R. Kelly. Bobby Brown. Ray J. Estelle. Sisqo. Russell Simmons. Shaggy. Damon Dash. M.I.A. Santigold. Kelis. T-Pain. Akon. All of these people have two things in common: 1) At one point, they were referred to by the New York Post as "rappers," and 2) None of them are. You see how some of these might confuse people: how the sing-songy styles of M.I.A. and Akon could be mistaken as rapping for the uninitiated and hard-of-hearing, old white people who write the Post. T-Pain is a "rappa ternt sanga," so that explains that. Bobby Brown has rapped (I mean, has a couplet finer than "Too hot to handle, too cold to hold / They called the Ghostbusters in they're in control" since been spat?), Kelis, R. Kelly and Santigold have kind of, as well, I guess. Russell and Damon have worked around rap, so I guess they're rappers by association?
The fact of the matter is that even if the case can be made that a few of these people could possibly write "rapper" on their resume, a more accurate title could be applied to any of them. (Someone like Kid Rock apparently is one of the few of the multi-hyphenate elite. Guess why!) I do not know for sure why they are called "rappers," but I can make a few guesses. The Post still fetishizes rappers as the bad boys of the entertainment industry. The vast majority of its hip-hop coverage -- I'd say just from the informal survey that I took to find the above examples of faulty labeling, 80 percent of it involves the rappers involved in some sort of crime. As silly as it is, the word "rapper," still has sensationalistic value at the Post that "R&B star" or "dancehall artist" or "mogul," just doesn't. (Shit, they called Barbie a rapper, even though she was actually, Rappin' and Rockin'.) Also, these people who have no idea what they're talking about regarding pop culture, may hear about a (usually male) black recording artist and just assume that he is a rapper. I'm not saying that these people are racist (although, if they work for the Post, I'm not saying they're not racist, either), but I am saying they're lazy, ignorant and prone to stereotyping. That's all!
The reason that I bring this up is that in Tuesday's paper there was an item labeling Ne-Yo a rapper, which is the most egregious error of this sort yet. I think I've rapped more than Ne-Yo has. He's a fucking crooner, you know? A singing, songwriting crooner. (I discovered through my research that this isn't even the first time the Post has done that.) Seriously, Post, who's next? Stevie Wonder? Miles Davis? Lenny Kravitz is part-black, so he must be part-rapper, too, right? And look, I understand factual errors. I make them often. I understand meaning one thing and typing another. But I don't understand working at a national media outlet and just assuming in the place of fact-checking. That's nonsense.
It's not just the Post that does this, of course. Come, let's laugh at the mistakes of what we can presume are stupid white people:
The L.A. Times is almost as bad as the Post, having referred to Marques Houston, John fucking Legend and Chris Brown as rappers.
At least they know how to retract.
Rolling Stone called Omarion a rapper. So much for music-industry authority.
Fucking Jet called Jodeci a "rap group," once again proving that if you can fit a periodical in your back pocket, you should not trust it. (Sorry, Reader's Digest.)
This one's really, really bad: the New York Times referred to Mary J. Blige as a rapper. Granted, they were talking about the use of "411" as slang, and she does rap on the title track of What's the 411? On virtually every other track on that album and since (except for "Enough Cryin'"), she sings, though. It's just what she's built her career on. No biggie.
Ginuwine "keeps rap Ginuwine" according to the New York Daily News.
Oh, and I've mentioned R. Kelly, but it seems particularly fucked up that a Chicago publication like the Sun-Times would be referring to him as a rapper. Let me guess: house music is a form of country and western? It's not even house music, in fact, it's barn music.
The photo houses are really, really bad, too. WireImage says Mario...
...Keyshia Cole...
...and Lyfe Jennings...
...are all rappers (the Lyfe example is from Life magazine, but since WireImage did the shot, its fair to assume that the frequently erroneous company is responsible for the caption as well). Yeah, that's not a guitar Lyfe plays -- it's a stringed turntable.
Getty, on the other hand, lists Anthony Hamilton...
...Trey Songz...
...and fucking Jamie Foxx...
...as rappers. You wonder if these people have ever heard any popular music ever. Isn't there a nation of young, unemployed, pop-culture savvy graduates who would shit themselves for the opportunity to write even the most basic copy for an organization half as reputable as Getty?
But my favorite, favorite, favorite of all of these examples is this one about Usher:
That's gorgeous, as irony goes. Really, really solid work, everyone. Oh, and since it's from the Newswire, it's basically a press release, so if you need a more reputable journalistic source for Usher's status as a rapper, the Post has it covered, too. Good, old Post!
So basically the point is that just about every single male R&B singer of the past 10 years (and quite a few females) has been labeled a "rapper," by sources that are more or less trusted. When in doubt, though, I think you should use your sense of hearing. It's a much, much better source.
Great post, Rich! Best in a while actually :)
Posted by: paris | November 08, 2009 at 02:01 PM
JOHN LEGEND, JAMIE FOXX, AND ANTHONY HAMILTON??? Really journalists... *side eye*
Posted by: CrAZy5470 | November 09, 2009 at 05:20 PM
Awesome post. I hate it when newspapers do that, and I always figure it's 'cause they're a bunch of old people who know nothing about current pop culture.
I'd also like to add that Mary J. Blige rapped on Busta Rhymes' "Touch It Remix".
Posted by: Vicki | November 09, 2009 at 08:56 PM
Great post...so very true but I agree with someone else even black folks make the same mistakes.
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692631673 | November 10, 2009 at 02:48 AM
LOL.
Well...we all know if their black and male their like one of (if not all) three things:
1. An ex-con
2. A Baby Daddy
3. A rapper
I can understand how the mistake is made.
*rolls eyes*
A Big Butt and a Smile
Posted by: A Big Butt and a Smile | November 10, 2009 at 09:35 AM
Estelle is a rapper and anyone who had heard of her pre-American Boy would know her as a staple of the UK Hip Hop scene but nice post.
Here she is, rapping: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ODOYNAuGM
Posted by: Samuel | November 11, 2009 at 01:41 PM
EXCELLENT POST. I've seen this so many times in various articles across the media. I thought it was isolated, sad to see that it isn't.
To me, there's an implicit negative connotation in mainstream white culture with the term "rapper." That's because for so many years the word "gangster" preceded it. Labeling perfectly safe, harmless R&B singers like Sisqo, Ne-Yo and Usher really raises eyebrows because if you've even heard one of their songs you would know they're not rappers. And to repeatedly make the mistake? Come on.
Posted by: Ricky | November 12, 2009 at 01:48 AM
Rich, this is yet another reason why you're a friend in my head. Nicole Ritchie is part-rapper too. yeah.. lol
Posted by: LoveMyselfFirst | November 12, 2009 at 02:36 PM
I love this. But I have to disagree with Estelle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ODOYNAuGM
Posted by: Amy | November 15, 2009 at 06:42 PM
You've forgotten the oh-so-prevalent, yet descriptive of nearly no one, title RAP-SINGER, popularized by Fox News.
Posted by: becca | November 16, 2009 at 07:22 PM
I'm 22 years old and I really don't know the subtler differences between rap and hip hop, nor do I know which artist falls into which category. I guess I'm pretty dumb. But then again I don't write music features.
Posted by: Sarah | November 25, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Most of these people have worked with rappers and have hip-hop influences in their songs. Akon sings, but it's pretty much just melodic rap. He worked with Styles P, Jeezy, etc. One of Usher's singles had Lil' Jon on it. Believe or not, most musical genres don't intertwine like these two do. It also doesn't help that these two types of music promote the same image and share the same fan base.
Do you really expect people outside of these genres to differentiate so efficiently? No one would ever mistake talented instrumentalists like Victor Wooten or Stevie for rappers.
They also call bands like Korn and Disturbed metal when they're derivatives of punk. Same image. Different music.
Posted by: Joseph | December 09, 2009 at 01:11 PM
I don't like their music, I don't like their style, but I do love their parties. I went to a party hosted by R.Kelly and I can say that was Gomorra!
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Posted by: Violdlisette | July 22, 2011 at 03:08 AM
Great article, especially interesting is the upsurge in google seaches for "chris brown rapper" after he beat rihanna. because being a rapper somehow fits more with being a domestic abuser.
but if we're all about fact checking here... Estelle did release an album that was primarily rap with some sangin' sprinkled on top. So, she actually is a rapper (albeit a lapsed one)
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