Kevin Coval grew up like a lot white kids in America that were exposed to Hip Hop music and culture, fell in love with it, and sought to be a part of it. To truly love and care about Hip Hop though, you have to really understand it and know the history. You need to recognize where Hip Hop came from, its purpose, and its influence on white America. You have also come to terms with that fact that white America has fought to censor, degrade, and then exploit Hip Hop since its start. Whiteboys in Hip Hop have been written about, talked about, complained about, turned into movie characters and subjects on reality shows. Kevin Coval, the writer, poetic and activist has written about race and Hip Hop several times throughout his career. In his latest book, L-vis Lives!: Racemusic Poems, he addresses the whiteboy in Hip Hop full on. The book is poetic novella that tells the story of one white emcee’s journey from the suburbs to stardom and Coval recently turned the book into a one-man play, running through April 14th at Victory Gardens.
For his part, Coval wanted to stay away from previous depictions of the white kid that wants to be a rapper, ones that have been done too simplistic or as caricatures. He told me, “Part of the reason I wanted to write the book and stage the play, was because the character of the whiteboy fascinated by Hip Hop and Black culture was done in simplistic cartoon-ish ways. Either a clown as in Jamie Kennedy’s “Malibu’s Most Wanted”, or a hero in Eminem’s “8 Mile”. I think there is an emotional truth both characterizations miss as well as a much larger story, [that] this whiteboy has to tell about race and racism thru the course of contemporary American history.”
Coval’s latest work hits the issue from various angles, taking in parts Beastie Boys and parts Vanilla Ice, parts Al Jolson and parts Elvis Presley to tell his story. “I am eternally indebted to Hip Hop because it made me want to know more, and not take information or anything at face value,” he says, hoping that his current sparks that same love and thought in someone else. “It sent me to the library. It sent me digging. It made me develop a finely tuned bullshit and wack detector. I hope the audience leaves with the desire to talk about race and the issues the book and solo show leave for the audience.”
I caught up with Kevin to talk about his book, his play, whiteboys in Hip Hop, and much more. Check it out.