There’s this recent talk of white rappers saving the hip-hop genre from some culture-distorting new wack artists. While that sentiment isn’t necessarily based on fact, we can’t deny that the past few decades have spawned some beautiful white heritage rappers.
Granted, there’s an abundance of Caucasian musicians out there, but when it comes to hip-hop, we can’t think of too few of them. Here are the best white rappers around…
The best white rappers in the world
This list is purely based on career results, sales, fanbase, and of course, how hard they killed dem beats.
Eminem
To be fair, it’s utterly disrespectful to consider Slim Shady just one of the best white rappers. If this piece was about the greatest rappers of all time, Eminem will probably still make the list. We would have claimed he’s the king of this jungle, but the man considers himself a rap god and there’s almost no reason to disagree with him. Oh! Don’t roll our eyes, you know his verbal energy is second to none.
Beyond being a rapper, Marshall Bruce Mathers III is a songwriter, record producer and actor. It’s not a pretty story; from his parents’ separation, Eminem experienced constant relocation, poverty, rejection from his father, a sour relationship with his mother, bullying, and dropping out of school. Marshall initially wanted to be a comic book artist because of his love for storytelling. But as fate would have it, he started rapping with his high school friend Mike Ruby at the age of 14, engaging in freestyle rap battles and open mic contests. His first rap song Témérairefeaturing Ice T was produced by his now late uncle Ronnie Polkinghorn. Ronnie served as his musical mentor until his suicide in 1991. Eminem joined several early rap groups; New Jacks, Soul Intent, The Dirty Dozen (D12) and FBT Productions. His debut album Infini, released in 1996, was a major failure and he sought solace in drug abuse. With no money in his pocket, he replied to do the dishes in a small restaurant. Eminem was quickly kicked out of his home, he became overwhelmed with his many problems and attempted suicide.
A second chance came in 1997 when he contested and came second at the Rap Olympics in Los Angeles. One thing led to another and he had the opportunity to work with Dr. Dre, the founder of Aftermath Entertainment, which became the ladder of his much desired success. Eminem’s songs became hits, but accompanied by controversies over the choice of words in those songs. He was the first Caucasian artist to appear on the cover of The Source. In 2001, the rap god performed with Elton John at the 43rd Grammy Awards. This guy has been very well known for handing out controversial lyrics. He had a headlining act with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for his many homophobic lyrics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine theThe Eminem Lounge.
In 2003 he was investigated by the United States Secret Service for his alleged threat to the President of the United States, all made up from lyrics on his Bis album. He also shaded Micheal Jackson for his child molestation lawsuit, plastic surgery and hair risk on the Just Lose It song. This caused a huge outcry among the King of Pop’s fans, but Eminem didn’t care.
Slim probably equaled the accomplishments of all white rappers put together. He has been steady on the road to success and is the only American rapper to have 2 diamond-certified albums under his belt. He ranked 9th on MTV’s Greatest MCs of All Time, won at least 15 Grammy Awards. His albums are; Infinite, The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Encore, Relapse, Recovery, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Revival, and the very recent Kamikaze. It is the epistle of this living legend.
Yelawolf
Yelawolf, born Micheal Wayne Atha, made his first appearance on the UPN network reality series The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott in 2005. He left the show the same year and released his debut album Waters from the Creek without any label but in 2007, he signed with Columbia Records. However, his stay there was short-lived.
He was featured on the cover of XXL magazine in March 2011 and was also part of the XXL Top 10 Freshman list of 2011. Yelawolf has worked individually with rap legend Eminem. You might want to take a look at one of his albums – Radioactive, Histoire d’amour, L’epreuve du Feu
Machine Gun Kelly
Richard Coleson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) earned his nickname from his fans for his fast rap delivery. The rapper, singer, and actor hails from Cleveland, Ohio. He fell in love with rap listening to Ludacris, Eminem and DMX. MGK released his first Seal of Approval mixtape as a teenager in 2006. This opened the door to fame as he began performing at local venues in Cleveland.
Soon he was featured on MTV’s Sucker Free Freestyle. The store would later name him Hottest Breakthrough MC in 2011. His debut album Lacer was released on October 9, 2012, and 57,000 copies were sold in the first week. He has two more albums to his name; General Admission and Bloom. His awards include Breaking Woodie (2012), Woodie of the Year (2013) and many other awards.
MGK’s feud with Eminem in 2018 earned him a lot of attention. He dropped a Rap Devil diss track, attacked his idol and Shaddy responded with Killshot which broke the YouTube record, reaching over 36 million views in 24 hours to become the biggest hip-hop debut on the platform. -form.
RA The sturdy man
RA Thorburn started his musical career when he was a 12 year old boy and signed with Jive Records at the age of 18. His debut album Die Rugged Man Die was released in 2004.
A verse from RA’s song The Rugged Man Uncommon Value was featured in The Source magazine in October 2016. He had other honorable features on Rolling Stone and Vibe Magazine. RA is also a monthly contributor to Mass Appeal Magazine and also active in screenwriting and film production. Yes, versatility at its peak.
His albums and mixtapes include Night of the Bloody Apes, Poor People, American Lowlife, Legendary Classics Vol 1, Ruff Rugged & Raw, Murderous Verses, Crazy man, and Legends never die
Macklemore
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty got his first exposure to hip-hop through rap group Digital Underground. He started writing song lyrics when he was 15, and in high school he formed a rap group High Elements. The group then released an album – Progress in 2000, the same year the rapper released his first mixtape Open Your Eyes.
Macklemore’s interest in rap did not cause him to abandon his education. In 2009, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Evergreen State College. His debut album was released on the first day of 2005. The following year he worked with Ryan Lewis and released two more albums. Macklemore performed at the major Seattle Arts and Music Awards in 2001, 2008 and 2009. He also appeared in the National Rugby League Grand Final in Australia on October 1, 2017.
Only a handful of white rappers have had the privilege of working with other good singers like Haggerty. He has worked with Ed Sheeran, Skylar Gray, 2Chainz, DA and rapper Lil Yatchy. To get a taste of Macklemore’s rapping skills, check out the songs; Alright, Wings, Can’t Hold Us, Growing Up, Same Love, White Privilege II, Drug Dealer, Wednesday Mornings, Marmelade, and the Gemini Album.
Bronson Stock
At first, rapping was just a hobby for Ariyan Arslani – he started a career in music only in 2005. A few years later, precisely in March 2011, he released his first album , Dr. Lecter. Next was Well Played in November 2011.
Bronson performed at the Coachella Valley Musicet Arts Festival in March 2013 and was also on XXL’s freshman roster that year. He was one of the convoy rappers on Eminem’s tour of Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in February 2014.
Beyond being named one of the top white rappers, Action Bronson is an author, talk show host, reality TV star, and chef. The foodie never fails to include food in his lyrics. Her other three albums include; Mr. Wonderful, Blue Chips 7000, and White Bronco. He was nominated for the BET Hip Hop Awards in the Rookie of the Year and Best Mixtape category. This was in 2013 and 2014 respectively
G-Eazy
Gerald Earl Gillum is from Oakland, California. It is said that he started working on his songs while still a student at Loyola University, New Orleans. The white rapper would later join the hip-hop group the Bay Boys and gain wide admiration after opening for Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg. Although this marked the beginning of his rise, his mixtape failed to make many sales after his fall.
Eazy and Shwayze embarked on a nationwide tour in 2011 and that went a long way to expanding their fan base. His debut album Must Be Nice came the following year and took No. 3 spot on the iTunes hip-hop chart. In 2014, Eazy toured the United States and Canada for 3 months. Again, he and rapper Logic co-headlined the Endless Summer Tour in 2015. Try listening to any of his albums – The Epidemic LP, This Things Happen, Must Be Nice, The Beautiful & Damned and When It’s Dark
Aesop Rock
What sets Ian Mathias Bavitz apart from other white rappers are his abstract lyrics inspired by his life experiences. Regardless of rap, Aesop is admired as a poet, songwriter, record producer and visual artist.
He started rapping in the early 1990s and released his Music for Worms album in 1997 while in college. Aesop has worked with record labels like Definitive Jux, Mush, Rhymesayers and Stones Throw. His other albums include Float, Labor Days, Bazooka’s Tooth, None Shall Pass, Skelethon and The Impossible Kid.
Lil Dicky (LD)
This guy was born David Andrew Burd and it’s hard to keep ignoring him after what he did with Chris Brown in Horrible Friday. The rapper and songwriter is also a comedian. As such, his bars always come with a touch of comedy. As the story goes, listening to hip-hop and rock music sparked his interest, and he started rapping when he was in fifth grade. He even did a history project on Alexander Pushkin using rap music.
Initially, Dicky only wanted to use rapping as a publicity stunt for his career as a comedian and actor, but he quickly fell in love with the genre and decided to make a career out of it. Lil Dicky’s rise to stardom came when he released the Ex Boyfriend music video on April 23, 2013. It went viral and had over a billion views on YouTube. He was featured on XXL’S Freshmen list in June of that year and has been on several tours since. Check out his albums – Professional Rapper, So Hard and Follow the Brain
mac miller
Malcolm James McCormick is late but we’ll just have to pretend he’s still with us. Miller once described himself as the coolest Jewish rapper and he lived up to it. The rapper, singer and record producer started rapping when he was 14 years old. He soon joined a rap group The Ill Spoken and in 2007, when he was just 15, he dropped his first mixtape But My Mackin Ain’t Easy.
Mac embarked on a tour of Europe in October 2013 with Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz before his debut live album Live From Space resurfaced in December of that year. This rapper later became addicted to promethazine, codeine and other harsh substances. We were happy for him when he revealed he cleansed himself, but sadly, on September 7, 2018, Miller suffered cardiac arrest and died from a drug overdose.
His albums – Blue Slide Park, Watch Movies Without Sound, GO:OD AM, The Divine Feminine and The Swimming will testify that he is one of the best white rappers of his generation.
Logic
We know some of you are about to throw a tantrum at Logic for not making this list of top white rappers. Relax, her dad is African American and her mom is Caucasian. But since we named him, let’s talk about him anyway.
Sir Robert Bryson Hall II was born and raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He became interested in hip-hop in his early teens after watching the film Kill Bill: Volume 1. Solomon Taylor, his mentor, would buy him many instrumental beats CDs which he used to write lyrics. He first performed in 2009 under the stage name ‘Psychological’ and then released an unofficial mixtape. This paved the way for him to serve as an opening act for artists like; Ludacris, Pitbull, EPMD, Method Man and Redman.
His first official mixtape Young, Broke and Famous was later released on December 15, 2010. This was the start of his fame. Logic released several more mixtapes and completed his first European tour in March 2013. In the same year, he was listed as a top 10 freshman by XXL Publication. Her debut album Under Pressure was released on October 21, 2014 and over 70,000 copies were sold in the first week. Logic’s albums include; Under Pressure, The Incredible True Story, Everybody, and Young Sinatra IV
The now divorced has won a number of awards; ‘Best Fight Against the System’ by MTV Video Music Awards (2017), ‘Most Performed R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ by BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards ( 2017) and ‘Award Winning Songs’ by BMI Pop Awards (2018).
