Rap and Race

As a fan of Hip-Hop it has always puzzled me as to why race played such a large role in the genre. Yes, it is very true that Hip-Hop and rap were created by African Americans as a platform to speak about the everyday struggles they faced. However, when white artists began to try and start a career in the genre they are often ridiculed as being "fake" or not being as talented as many of their black counterparts. I am a fan of many different hip hop artists, black or white, and I have never felt the need to bring race into the discussion of talent. What do you think is the basis behind the involvement of race in the hip hop genre? Furthermore, and slightly off topic, but why is it that many talented artists such as our guest speaker Mr. Billy Drease Williams, fail to make it big while rapping with substance, yet people such as Gucci Mane and Waka Flaka can make a song repeating the same chorus over and over and make millions of dollars? Does this say something about us as listeners or something about the industry? Or both?