Has the color barrier been broken yet in hip-hop?

It’s not a secret that hip-hop was born from black culture and, to date, has been comprised primarily of black performers.  As a result, there have been few rappers of other colors who have gained mainstream acceptance, and they generally have come one at a time (The Beastie Boys, 3rd Bass, Vanilla Ice, Eminem, Asher Roth, Eminem…).  It’s kinda like how there used to be only 1 black actor who could crossover at a time (Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Will Smith) and one black comedian (Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence–wait, did he crossover?).  Of course, barriers have been broken with films and comedians.  There are now several people of all colors who are viewed in mainstream films, TV and comedy clubs–though of course there is still MUCH more progress to be made.  Has hip-hop reached that point yet, though?  Put another way, can you name 5 non-black rappers of any color who currently have mainstream success?  Does it matter to you?  Just some food for thought for the Obama Nation…While you chew on that, check out these videos from Outasight:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

If you’re feeling those, click here to download his latest mixtape called Further.  Maybe some day there will be a time when these dudes could make it: