The (White) Rapper Show: John Brown

How connected are the suburbs and the ghetto?

As the first article based on VH1's television show The (White) Rapper Show, I'd like to mention the two standouts of the season: John Brown and Persia. This one will be about John Brown.

An obviously white male, he started rapping young and has built up a skill and flow based on what seems to be Jay-Z. However, unlike Jay-Z, he grew up privileged and in the suburbs. He created a company called "Ghetto Revival" with his pals, and uses the phrases Hallelujah Hollaback and Ghetto Revival to get his point across. But he's also the self-proclaimed King of the 'Burbs. So, how connected are they?

Before I go on, I'd like to mention that John Brown has mentioned on several occasions that he's not a rapper, he's an entity. It'd be much easier if he just said he's a rapper. A lot of the rappers on that show said they were rappers, and they were so god-damn awful it made me want to buy an MC Hammer CD (please Hammer, hurt 'em). John Brown wants to be an entity, however, because his business (Ghetto Revival) needs to get off the ground and he's isn't "just a rapper." He wants to make money, specifically off ignorant people who will buy into his completely warped image of what hip hop is. I appreciate a good rapper as a good rapper, but Eminem came into the game being who he was. He came in with the fashion of the game, but his rhymes and presentation were who he was. That's how all respectable rappers get into the game: being themselves. Black, white, Hispanic, doesn't matter. You don't have to be what you see as profitable to be profitable, and that's why John Brown is fucking false.

When asked what the Ghetto Revival was, he constantly responded by saying that he was gonna revive the ghetto, which is not much of a description. This constant self-promotion annoyed the shit out of everybody in the house, and they all basically called him out as phony, but he continued to do his thing... all the way to the final two. His skill and his natural leadership got him there, but not without the world seeing how ridiculous it is when someone from not-the-ghetto promoting the ghetto. He looked foolish to the point where Lord Jamal and Sadat X came to the house to give some friendly advice, and Sadat called his ass out. When asked by someone who doesn't glorify the ghetto what a Ghetto Revival is, John Brown said he wants to revive it "financially... emotionally...", which is when Sadat stopped him and said "the ghetto isn't a good place to bring back. I hear that and I hear you want to bring back crackheads and run-down buildings." John Brown interrupted that he also wants to revive the ghetto "infra structurally." Talk about a stupid fucking answer. MC Serch, the host, had to intervene to stop the mental beatdown John Brown was receiving.

It's obvious John Brown has attached himself to a "black" idea for money and fame. How do you like that? Him and the rest of corporate America. The only difference is John Brown has got some lyrical skill. Corporate America just has "I'm Lovin' It." But John Brown is making his dream come true... Rolling Stone has praised him for being himself (which is what I'm saying he's not!), hip hop websites have interviewed him extensively, and he's going to be a team leader on an episode of Nick Cannon's Wild'N Out.

And he didn't even win the competition. The (White) Rapper Show was won by a rapper named $hamrock. I haven't seen him anywhere. I suppose the connection from the 'burbs to the ghetto is the loser of a reality show.

-UnFan out