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Post Malone Says Hip Hop Makes Him Struggle

Post Malone has been experiencing substantial success since he knocked down hip hop’s door with his first single boldly appropriating Allen Iverson, so why doesn’t he want to be called a rapper anymore? Maybe it’s because folks from Nicki Minaj and abroad know White rappers have a special privilege and platform most 99.9% of Black rappers don’t. Post has been going hard to separate himself from the genre while sitting comfortably at number 1 on Billboard. GQ’s  asked Post straight up, does hip hop make you uncomfortable?

 

GQ: Do you, Post Malone, ever feel anxious about working in a primarily black-identified genre of music? I’m black. I’m young. I’ve been put off by some of the things he’s said about distancing himself from rap, from R&B, from anything, really, that’s musically black-identified. I enjoy Post’s music, but I’m skeptical: What’s worse than appropriating a black sound without giving appropriate credit is doing that and not realizing why that might be wrong.

PM: “I definitely feel like there’s a struggle being a white rapper. But I don’t want to be a rapper. I just want to be a person that makes music,” he says. “I make music that I like and I think that kicks ass, that I think the people who fuck with me as a person and as an artist will like.” He sighs.

GQ: Do you see that it’s political to be a black rapper?

PM: “Yeah, yeah!” he says. “I mean…shit.”

GQ: And you also recognize that there are separate struggles that go along with race, right?

PM: “Yeah,” he says, “of course.”

Interesting.

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