If he's black, he must rap

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.

Comments

[BBManik]

Great article. Only two problems: M.I.A. considers herself a rapper & Estelle actually released three rap albums before releasing her American debut on which she also raps.

[spazmo]

A lot of blame for this confusion can be laid at the feet of industry publicists, agents, managers and promoters for blurring the lines between new genres (which urban radio stations themselves set up and capitalized on in the first place).

The rappification (for lack of a better term) of seemingly unrelated urban musical styles has been going on for decades. Forget the NY Post - blame the Harvard MBA grads in the recording industry who successfully marketed the rap culture to a generation of white kids who didn't (and weren't supposed to) know any better.

Also, I'm willing to bet that a lot of artists are themselves unhappy with the "R&B" label they get saddled with. It seems like there's a forced soft/hard adult/youth dichotomy at work here that's so pernicious. It's like black music is being decocted down to two flavors - R&B or Rap. Sadly, a lot of people now think that's all urban artists have to offer.

And just as the industry fused "rhythm" and "blues" into a meaningless umbrella term, don't be surprised if you start hearing people refer to black musicians in the future as "RBR" arists. (That would be Rhythm, Blues & Rap, and damn the distinctions and subtleties, because after all, the important denominator is their skin color, right?)

[matthew]

I think the worst part about this is that it led me to the comments on the Post article.

"Wow, riahana or however you spell her name is ghetto trash, Mariah is a true talent and true diva and deserves to act like one. RIRI deserves to be treated like a hood rat."

That's just one.

[Ricky Retardo]

Belle: i got what you were saying without the retraction. i work with plenty of black people who are not familiar with the rappers and r&b singers of today. sure they're 50+ years old and listen to mostly gospel and oldies but i can drop names like j holiday and amerie and get blank stares from alot of people outside of that demography.

[Rockabye]

I'm going to agree with the M.I.A.-is-a-rapper idea: She's at least putting together couplets, just more melodically than most.

Also: Ne-Yo did rap, once, sort of. And it was awesome.

"My middle name is More Bread/And my last name is Than Your Bread."

[rachel]

GO, RICH! i was just thinking about this the other day.

not only is this blatantly racist, it is limiting to performers who write new, interesting material that is changing the sound of pop music as a whole and who can't get their points across to a greater listening audience because they are pigeon-holed by people who don't listen and only look.

also, i like that details like this are as important to you as they are to me. some might not think it's a big deal, but it is. because it is the spreading of lies.

thanks, rich. scorpio power.

[CassavaLeaf]

I can't tell the difference between R&B singers and rappers anymore

[twitter.com/divaTy]

Ugh, this makes my head hurt. I've seen Gospel singers labeled as rappers, too. It's unbelievable.

[TheUltimate]

I've been complaining about this since Jodeci came on the scene! It seems to MSM that every Black man in the public eye is a rapper, and up until recently, every rapper is a gangsta rapper.

I'm so glad that you wrote about this!

@ belle: Is there any reason why writers can't do their research? If you don't know for certain than an artist is a rapper, why attach that label to him?

[sam]

Carson Daly said Mike Posner was a rapper and he's white. But I think that's the only nonblack person to be referred called a rapper

[kevin k]

to be fair, ne-yo *did* kind of kill his "a milli" freestyle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyW6jPB-mwU

[mara]

seriously, shit like this has irked me for ages...i feel like contacting 'The Post' in particular and airing their asses out, for this and soo much more. ugh.

[Mr. Reality Check]

While most of you are obviously incredibly busy pointing out who's being mislabeled because of the color of their skin, may I remind you that none of that stuff matters. None.

If you get your panties in a bunch because someone called 6 R&B singers "rappers" you really need to get your priorities straight in life.

I wouldn't be surprised if they deliberately used the word "rappers" to get the feeble minded all up in arms and get their minds away from the real problems in the world. But now I'm just talking crazy... Back to the REAL issue... Don't call a R&B singer a rapper!!!! Fix that and everything else will just fall into place!

[Lindsey]

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?

YES!!! Where can I sign up?

[joy]

M.I.A. isn't even black... Nevertheless, your point still stands.

[summer]

this is why i heart you, rich.

[wowwwwww]

this is a great article, a lotta laughs at people's ignorance, wow, i didnt think it was this bad but it is

[Victoria]

"While most of you are obviously incredibly busy pointing out who's being mislabeled because of the color of their skin, may I remind you that none of that stuff matters. None.

If you get your panties in a bunch because someone called 6 R&B singers "rappers" you really need to get your priorities straight in life."

You only read this blog for the ANTM posts don'cha?

[Jim]

I can understand a few of these mistakes: T-Pain used to rap, no? And now he just...autotunes? And M.I.A...you could make a case for her being a rapper. I can only think of Sisqo in terms of the Thong Song, and that was kind of (c)rappy. But Usher! R. Kelly! Ne-Yo! Those are just shameful.

[grafittix]

Awesome post Rich.

[Tina]

I love it when I'm not alone in noticing this bullshit. Makes me feel like I'm not the paranoid black chick I think I am.

[steff]

this was an amazing, AMAZING post. i wish i had read this before this weeks FiveStarFriday (http://www.fivestarfriday.com/)came out today. i'm nominating this for next week, no doubt.

[Jinx]

Haha, another great one from you sir. I can't tell you how annoyed it makes me to see that shit too; I'm so hellbent on getting everything right in print that the idea of referring to an artist that is CLEARLY a singer because all they do is SING makes me wanna choke koala bears.

ps. i would never choke one, people.

[Lara]

I think we can be respectful both to the article and to Belle's comment. I loled at her comment - it's a bit of pithy observational humour. I don't think it's a dig at the article.

[twitter.com/afghanant]

Great post, Rich.