Most of Eminem's listeners are white suburban teenagers

White suburban teenagers are more likely to identify with Eminem due to their shared race; he is able to utilize his whiteness to successfully market to this demographic^[1]. He leaves frequent reminders of his race within his song lyrics and portrays himself as the ‘underdog’ who had to work hard to earn respect in a predominantly African American genre. Eminem is aware of his appeal to a young white audience, and mentions it explicitly in his song “White America”: “Let’s do the math, if I was black, I would’ve sold half”, he raps. In a later verse, he states that “the problem is, I speak to suburban kids / who otherwise woulda never knew these words exist.”^[2] Racial identity is also a reason why African American hip-hop fans may be less inclined to listen to Eminem, thus decreasing the diversity of his listening demographic. Due to hip-hop music being deeply intertwined with African American culture, a white artist who breaks into the scene - even if they do attempt to fit in more by adopting hip-hop fashion or using AAVE - may be viewed as inauthentic^[1]. Eminem also most likely has a higher proportion of white listeners because of the extent to which his music receives mainstream attention. As opposed to remaining underground, the rapper catapulted to fame and became a pop culture icon; the television programs and radio stations that he was often featured on (such as MTV) played an amalgamation of musical genres that attracted a wide variety of listeners.