đź“… Date: Friday, January 30, 2026
đź•’ Start Time: 4:00 PM
đź“Ť Location: Harkness Chapel, Classroom
đź‘Ą Who: Free | Open to the public
Our weekly Friday colloquia showcase current research by distinguished visiting scholars alongside our own faculty and graduate students in musicology, historical performance practice, and music education. All are welcome!
A brief reception follows each talk to keep the conversation going.
About The Talk
“Negotiating Whiteness in 1990s Hip-Hop: Eminem, Insane Clown Posse, and Detroit Horrorcore”
Eminem’s imitative and immersive approach to hip-hop and Blackness for his debut album Infinite (1996) had failed. The commercial and critical success of Eminem’s next album, The Slim Shady LP (1999), was partially due to his open confrontation with his white identity through mockery and parody of common tropes and stereotypes of whiteness (Kajikawa, 2009). But this farcical persona is only half of his image; the other half features manic and unpredictably violent tendencies inspired by fellow white Detroit hip-hop duo, Insane Clown Posse (ICP). Hip-hop scholars have long noted Eminem’s proclivity for disturbing rhetoric, but none have discussed terror as a vital component in his negotiation of whiteness. I explore the dynamics of whiteness in hardcore rap that provided the stylistic blueprint for Eminem’s rise. Building on Kajikawa’s theoretical framework, I argue that the lacing of comical absurdity with the horrorcore model of excessive violence, provided by ICP, was crucial to Eminem’s success. I label this common persona the crazy white boy. For Eminem, the crazy white boy broke a code for what it meant to be hardcore as a white rapper amidst hip-hop’s gangsta ethos. White craziness became a substitute for Black “hardness.” This research offers complexity to situations when whiteness emerges in historically Black genres.
About The Speaker
Matt Yuknas is a musicologist specializing in popular music studies, with a focus on hip-hop and 1990s music. His forthcoming article in the Journal of the Society for American Music examines how intertextuality and lyrical quotation shaped the credibility of Midwest rappers. He has presented his research at national and international conferences across the United States.
Venue Information
Harkness Classroom, located inside Harkness Chapel, serves as both a lecture hall for music classes and a backstage area during events. It is also the meeting location for the CWRU Music Colloquium Series.
Health + Safety
The health and well-being of our community is important to us. University Health and Counseling Services provides up-to-date guidance and resources to help ensure a safe campus experience.