On Lil B, Gary Vaynerchuk, Rap, And The Low ROI On Black Male Positivity

There’s no swag in “swag.”

Ten years ago, Lil B The Based God was a member of The Pack, a one-hit wonder rap group whose single “Vans” was one of many catchy one-hit wonder rap singles of 2006. In 2007, Gary Vaynerchuk was the taste of the e-entrepreneurship world, his family’s Shopper’s Discount Liquors becoming Wine Library and growing 1900% in worth. At this point, both were positivity-driven breakthrough stars in their respective fields. Intriguingly though, we’re at a place ten years later wherein both Vaynerchuk and Lil B are still disruptive positive forces in their respective industries, but Vaynerchuk’s star has soared while Lil B has arguably stalled. In examining why the return of investment on unrepentant black male positivity isn’t the same as that for white males, we may understand why there’s no swag in “swag.”

It all boils down to stereotypes. The progressive-minded world loves the notion that we’re in a digital age guided by advancing the socio-cultural narrative of the who, what, when, where and why of the expectations that we’ve stereotypically assigned to black and white people in America. However, in this story, there’s proof that, insofar as making this progression regarding race and stereotypes into a wealth-earning industry for black males, we’re not quite…