Co-opting rap

Rob and I just got back dinner and Circuit City with a friend (the modern date) where I picked up the Gnarles Barkley cd I've been wanting since I first caught Crazy on XM. Cee-Lo's husky voice is unmistakable - rap fans would know him from Goodie Mob and the Dungeon Family, a collaboration with the cross-over sensation Outkast. Gnarles Barkley is a collaboration with Danger Mouse, who gained fame for his copyright-infringing mesh, The Grey Album, in which he mixed together the Beatles white album and Jay-Cee's black album - genius in the oddest way.

Anyway, I'm giving our friend all this background while waiting in line at the checkout. In front of us are another customer and the check-out clerk, both of whom are black. I only mention this because of the discomfort I felt as the least hip of white women, talking about rap in the ear shot of presumable more savvy black people. (That could be a stereotype too - who knows.)

The thing is that white people are often accused of co-opting black culture, ever since Elvis made his millions off what was previously a black art: rock n' roll. Within the accusation is that we are taking the art without understanding the culture - which in a way is totally true.

As a person with white skin, I haven't faced the kinds of discrimination people of color routinely deal with. Moreover, I grew up in a predominately white neighborhood which was very comfortably middle class. I've been crazy poor but never without the safety net of parents who were willing to pay bills I couldn't meet. So, no, I don't understand the plight of urban blacks, of which rap was born.

On the other hand, I also don't know what it was like to be an alcoholic genius in the 18th century but that doesn't keep me from enjoying Mozart.

So is it co-opting or is it appreciating?