KEEPIN’ IT REAL: JUXTAPOSING HIP-HOP AUTHENTICITY IN THE 1990s AND THE 2010s

Abstract

Authenticity in hip-hop/rap music is a very complex phenomenon connecting many aspects of American life, such as the American Dream, race, masculinity and gender norms. Because hip-hop was founded as a counterculture for disadvantaged minorities, hip-hop authenticity is heavily linked to race and the American Dream. The genre aims to place power in the hands of powerless people and to challenge the status quo laid out by a white-dominated society. As such, hip-hop authenticity is linked to respective rappers’ resonance with their audiences and has made hip-hop inherently political, as rappers are seen as representatives for their communities. However, due to increasing commercialization and assimilation, the genre has become less political. As more of its fanbase becomes white, authenticity based on race diminishes, making hip-hop “white-friendly” and changing the genre in significant ways.