WHITE MEN CAN'T RAP

Channel 4's Hip Hop Nights strand continues. As hip hop becomes the biggest-selling musical art form in the world, what was once the expression of America's black inner cities is now the popular music of choice for white youth. Last year 80% of hip hop sales were in white suburban neighbourhoods of America. Could Eminem's global success herald the birth of a new era where white rappers rule? White Men Can't Rap looks at the hip hop scene in Detroit, a city with a rich history of black music but now famous for Eminem, a white rapper who broke into a predominately black art form with unprecedented success. The programme meets producers Mark and Jeff Bass, who found the young Marshall Mathers over 10 years ago, and follows another white Detroit rapper, Paradime, as he attempts to follow in Eminem's footsteps. With white America's buying power holding the key to hip hop's future, could rap music follow rock n roll's example and become dominated by white artists in spite of its origins in black culture? Further contributors include Chuck D, Ice-T, MC Serch from 3rd Bass, Reverend Al Sharpton and Roxanne Shante.