This Monday at 10.30pm the music channel VH1 will debut its latest offering, The White Rapper Show.
The programme, which will be hosted by the 39-year old white veteran MC Serch, is a take off of the dominant reality TV format which is supposed to parody television trends and provide a modern commentary on race issues within hip-hop.
With $100,000 at stake, ten fledging white MCs will live together in the South Bronx. The aim is to prove their ability to rhyme whilst earning respect.
The show is the brain child of Sacha Jenkins and Elliot Wilson who operate under the production company title of Ego Trip. Their work is typically race and hip-hop orientated, with Ego Trip being responsible for previous shows such as Race-O-Rama and books like Big Book of Racism.
Wilson said that “The power of the show is that when you hear the title, you already have images of what it's going to be, whether good or bad. Most of them are thinking, 'Oh, it's going to be some dumb nonsense.' But it's not that — it's smart."
The executive producer Ken Mok, who has experience with other such shows like America's Next Top Model and Making the Band, said that "White Rapper is really about race and the context of white culture verses hip-hop culture."
And as MC Serch indicated, it is certain that the show will be filled with controversy.
"It's very funny how true to form they were," he said. "The one thing white rappers can't stand is other white rappers."
The programme, which will be hosted by the 39-year old white veteran MC Serch, is a take off of the dominant reality TV format which is supposed to parody television trends and provide a modern commentary on race issues within hip-hop.
With $100,000 at stake, ten fledging white MCs will live together in the South Bronx. The aim is to prove their ability to rhyme whilst earning respect.
The show is the brain child of Sacha Jenkins and Elliot Wilson who operate under the production company title of Ego Trip. Their work is typically race and hip-hop orientated, with Ego Trip being responsible for previous shows such as Race-O-Rama and books like Big Book of Racism.
Wilson said that “The power of the show is that when you hear the title, you already have images of what it's going to be, whether good or bad. Most of them are thinking, 'Oh, it's going to be some dumb nonsense.' But it's not that — it's smart."
The executive producer Ken Mok, who has experience with other such shows like America's Next Top Model and Making the Band, said that "White Rapper is really about race and the context of white culture verses hip-hop culture."
And as MC Serch indicated, it is certain that the show will be filled with controversy.
"It's very funny how true to form they were," he said. "The one thing white rappers can't stand is other white rappers."
