A photo posted by Post Malone (@postmalone3) on Aug 13, 2015 at 8:55am PDT
Dallas rapper Post Malone has broken into the spotlight recently after signing a contract with Republic Records based on the success of his debut single. The "White Iverson" rapper is, of course, white, and as he's been noticed by major hip-hop outlets. He's also began to face questions of what it means to be a white rapper in an era of commonplace cultural appropriation. Whether or not it was unfair for Malone to face such questions so early into his career, his race, and the privilege that goes with it, will likely take up much of his spotlight in the near future, as an old video has surfaced that shows a younger Malone saying the N-word.
The video, a since deleted clip taken from Malone's Vine and recovered and uploaded to YouTube by a KanyeToThe user, begins with the camera pointed at a TV screen showing some cats playing around. Malone, seated next to a friend, also white, then turns the camera toward himself, and says, “We watch ‘Too Cute,’ n*gga,” referring to the Animal Planet TV show.
On August 24, Malone made his debut on The Breakfast Club and was interviewed by DJ Envy and an especially brash Charlamagne Tha God. The issue of race first came up when Malone named the first hip-hop record he ever listened to, Fat Joe’s “Lean Back.” Charlamagne attempted to get Malone to sing along to the song’s chorus but was unable to get him to rap the word “n*gga” in the first line.
Charlamagne then asked Malone if he was afraid of being considered a "culture vulture," and Malone replied that he wasn't because his music is reflective of his true identity. Malone was really put on the spot when Charlamagne asked him what he was doing to contribute to the Black Lives Matter movement. He responded messily by speaking of how Christian Taylor, a 19-year-old black male who was shot and killed by police outside of Dallas on August 8, had tweeted a lyric to his song "Too Young" a week before he died. Malone ultimately answered that continuing to make music would be his way of helping the cause.
Charlamagne then joked that, had he been in Malone's shoes, he would have answered, "nothing."
If Charlamagne unfairly grilled Malone on the subject of race, the rapper will do well to prepare for further breaching of the subject in future interviews, and his defense and/or apology for his unfortunate word-choice in the above video will, no doubt, be highly scrutinized.
