Black Shee, White Sheep
...deviance will not lead to a prosperous life and appearance will usually portray that individual as an outcast of society in some way. In the case of Marshal Bruce Mathers, otherwise known as Eminem, by being socially deviant and becoming “the other,” he has been able to elevate himself and become an extremely wealthy and successful rapper even though he is white in a hip-hop culture that is predominantly black. Throughout his career, Eminem has maintained a deviant posture, and he successfully distributes this deviance through his provocative language in the lyrics of his songs which appeal to suburban and inner city youths of all races. Eminem makes a visual statement of deviance as well, not only by being a white man, but with his choice of attire. Eminem has even started a line of clothing under his alter ego name tag Slim Shady, called Shady Ltd., to allow others dress in similar clothes to maintain an urban image. Eminem’s behavior has proven that he is a deviant individual, and he has used this deviance to become the successful person he is today.
Hip-hop music has it beginnings in New York City in the early 1970s in the African-American and Latino communities and even though there have been other white rappers and rap groups, none have had the international success that Eminem has received. This success shows the historical significance of Eminem being able to become successful in the hip-hop industry as a white man and how he was able to use the color of his skin to portray him as “the other” in the largely black culture of hip-hop music. In the 1980’s the Beastie Boys, who started as a punk-rock band, switched their attention to rap and were the first major rap group to be composed of white men. The Beastie boys, in comparison to Eminem, had the best selling rap album of the 1980s with their album License to Ill. That album sold almost one million...
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