Cause hip hop IS about race. It started as just fun and a distraction but turned into a form of expression from racism and classism suffered by (mostly) African Americans. It’s based in black slang, clothing, mannerisms, angst, etc. THEN it evolved even further passed that and others came in a flavored it up but it’s still black at its base. You can call it American or Urban or whatever. But that doesn’t change the fact it’s black culture. We’re both right fam.

I hate to bring it up again but look at some traditional Latino music. The lyrics are Spanish, with Spanish slang, references Spanish holidays, Spanish stories, featuring Spanish clothing, etc. Then it gets played at Spanish ceremonies where they eat Spanish food and blah blah blah. You can call it what you want and dodge it all you want but it’s clearly a part of Spanish culture. It’s too deep not to be. Why’s that so horrible? It doesn’t stop it from expanding changing or bending. Is the lable that scary? No one would gives a fuck if I said it was Hispanic culture... folks would nod there head and say “well duh”. but these dicussions seem to make people uneasy when it’s perceived as a black vs white thing. It’s not. There’s no exclusivity but recognize it for what it is. And To say “oh it’s just a genre”? Nah.

I’m going to end it right here cause I feel like I’m not getting anywhere. Clearly the idea of saying something is black implies segregation to people.

It’s not black culture. It’s African American culture.

True. Admittedly, if I used that term from the beginning instead of black this might’ve gone over smoother. Lol

African Americans been inventing a new form of world shifting music every few decades. Gospel, Jazz, Blues, Rock and Roll, and Hip Hop. Idk if white folks are guests in African American culture as much as they’ve dictated and influenced the global pop culture musically, artistically and stylistically the last 100 years.

Meh. I think it's just a ploy to gain attention by going after the most popular hip-hop artist ever. When's the last time Lord Jamar was relevant besides VladTV?

I give props to Brand Nubian as a group but statistically Em's been in the game longer than Lord Jamar, just facts, so who's really a guest?

It could be a New York thing. An African thing. A freedom from oppression thing. But like everything else in the world... it's a race thing

I just cant imagine trying to claim French cooking as a "white thing". Oh the English language? Yeah homie thats a "white thing". Nah fuck that. Culture is something that is designed to grow and develop. Facebook isn't American culture because it was built in America using American ideals, it's something globally recognized. Maybe a better example is, how can you tell someone who raps in Poland, who exclusively listens to Polish rappers, exclusively is in Polish, that what he's doing is 100% based on "black culture"? He raps about different shit in a different language, all of white are relevant only to the people of Poland.

The problem is folks don't understand the difference between culture and heritage or cross that line for biases consciously and subconsciously.

Coz if they did they would know Eminem has basically achieved heritage status in hip hop and cemented a place for himself in the future even after his death

while dudes like Lord Jamar are folks from the hip hop culture who are just gonna be forgotten and replaced.

This is true

I agree with @GOOD GRIEF that Hip Hop is a culture. I just wouldn't necessarily call it "black culture"... maybe "urban culture" like @Phil Banks said. Because I think of Hip Hop as a culture and not just a form of music, I DO think there can be guests in Hip Hop. I just don't think being a "guest" is necessarily based on race. Hip Hop is something you ARE, not just something you do. Someone can do the music portion, even exceptionally well, and still be a guest because they are primarily of a different culture. Likewise, there are certain people I would describe as "Hip Hop" who don't necessarily rap or make any music. It's just the cloth they are cut from. At least that's how I see it.

He's definitely a guest in hip-hop for he's contributed to the scene in a way that allowed it to evolve and progress further on as a genre.