Though it has become popular among numerous races and cultures across America, rap’s fan base has grown immensely within middle-class white teenagers. When rap first began as a genre, it was dominated by low-income African Americans living in urban settings. This is because the genre originated within the South Bronx in New York City, an area dominated by these particular individuals (Keyes, 1). As rap music became more widespread and made its way into the mainstream, more white individuals were exposed to its clever rhymes and intriguing beats. Some sources have even made claims that more rap music is purchased today by white fans than African American fans. "Record label executives began to define the primary hip hop audience as white, suburban, wealthy teenagers who, since 1991, have been estimated to purchase between 60 to 80 percent (debated statistic) of all hip hop music" (Hart, 9). Many speculate that this statistic is only true because wealthy white teenagers have more money to spend on music than African Americans do, at least those living in inner cities. It may also be true because of its rapid emergence into a mainstream music genre. Some credit Eminem with bringing rap music to the mainstream. Much of the music that is considered mainstream in America resembles the musical preferences of white American teens. Analysts feel that because Eminem is white, more white individuals are drawn into the world of rap. Eminem even writes a song called "White America," in which he expresses his anger towards the government for trying to censor his music. "The attempts to censor him were based on the fear of his influence on American children and came mostly from white, suburban people who had not paid attention to rap before" ("Eminem – White America Lyrics"). The government received a multitude of complains from white American parents that addressed Eminem's vulgar lyrics. This helps demonstrate how popular Eminem was within the rap community, and also shows how popular rap is among white American teenagers. The fact that the white population was able to send in enough complaints to grab the U.S. government's attention goes to show rap's enormous influence and popularity among white America.
Eminem's "White America," off of his album The Eminem Show, released in 2002. At 3:22, Eminem begins rapping about the discontent of white parents as well as the influence he has had on his white fans and the white population.
Outside of the white American population, rap music is still ever-prevalent within inner-city African American communities. The other 20-40 percent of rap fans are African Americans. Though it may be as low as 20 percent, they could be obtaining music through online media, for example YouTube, as well as through copies of CDs. It is also easy to pirate rap music over the Internet due to its worldwide popularity. The overall African American population may resort to obtaining music in ways other than legal purchasing because they are not in as great of a financial position. "For example the median income for Black families is 20 thousand dollars a year less than the American median income" ("African American Income"). Because much of their copies of music may have been obtained illegally, the statistics may be subject to error. Regardless, the African American dominance within rap's fan base has fallen over the last couple of decades as more white individuals have been introduced to it.