When I look around at the world of hip hop today, it makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside. When it originated in New York in the 1970’s, it was like white people weren’t even invited to the party (it was like the opposite of hockey). For some reason, it seemed like a genre of music at least partially derived from centuries of oppression wasn’t very keen to embrace the white rapper (pretty selfish if you ask me!). Baffling as it may be, this remained the status quo for quite some time. That is, up until a young Caucasian male named Marshall Mathers, AKA Eminem, got noticed by Jimmy Lovine of Interscope Records after winning 2nd place in the 1997 Rap Olympics. Lovine passed a CD on to NWA alum Dr. Dre, and the rest is history. I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge that, yes, of course there were other white rappers before Eminem. House of Pain comes to mind (holy shit that hasn’t happened in a while). However, like Jackie Robinson, the MLB’s first African American athlete, Eminem was the first Caucasian hip hop act to make it to the big leagues. When you look it at under a microscope (which I literally have), Marshall’s experiences are quite similar to Jackie’s. It tells the heartwarming tale of a man who was so talented and hardworking that he managed to overcome reverse racism (which is actually uncannily similar to the plain old fashioned regular racism that Robinson faced) and reach the pinnacle of success in his profession. Now this is where the similarities end. Robinson’s example paved the way for other immensely talented black baseball players and ultimately made baseball about who could actually play baseball, basically regardless of race. Mathers’ example led to something else entirely. White people seemed to believe that just because they were suddenly “allowed” to rap, that they in turn, should. Eminem opened the door for a host of absolutely terrible white rappers who flooded the market using their ethnicity (which they share with about 70% of America) as a gimmick. This makes about as much sense as me marketing myself as “the blogger who has a computer.” There is a silver lining though. After the inevitable flops of these untalented upstarts (I’m thinking “The White Rapper Show”), there have actually been a few incredibly talented Caucasian hip hop artists that have emerged and found their niche in hip hop (I’m thinking Slug from Atmosphere for one). Although racism is far from extinct, it’s good to see that it isn’t strong enough to hold back determined people (of all races) from finding success. Thanks a bunch Mr. Robinson and Mr. Mathers. You’re alright in my book.

Hmm…this blog is borderline serious, which is weird because I am usually such a silly bitch! I promise to write something goofy and more questionably heterosexual next week. Until then, my little dumplings, take it easy. Timely Post Script: After a long hiatus, Eminem is back in the studio. No word yet on the release date, but my guess is next Friday at 3 AM.