not even dissing dude
we love hip-hop and what do you think Caucasians are listening to
and I speak freely when I write this
if a black emcee examined race there goes half their fan base, white kids
and this is so true. and we didn't even have to fight the system
we just went and picked up the microphone too
and we got good at it so we should be rapping
but only supporting them is like burning Jimmy and buying Clapton
now Clapton's incredible. but no Jimmy no foundation
so here comes history and the cultural appropriation
white kids with do rags trying to practice their accents
from the suburbs to the upper class mastering a language
but hip-hop is not just memorizing words
it's rooted in authenticity something you literally can't learn
But I'm gonna be me so please be who you are
this is something that's effortless and shouldn't be hard
I said I'm gonna be me so please be who you are
but as I'm blessed with the privilege, they're still left with the scars

hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to
to counter act a struggle that Ive never even been through
if I think I understand just because I flow too
that means I'm not keeping it true, nope
hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to
to counter act a struggle that Ive never even been through
if I think I understand just because I flow too
that means I'm not keeping it true, I'm not keeping it true"
--White Privilege by Macklemore




"A couple pale folks slide right by with no greeting
But the people with my phenotype follow with a head-nod up
Because we acknowledge that the shit's fucked up

North of Martin Luther King: a straight war zone
Detours through the concrete, cranes, and bulldozers
No, the Hill is not over still
Every block got a coffee shop; it's overkill
Focus, know the deal
Dope to see Kalil back, the medicine is good again
The feeling: illegal, and coming back to your hood again
It's priceless, I write this, our lives are in crisis
Most talk, but don't walk, the path of the righteous
Despite this...
I measure each step, walkin' closer to my final destination of death
When I'm layin' to rest, I'm only savin' my breath
The Northwest fills my lungs, heals the pain in my chest
Clutch the moment, a transfer in my hand
Still listening
Lookin' out the window to the gold and the gray
And the sun might be shinin' but it's colder than it seems
'Cause the weather's dialectical: there's no in-between

In walks an old soul
A First Nation native, cat's chiseled like a totem pole
No words, as he stands and looks over us
He gets off and says, "Have a good day, you foreigners."
I, crack a smile one time for the acknowledgement."
--Joe Metro by Blue Scholars


"I grew up on Capitol Hill
with two parents and two cars.
They had a beautiful marriage, we even had a swing set in our yard.
My mom didn't have a job, because my dad made enough money that we could live comfortably and he could support us.
Now, he commute to Tacoma, so we knew we be good.
But then I realized everybody looked just like me in my neighborhood.
I go to school, which was diverse.
But indeed us, I got sandwiches and carpi suns well my friends ate their free lunch.
It's crazy trying to look back, cause when I was growing up
I didn't understand the fact was there's something called a social status.
And my black friends wanted my financial bracket.
And then my city's divided,
from neighborhood to neighborhood
We're polarized but we claim we're progressive.
The police shoot in the hood but never once in my residence.
As a white person been shot at we'd stopped in a Lexus.
And to think that we have claimed that so much has changed
since Brown verses the bored of education and Roe verses Wade.
But around my way it all stays the same,
they just figured out a way to separate the black and white ways."
--Claiming The City by Macklemore

"Conscious" rap brings up aspects of our culture that are not usually talked about even though they should be. This disrupts that narratives that our society have created. Though we see ourselves as progressive and the United States as a far better place than it used to be, these rappers are making it conscious that our country is not as great of a place than we would like to think. For Seattle, they are making us realize that race, class and other issues are an issue here too, and not just in other places and that we are somehow above all of that because it is a diverse place. Macklemore especially, because he is white when he says something about having privileges, injustice or anything else that disrupts the narrative it is taken more seriously at least for white people. When someone that is white says something about race, etc. it weighs heavier because this is something that most white people do not complain about since it benefits them. Though it makes people think more about if a white person is saying this and making it conscious to other that there is a problem, especially since most white people don't realize these privileges because it is normalized. Though there are people that take what Blue Scholars and other groups say about race, and take their messages and learn from them. The fact that both are mentioning any of these topics and talking about what a lot of people think or don't say is very commendable. Though for white nationalists they would view both of these as ridiculous. Blue Scholars could easily be spreading messages of miscegenation and attacking whites, while Macklemore is also spreading miscegenation and would be one of the whites that have "lost" their future and have been influenced by other races and could be used as an example of what whites could become. Macklemore would probably be viewed as superior anyway just because of his race, and according to a contributor on Stormfront's message board stated of white rappers, "But given time the white rappers are far better at the music then black rappers, being lost or not. It is to bad that they have lost their heritage. Try not to kick their ass. Look at them as sick." These are just a few of the many Seattle artists that speak of real issues, but are two that I thoroughly enjoy.