If a tree falls in the woods with no one to hear it, does it make a sound? How about if a white rapper raps and no black people hear it … is he really a rapper? MC Serch of old-school hip-hop group 3rd Bass thinks not.

In an open letter published on Davey D’s MySpace page this week, MC Serch expressed his belief that white rappers can only consider themselves rappers if black people like them.  

“If a brother or sister don’t give you the thumbs up, then you are faking the funk on way too many levels and it’s time you went back to Wall street or college or the bowling alley or the Klan meeting. White Rappers, don’t call your self white rappers until a black person calls you it first.”

MC Serch quoted in The White Rapper Experience: MC Serch vs. Sage Francis, compiled by Davey D

In response to Serch’s letter, nationally-renowned white rapper Sage Francis wrote one of his own which challenged Serch’s points in an aggressive Socratic manner, and basically make MC Serch look like somewhat of a hypocrite and idiot.

Although I am an old-school fan of Serch and understand what he is trying to say, I agree with Francis that his letter was simply a shameful ploy to plug his upcoming TV show. And worse, he did it in the guise of making an important social statement. To me, that puts him on the same level as another exploited white rapper that he beat with a baseball bat in the “Pop Goes the Weasel” video back in ‘91. While I do believe that it is important for all hip-hoppers to understand and appreciate the history of the culture and art form, the act of limiting a person’s involvement in or relation to hip-hop based on something as insignificant as skin pigmentation is simply racist.

Serch saying that white rappers aren’t rappers until they’ve been approved by blacks just because the art form was created by blacks is ridiculous. I mean, a 5-foot-10-inch, 180 pound white boy invented basketball … but I don’t recall LeBron asking the white folk if it was alright if he played ball. A cat named Walter Wingfield (yeah, we know he was white) invented tennis. If Serch were right, that would mean Venus and Serena wouldn’t be able to play the sport unless they hollered at Martina Navratilova or something.

True, hip-hop began as black youth culture and was created by blacks. White kids, Latinos, Asians … everyone should take the time to learn the history of hip-hop and be grateful for that. But the culture has obviously spread all over the world since then. It has evolved. People have taken it and made it their own … and therein lies the true power of hip-hop. A kid in China, or Africa, or Europe … or a white kid in the US should be able to recite poetry over a beat whether or not he has the approval of his black counterparts.

I don’t like racist behavior, man … even if that framed of mind is reached unknowingly. So I’m boycotting Serch’s show on VH1. I now see it as an attempt by Serch to exploit both racial politics and hip-hop for success and riches. And I’m not interested in supporting that. Peace.