After the kind of success Asher Roth has had since the launch of his debut album, Asleep in the Bread Aisle – which is one of my favorite hip hop albums of this year – you can expect a massive influx of college educated white rappers in the scene.

And I’ll bet you my last dollar that most of them will meet with some measurable amount of success.

Simply put, the kind of values, the lyrics rappers like Asher Roth write about is something the majority of America (and much of the music buying public around the world) can associate and identify with.

I went to college. The lyrical content in songs like I Love College appeals to me. It’s nostalgic; I remember the parties I had in college when what Asher Roth sings – never pass out with just your shoes on, don’t have sex if she’s too gone, and when it comes to condoms, put two on -  were actual values.

Does it make me any bit less of a hip hop fan?

No. The stereotpye that hip hop has to be “badass” or from the streets to be good has to be erased from the public consciousness. Just because a talented MC isn’t from the hood doesn’t belittle his talent or skill. Kanye showed us so; the hottest rapper right now has a certain fixation with college (or his inability to finish it). This kind of thinking is the reason why Metal has never hit the mainstream, and why Rock n Roll has an audience limited to middle aged accountants who long for “the old days”.

For hip hop to grow up and become a truly global phenomenon that the majority can embrace, these kind of prejudices need to go. Race, your income level, your education level shouldn’t be detriments to pursuing hip hop. Eminem is white; he’s also the finest rapper since the mid 90′s.

The world is changing. The key word today is diversity. In 50 years, America will have a white minority, a majority of Hispanic and black people, along with Asian immigrants. To cope up with these changes, music has to evolve too, as does hip hop.

Only time will tell if hip hop has matured enough to appreciate this globalization.

1. Asher Roth is Actually Socially Aware. Seriously.
2. White Rappers: Beastie Boys and Gangsta Rap
3. 5 Awesome 80's Rappers
4. Can Rap Be Conservative?
5. 5 New Rappers From the UK You Didn't Know About

I, of course, missed the Beastie Boys’ songwriting. What was essentially a parody of the party lifestyle became my party anthem.

And then there were other Beastie Boys favorites, namely “Sabotage”:

It was only much later, when I started seeing the Beastie Boys as more than a bunch of fun loving idiots and as a serious rap group that had a tremendous amount of influence on hip hop in general, did I realize their importance to gangsta rap.

Gangsta rap was initally made famous by Ice-T in the early 80s, and Public Enemy and N.W.A. in the late 80s.

But the Beastie Boys, who were originally a punk band (with a female drummer!) had plenty of gangsta roots – in the late 70s, punk was the most badass you could get outside the hood. Their eponymous album License to Ill, has more references to drugs, guns, and mindless sex to be a classified as a veritable gangsta rap album. This, of course, has to do with their punk rock origins.

The Boys have never acknowledged themselves as gangsta rap pioneers. But with songs like “Sabotage” (see above for video), “Car Thief”, (see below), they have all the ingredients of gangsta rappers.

The most crucial thing, of course, is the fact that the Beastie Boys were pretty much the first white rappers/gangsta rappers who got mainstream commercial success. Without the Boys, there might have been no Eminem, no Asher Roth, and I’m pretty sure, no mainstream hip hop.

Beastie Boys, we take a bow.

1. 5 Awesome 80's Rappers
2. 5 Awesome 80s Rap Songs
3. Cool Kids Rap
4. 5 New Rappers From the UK You Didn't Know About
5. Prepare For An Influx of White, College Educated Rappers Post Asher Roth

No, seriously, how many white rappers have you seem come out over the past two years? Buck 65 and all…I guess this cements the process that Eminem started, and that which invariably is a hallmark of American music: what’s started by black folks eventually gets populated by white folks. Just look at the historical development of blues and jazz.

Anyway, here’s an article by NYMag on this subject you might like.

1. A History of White People in Rap
2. White Rappers: Beastie Boys and Gangsta Rap
3. Cool Kids Rap
4. Prepare For An Influx of White, College Educated Rappers Post Asher Roth
5. The Ultimate Book on How to Rap for Hip-Hop MCs

Nowadays, you can’t really help but notice how many white people there are in Rap these days (see our post on White People in Rap). Hey man, I’ve got nothing against white folks doing rap. Many of them are pretty darn good  – heck, Eminem is still my favorite rapper.

But if you’re interested in pursuing this matter further, do check out this article by NYMag on a history of white people in rap.

1. White All Over – Abundance of White People in Rap
2. The History of Rap, According to Cracked.com
3. Prepare For An Influx of White, College Educated Rappers Post Asher Roth
4. Can Rap Be Conservative?
5. Really Smart Insight: Hip-Hop Offers Creative Outlet to Young People