For years now, we have been made aware of the fact that the majority of hip hop CD sales and concert ticket sales (and really, any other paraphernalia) tend to be made by white people. For a long time, this was a perplexing, and sometimes frightening statistic, given that hip hop is known for being based mainly in the black community. Many suggest that soon after the commoditization of hip hop, labels and artists catered to the stereotypes of young black men and women in America, leading young white youth to “eat it up” strictly from an entertainment perspective. However, I want to explore the possibility of another problem that lingers.

Perhaps the problem is not the number of white consumers that are buying the music, but rather the lack of black consumers. Why is it that most blacks relate to the music, but most white folks buy it? This is not to imply that no white people relate to the music nor that there aren’t any black people buying music (I still proudly by the physical copies of records). Yet, we still have this interesting fact that can’t quite be explained.

One argument you could make is financial. Blacks and Latinos tend to make up the majority of America’s lower-class, giving them less disposable income than those in higher tax brackets. This could definitely affect some of the sales numbers, but I don’t believe that the disparity lies solely in the belief that the number of African-Americans buying an album would spike if they had an extra $10 to $20 to spare every few months (many of them do).

My belief is that we just simply don’t support one another any more. I say this to include not just music, but in the general sense. Since hip hop has gone corporate, the sense of camaraderie and building together has left. Artists now tend to look out for self because they become more of a beneficiary that way than they do working with others (unless of course a certain name will help you generate more money). Many in hip hop, artists and the community as a whole, have adopted this “get yours” mentality, making it acceptable to neglect others. So, that being the case, why would the consumer spend their extra $10 to $20 on the artist when they can go and benefit themselves in some other way (which a lot of times isn’t productive).

The diversity in hip hop truly needs to be celebrated, but it is somewhat disturbing though to know that African-Americans are out numbered when it comes to Lupe Fiasco and Common ticket holders and CD purchasers. These artists (and many more like them) speak directly to the issues of many black people and often face criticism for what they do (as we saw with Common visiting the White House and Lupe with his label drama). However, we still don’t show up when it is time to support those trying to help uplift us.

What has happened is that we have lost sight of the overall picture. Where we spend our money often symbolizes much more that just a check for the record label or artist. What it does is validates the artist’s work and lets them know that what they are doing/saying is appreciated. However, we have several artists that are out trying to lift the black community up and speak for us, but we don’t want to buy the album because we either feel it’s over-priced or that the artist makes enough money as is (which in many cases they don’t).

We live in a culture now where nearly nothing is valued. We buy bootleg movies for as cheap as we can, download albums for free, and we’d rather communicate via computer than we would face-to-face. The art, the dedication, the personal connections, the story, and the message all seem to have lost their value. Hip Hop won’t change unless we show it verbal and financial support. Simply not liking the product is one thing, but if you feel the music has some sort of worth and value to it, then prove it. Hip Hop has changed, influenced, and inspired people in so many positive ways. At the end of the day, can you really put a dollar figure on that?

What do you think? Is the black community not supporting hip hop enough financially? Has the value been lost? Is there just not enough money in the black community to spend on music? Are whites just out-buying blacks? What are your thoughts? Leave a comment here on the blog and you can always send an e-mail to straightouttahiphop@gmail.com.

Peace.