Alternative stations' refusal to play black hip hop denies listeners an opportunity to listen to vital, socially conscious music made by some of the best acts working today. And it denies groundbreaking groups like The Roots, The Coup, and Black Star an opportunity to reach a new audience that could exponentially increase their album sales. Original black artists find themselves in a precarious position, their music often deemed not slick or commercial enough for many urban stations, yet shunned by alternative radio. At the root of this phenomenon is the notion, whether conscious or not, that hip hop is black music, while rock 'n' roll is white. It's the same notion that posits Presley, Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis as the inventors of rock 'n' roll while excluding Berry and Little Richard.
Someone has to decide what the cutoff point is going to be.
And people who don't agree with that particular cutoff point are going to be a little angry. Claiming rock 'n' roll as white music is like saying Buddy Guy and Robert Cray shouldn't be playing the blues because they lack the life experience and authenticity of Shannon Curfman and Jonny Lang. Today, hip hop seems to have taken over disco's role, identified as the work of an oppressed underclass obsessed with aimless hedonism. It's this conception that keeps good, progressive hip hop marginalized and unprofitable. The answer could be that acts like Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, despite their tattoos and nasty attitudes, are simply the Pat Boones and Fabians of their day, playing retooled versions of black music that white people can enjoy without having to think about social inequities or the debilitating effects of racism.