Renegade

I dispute the idea that Eminem “won” on Renegade, or that he beat Jay-Z or even that he’s a better rapper. Here’s why.

Take yourselves back to a long long time ago. Almost 15 years ago now. There was a different landscape for rap than there is now, where white people could sound black, but not vice-versa. We hadn’t gotten there yet. Unfortunately, we still haven’t. Black people can sound white and still be black, but white people still can’t sound black, and still be white. Action Bronson. Take time and ingest.

I have a ridiculous challenge that I would like to put forth, and that is that Eminem and Jay-Z do another song together, only this time the tables are turned. Jay-Z will have the freedom to sound as white as he pleases, and Eminem can be as black as he wants. Who will win? I think the answer is obvious, but the reason it’s obvious is not so clear. The idea that a white man can try and sound black, legitimately, is quite absurd; who would want to sound black if they could help it? It’s certainly not an asset in any way, shape, or form in current society. However, the converse is, or at least, was, expected of every rapper involved up until about 1 or 2 years ago. These are huge societal benchmarks that aren’t measured, but they should be. Thank you Drake, Thank you Tyler, Thank you Wayne, even though I hate you. These are the double standards that exist that no one wants to talk about. Blacks because they feign disinterest in assimilating into white society, and whites because they innately understand that it’s an inherent advantage. No one had to teach them to be white to get ahead.

As always, I welcome discussion, so please feel free to give some feedback.