White on White Hate; or, Why White Folks are Suspicious of Mac Miller

I was inspired to write this after listening to the Hyped Men's podcast with Peter Rosenberg yesterday as the guys, all of them white, started discussing why white hip-hop fans are so quick to hate on white rappers. While they hilariously danced around the subject, I thought they really only scraped the surface. Looks like it's up to me to go deeper by delving into the two primary reasons why white-on-white hate is so rampant: Albino Crabs in a Bucket, and VIPSD (Vanilla Ice Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Oh, and as if it need to be said, I'm white. So when I say "we" I mean "white people." If you're white and you find that offensive, deal with it. Moving on....

Albino Crabs in a Bucket

While to the younger generation, a.k.a. the Mac Miller generation (more on him later), a white person working in any facet of the hip-hop game is becoming less and less remarkable, for us '80s babies, and certainly those from even earlier eras, spots for the melanin-challenged were few and far between, at least outside of the upper echelons of money and wealth. And rightfully so; hip-hop at its core will always be a black art form.

While the number's steadily increasing, essentially only so many of us are allowed in hip-hop at one time. Otherwise hip-hop would become over-saturated and, well, become pop. So when we see someone new enter the game we're always thinking, "damn, well that means someone else has to go, and it's not going to be me." Hence the (albino) crabs in a bucket metaphor. Whether consciously or subconsciously, white folks are quicker to try to pull down other white rappers/producers/writers/radio personalities etc. than anyone.

VISPD (Vanilla Ice Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Easily the more powerful of the two forces, VISPD has haunted white hip-hop fans for a full generation now. The specter of Vanilla's bedazzled pants moving across the stage causes all of us unfortunate to have lived through that troubled time to flinch every time a new white rapper comes onto the scene like a Vietnam vet hearing a car backfire. In a genre that hinges definitively on the concept of "realness", Vanilla, and the cavalcade of comedy punching bags (thanks Jamie Kennedy) he inspired have re-enforced the notion that if you're a grown white man who loves hip-hop you're either manipulative or retarderly naive.

Call it guilt by association. We feel like if a new white rapper is wack, than by extension we're wack. That's why so many white folks gravitate towards the super-underground scene, where there can never be any question about how seriously they are about hip-hop; just look at how seriously the rappers they listen to are.

We're so quick to hate and so reticent to give any latitude to any new white rapper because we need to be absolutely, absolutely sure they won't turn out to be another Vanilla and embarrass us all again. Eminem was just so incredibly dope, and insane, we quickly became convinced we were safe in supporting him. By contrast, when Asher Roth hit we rightfully eyed him suspiciously, and it's take the proceeding years for him to slowly convince us he might just be the real deal. Mac Miller, on the other hand, is far too new, and young, for any older white hip-hop head I know to truly endorse him yet. The younger folks appear to be blissfully unburdened by these concerns, they can barely even remember Vanilla, but for the rest of us, there jury's still out on Mac, and will continue to be long after most black hip-hop fans have (potentially) embrace him.

No one hates on white rappers more than white fans and those of us in the industry. Now you know why.