If you go to a rap concert, most of the concertgoers are white.
“If you go to a rap concert, most of the concertgoers are white.”
Yes, absolutely. That’s because most Americans are white. Hip-hop couldn’t be the dominant pop music genre without them.
People make too much out of racial divides. Or, rather, they don’t get the divides correct. Because obviously race matters, culturally and otherwise, but that doesn’t mean rap speaks to the black experience, exclusively or even especially. It’s definitely not popular because it reflects the audience’s experiences back at them. Most of the audience would never set foot on the other side of the tracks in their own town, let alone think about thinking about drving through Compton in an armored car. Nor does it mean when the racist version of Sean Hannity (which may be Sean Hannity himself, who knows?) decries rap he is letting slip his anti-black animus. Because racists can be racist and like rap. It’s exceedingly easy, often easier than not being racist and liking rap. Also, they can dislike rap for purely moral, aesthetic, political, etc. reasons.
By way of comparison, HBO has this obsession with race in its sports documentaries, as apparently the only way to ground athletics in a social/economic/political/cultural context is to inquire into its relationship with that particular class of interest groups. One specific movie dealt with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and their respective constituencies. Blacks were for Lakers, you see, and whites for Celtics. Examples abounded in anecdotes concerning what sort of sneakers were acceptable on certain streetcorners, and in news footage from pimply Boston youths about how great it is that the best player in a black sport is a white dude like him.
Amid the hyperbole, a sole voice of reason rang out by clarifying that whereas 80% of the national viewing audience was white, somewhat less than 80% were Celtic fans. A little more than 20% rooted for the Lakers. Which is, well, duh! Don’t know how long that could’ve been overlooked. If it makes HBO feel better, I’ll stipulate that every single white Lakers fan was nevertheless proud that Larry Bird was one of them.