Austin makes (white) hip-hop history

by Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet • 11/5/08 • Local viewers of VH1's White Rapper Show may not have been aware that white rapper Jus Rhyme is a native of our own state. Specifically, he hails from Austin, a city best-known for being home to the Hormel meat-processing plant and its associated SPAM Museum. The artist will enjoy a homecoming tomorrow when he appears to sign his new album and host a post-election gathering at the Welcome Center, a non-profit working to build ties among members of Austin's quickly-diversifying population. (It's funded by, among other donors, the Hormel Foundation.)

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Jus Rhyme wants you to know that he's not racist. He's really not racist. In fact, he's anti-racist. His group is called AntiRacist 15, and their debut album is titled Stand in Solidarity. According to a press release announcing the Austin event, it's "the first release in hip-hop history by an explicitly white anti-racist group." Hmm. Were the Beastie Boys insufficiently white, or were they just insufficiently explicit in their opposition to racism? Maybe both. Photo courtesy AntiRacist 15.