Top 10 White Rappers

Over the course of the past few decades, hip-hop has risen to become one of the more prominent popular music genres. Though its prime cultural origins lay upon the streets of The Bronx, New York City, the genre has spread far and wide since its conception in the early 1970’s. Created largely by the predominantly African American communities which inhabited the area at this time, hip hop was crafted off the back of block party culture. During such parties, a DJ would be charged with providing a concise stream of appropriate music for the enjoyment of the assembled crowds. Genres of choice typically centered around soul, reggae, dub and funk music, leading to experimentation amongst DJ’s, who began to isolating beats and coming up with their own fresh ideas. Eventually, the music acted to incorporate vocal parts, and hip-hop began its journey towards its current form. Whilst the genre belonged solely to black artists back then, in time people of all ethnicities provided input. Today, hip-hop is arguably far more based around the particular social background of an individual, as opposed to strictly being relative to their race, religion or ethnicity. In celebration of this perspective, let’s take a look at some of the most credit-worthy Caucasian hip-hop artists or ‘rappers’ to have emerged in recent years.

10. Brother Ali

Brother Ali is a white hip-hop lyricist who was born and raised in the United States’ ‘Midwest’ region. Born in Wisconsin in 1974, he settled along with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota aged 15 in 1992. It was around the same time that Ali (birth name Jason Newman) converted to Islam, and began practicing the religion habitually. Influenced further by a school trip to Malaysia focusing on the study of the lesser exposed liberal side of his new found religion, Newman soon turned to hip-hop as a medium through which to vent his views and opinions. Ali is also an albino, a fact which often dictates his portrayal in the popular media.

9. Sage Francis

Native of Providence, Rhode Island and founder of Strange Famous Records, Sage Francis (real name Paul Francis), has been releasing highly acclaimed music since 1996. Born in Miami, Florida in 1976, Francis first gained widespread recognition within the hip-hop community on the back of a win at the Scribble Jam ‘emcee’ battle in 2000. By 2002 he had signed to Hollywood based punk-rock label ‘Epitaph Records’, making history as the first rapper to do so. Releasing five albums since then, and touring the US extensively, Sage Francis has become one of the most notable white rappers in the industry at present.

8. Lunar C

Perhaps the youngest MC on this list, Lunar C is one of the most recent rappers to emerge from the UK’s thriving underground hip-hop/grime scene. Born Jake Brook in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1990—he began performing under the pseudonym ‘Lunar C’ as a teenager, competing in battle raps and releasing his first mix-tape ‘The Lunar CD’ in 2010. Though an accomplished songwriter, Lunar’s true talents arguably lie within the field of improvised competitive rap battles. Competing in six consecutive battles for UK based battle league ‘Don’t Flop’, Lunar remains unbeaten. All of his battles can be found on YouTube, and are extremely entertaining.

7. MC Serch

Born Michael Berrin in Queens, New York, 1967- MC Serch has been a functioning hip-hop artist since the mid 1980’s. Coming from a Jewish family, he began his musical career as a student of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Founding rap trio ‘3^rd Bass’ with Pete Nice and DJ Richie Rich in 1987, MC Serch went on to release three studio albums with the group through the infamous Def-Jam imprint, as well as solo effort ‘Return of the Product’ in 1992. Recently, Berrin has stuck to production and DJing as opposed to rapping, however earlier this month it was revealed that 3^rd Bass are set to reunite in order to tour in celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the groups pivotal ‘Cactus Album’.

6. Cage

Born Chris Palko in Wurzburg, Germany- Cage is an American rapper based out of Middletown, New York. Active as a rapper since 1991, Palko found notoriety as a result of his run-ins with the law as well as his raw and subversive material. Making a steady impression on the East Coast underground throughout the 1990’s Palko’s debut album emerged after he signed a deal with Eastern Conference Records. Entitled ‘Movies for the Blink’, the album made some serious waves upon its release in the summer of 2002. Since this time, Cage has gone on to release three more full lengths, with another LP, entitled ‘Kill the Architect’ scheduled to be released in the next few months.

5. Slug

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Slug (real name Sean Michael Daley) is best known for his membership of hip-hop collective ‘Atmosphere’. Beginning his career aged 16/17 in 1989, Slug initially took a backseat when it came to Atmosphere, providing the beats whilst reflective member Spawn took control of the lyrics. Eventually however, Daley found himself to be much more confident when it came to carrying out the duties of a hip-hop MC. Numerous collaborations and invitations to appear on mix-tapes later, and he was at the forefront of a thriving rap scene. In the time since the very earliest days of Atmosphere, Slug has released some 20 LP’s as part of the collective, as well as numerous others as part of various collectives. Currently, he operates his own record label ‘Girl Records’, which focuses on releasing rock music, to which Daley is apparently also very partial.

4. Asher Roth

Born and raised in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, Asher Roth has been active as a rapper since 2005. During this time, the 27-year-old has struck record deals with the likes of Universal, Schoolboy, SRC and Def Jam, leading to a whole lot of international exposure and the release of one critically acclaimed album (2009’s ‘Asleep in the Bread Aisle’) and a host of EP’s and mix-tapes. Roth is known for his comical confrontation of the fact that he was raised in the suburbs, and seeks in many ways to end the stereotype that hip-hop may only be created honestly from those dwelling in tough inner-city areas.

3. Mike Skinner

Known primarily as the mastermind behind British hip-hop’s household name ‘The Streets’, Mike Skinner was born in Birmingham, England in 1978.  Skinner began experimenting with music at a very early age, and by his teens had developed a passionate interest in hip-hop music. Soon, he was honing his skills as a producer too, and began recording bedroom demos via a home set-up that he created from scratch. Whilst still attending school, Skinner worked a series of dead-end fast food jobs in order to fund his passion, sending off regular demos and maintaining hopes of starting his own independent label. After several years toiling away perfecting his work, The Streets eventually signed a distribution deal with UK based Locked On records and released debut album ‘Original Pirate Material’, in 2002. The LP was a hit amongst fans of hip-hop, grime and garage in his native UK, and soon spread to a trans-Atlantic audience also. Over the next decade, Skinner released four more albums under the moniker, becoming one of the UK’s most celebrated artists in the process.

2. Beastie Boys

An infamous name in world hip-hop; Beastie Boys are a group of Jewish rappers who formed in New York City, 1981. Originally a punk-rock act- the band made the transition to hip-hop following the genres gathering of momentum in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Maintaining many of their previous rock and roll quirks, Beastie Boys forged their own piece of what was then a predominantly black genre. Signing with Def-Jam records in 1984, after its formation at the hands of their then DJ/producer Rick Rubin, the ensemble released their highly coveted debut album ‘License to Ill’ in 1986. From this point onwards, the group were catapulted into the limelight, gathering a reputation as one of the most exciting contemporary acts on the planet.

1. Eminem

Arguably the biggest name in hip-hop currently, Eminem was born Marshall Mather’s in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1972. Doing most of his growing up in Detroit, Michigan, Marshall became involved with the cities underground hip-hop scene at a relatively early age- toiling his way through a series of medial jobs and creating music whenever possible. He received his first break aged 25 following a 2^nd place finish at 1997’s ‘Rap Olympics’. Upon the strength of his performance, Interscope Records requested a demo tape from Mather’s, with this material in turn securing him a record deal, as well as being responsible for getting Dr Dre on-board as a potential producer. Since the release of his major label debut ‘The Slim Shady LP’ in 1998, Eminem has risen to become the most acclaimed hip-hop artist of the current generation. Releasing six solo albums, as well as three as part of the ensemble ‘D12’, he has become a household name within popular music.