The race activist who insists Eminem benefits from “white privilege”
Dr Boyce Watkins rarely gets involved in hip-hop. However, when he does, people get aggravated, and he has done it on more than one occasion. Although Watkins speaks on race, he is known for being a financial advisor and social commentator. That said, during an interview about the impact of hip-hop on Black American communities, Eminem became the topic of discussion.
During his interview, Watkins was asked whether Eminem was in the running to be the “King of Rap.” However, the Doctor just laughed and explained that although the Detroit emcee was talented, race had been a big factor in his success.
Opening up about the ‘Stan’ rapper, Watkins detailed, “Eminem is as true of a lyricist as you’re gonna see, and he’s also great because he shows respect to those who came before him. So, he’s not Iggy Azalea or whatever. He’s a guy that I think at the core of his heart he’s not a wigger. But he’s not a white boy. He’s just who he is.”
He praised Eminem’s artistic purity but asserted that the creative control he has is a luxury that only white MCs are afforded. He also claimed that his mass appeal to Middle America is “a product of white privilege.”
Delving into the details, Watkins elaborated, “I think that Eminem, to some extent, is a little bit of a product of white privilege for two reasons. One, he does get a little bit of that Elvis effect. [If] you’re a white rapper, and you’re as good as the black guy. People are gonna love you more because you’re white.”
Watkins then spoke about the creative control afforded to white artists and insisted that white MCs can break creative barriers more easily than black and Latino rappers, who he claims are pressured to make music about a handful of “programmatic, predictable” subjects.
He emphasised this point, adding, “The other thing about Eminem that I think is an artefact of white privilege is that Eminem gets something that a lot of black artists don’t get: he gets to be a pure and true artist. Eminem, if you listen to his music, he raps about everything that’s in his soul and in his spirit.”
Although Eminem didn’t respond to Boyce Watkins, Tyler The Creator is one rapper who has had issues with the financial advisor and social commentator. In a 2015 interview on Hot 97, fans saw the GOLF founder get riled up and highly aggressive when he explained a run-in he had with Watkins, who, for ethical reasons, decided to interfere with Odd Future’s Mountain Dew commercial deal.
Explaining his experience with Watkins, the California native told Ebro Darden, “He was a professor, and he said it was like the most racist commercial ever, which scared Mountain Dew, and they cut me off, and then I lost that [deal]…For someone like that to look past all of that and point out some bullshit….F*CK THAT!! F*CK BOYCE WATKINS!!! HE A BITCH!!!””