Will The Next Eminem Please Stand Up?
Eminem is arguably one of the best rappers of our time. When he entered the hip-hop realm, it was a music genre that was fully dominated by black artists since the late 1970s. Not only did Eminem provide a new shade to the color palette, he also shattered any stereotype that white boys couldn't spit. Em received a co-sign from legendary producer Dr. Dre back in the late '90s and has been unstoppable since then.
Now, there are a few new rising icons that are legends in the making. And a few of them just so happen to be white. Rap is making room for additional deserving white rappers like Yelawolf, Machine Gun Kelly and Mac Miller.
Yelawolf
Alabama rapper Yelawolf is one of the fastest rising emcees in the business right now. If you've never heard his music before, just imagine a fusion between Outkast, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Beastie Boys.
With a unique sound, he's managed to catch the eye of the man who paved the way for white rappers. Eminem decided to sign Yelawolf to Shady Records in January 2011. Yelawolf brings many different sounds to his music – classic rock mixed with 808 drums. Give Yelawolf 16 bars and he'll hold nothing back lyrically. He shies away from flowing in a traditional format. He'll control the instrumental rather than letting the beat restrict his pace.
Machine Gun Kelly
While Eminem was recording his first demo back in 1992, Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly was two years old. Kelly is a rising icon and is signed to P. Diddy's label Bad Boys. He shows off his flow versatility by flowing at a fast Bizzy Bone-meets-Twista pace on his hard tracks. MGK can also slow down his annunciation on meaningful humble momma-I-made-it songs. MGK is just now taking off. His best mixtape thus far is "Laced Up."
Mac Miller
Mac Miller's music is playful, yet takes us back to the '90s when lyricism held more weight than it does now. He plans to drop his first album "Blue Slide Park" Nov. 8 through his label Rostrum Records. Miller furthered Wiz Khalifa's efforts by helping put his hometown Pittsburgh on the hip-hop map. His biggest break was being listed on XXL Magazine's "Freshmen 2011" which recognizes the top 10 rising hip-hop artists of the year.
Yelawolf was also mentioned on the list, among great rising artists like Cyhi The Prynce, Kendrick Lamar and Big Krit. Miller was also inducted in the 2011 MTV Jam's Fab 5 list. Miller is continuing to make a visual impact with his music. While he's selling out shows nationally and internationally, this is only the beginning for the 19-year-old emcee.