It ain’t easy to get the Black Community on your side as a white artist. Nothing against them being white ‘n’ all, but  most of them don’t make the music that most of us trend towards digging. Let’s be clear, we like all kinds of music (and most of that stuff on the radio comes from things we created), but we have a special link with R&B and hip-hop. And, for now, they’re still ours.

It is, therefore, natural for us to gravitate towards artists that look like us. But never fear aspiring white artists, you still have hope. If you work hard, pay attention to who your audience is and don’t just use us for your generalized pop music dreams, we can roll with you.

1. Riff Raff

Although he’s been around the music and entertainment industries for years, Riff Raff is only now starting to catch on. His latest song Dolce & Gabbana has a couple million views and his shows are starting to sell a little bit.

But it’s his interview with A$AP Rocky where you start to see that this guy clowning in a parody of hip-hop gear is actually a real guy with a need to entertain. Alright. Let’s see what you can do young man.

2. Robin Thicke

Despite being in a financial battle with the estate of Marvin Gaye, Robin Thicke has, most robustly, earned some love. Nevermind his hilarious cameos in Kevin Hart’s “Real House Husbands Of Hollywood.” Nevermind his ridiculously popular hit song with Pharrell, “Blurred Lines.” He genuinely seems to get along with Black culture more than any other white artist.
Just look at that picture. For a minute, despite being already married to a Black woman, he’s checking out another one. That’s a dude who knows what he wants. And it’s us.

3. Justin Timberlake (again)

He already had us. He sings great R&B. He works with the best hip-hop artists. And even though he annoyed Kanye with the “Suit & Tie” video Jay Z, who was in it with him, is still a major collaborator. His work is solid and his track record is spectacular.

So why recognize him again? Folks are hustling to his single “Take Back The Night.” Nothing solidifies your status with folks like having them hustle to your music.

4. Iggy Azalea

If someone had told you during his “Why You Wanna” days that T.I. aka Tip Harris would one day hire an Australian, blonde-haired white girl to be a rap protege you probably would have slapped that someone. Fast forward a number of years and Iggy Azalea is making a name for herself in America. Yeah, she raps with a southern accent wholly foreign to her native Australia, but you can’t hate the struggle.

She came here to make rap music. She did whatever she could to do it. And, luckily, managed to make a few powerful friends including T.I. And now she’s got millions of YouTube views, a couple of hot-selling singles and an XXL Freshman Class cover under her sequined belt. Looks like she’s going places, but not back to Australia unless it’s for a tour.

5. Imagine Dragons

You may not know much about them and you may not want to, but you know you love that one song called “Radioactive.” That beat is insane. Let’s take bets on which producer will bite a sample to make someone else’s hit track next year…

6. Eminem (again)

Two words: “Rap God.” Shhhhh…just go listen. Just go listen.

7. Macklemore

You’d be a fool if you thought Macklemore was just another lucky white guy in the rap game. He’s a smart, lucky white guy in the rap game. And he’s well aware of the fact that his success comes not only from working his ass off, but for being perceived as more accessible by white rap fans.

In fact, in an interview with Rolling Stone he addressed exactly that:

“We made a great album,” he continues, “but I do think we have benefited from being white and the media grabbing on to something. A song like ‘Thrift Shop’ was safe enough for the kids. It was like, ‘This is music that my mom likes and that I can like as a teenager,’ and even though I’m cussing my ass off in the song, the fact that I’m a white guy, parents feel safe. They let their six-year-olds listen to it. I mean it’s just…it’s different. And would that success have been the same if I would have been a black dude? I think the answer is no.”

He may have two back to back #1 rap songs, but he’s also smart enough to know why.

8. Miley Cyrus

You can hate her for that ridiculous VMA performance where she rabidly exploited black female sexuality, but that’s ok. She doesn’t care. You can hate her for all the random nudity and exploitative imagery, but that’s ok too. She still doesn’t care. She just wants you to talk about her. And keep talking about her. And watch her videos, look at her pictures and buy tickets to her shows. And you know what? She’s right.

What’s really endearing though is that she, wisely, recognized that there is no road to pop legitimacy that doesn’t pass through the Black community. So she twerks at rap shows. She gets half naked and drapes herself all over rappers in their music videos. And she’s getting everything she really wants: attention. Can’t hate on that, even if her twerking is average at best.

https://twitter.com/giant_life/status/354628266843316225