“White savior syndrome”- Internet reacts as Reneé Rapp says she won’t make an R&B album out of respect for Black artists

Reneé Rapp recently performed at the Moody Amphitheater in Austin Texas on October 22 2025. Ahead of the performance the singer answered some questions at the soundcheck. One of those questions was about her making an R&B album. The singer responded to the said question:

"I feel two ways about this. A) Any non Black person that makes anything that can be deemed remotely soulful or R&B...historically will always be praised and uplifted much more than people who are actually Black and make R&B music... which has just been true..."

The singer continued:

"Every single one of most important inspirations are black men and women who are in R&B or in rock music...There will always be influences of those artists and of that music genre in my music."

Reneé Rapp went on to state:

"I would never consider an album of mine at any point to be R&B because in my opinion, R&B is just tied to something much more culturally significant than me. So I don't think would ever put out something and say this is an R&B album...I don't think I would call what I would do an R&B album."

Reneé Rapp's response has since gone viral and attracted reactions online, with many taking to social media to express their views on the matter. Some people were critical of the singer and her response, while others were more supportive of her:

"White savior syndrome. She’s desperate for that black approval lmao."

"This reads like white savior syndrome. “I won’t make an R&B album bc it’s gonna outshine all the black people and the genre’s too important for me to do that” lol ok gimme a break pls." one netizen stated.

"This mentality is only going to contribute to the racial segregation of music. If you want to make an R&B album as a white artist, why not do so but then collaborate with up and coming black R&B artists as well?." another netizen added.

"She’s so real because the moment she joins that genre she’d be made the “poster child” and put on this pedestal like Ariana Grande was for positions when truly we don’t get an Ariana/Renee without these black cultural influences. So I think she’s real asf." one commenter opined.

"I appreciate this approach but yt hip hop artists don't have the same type of hang ups or concerns (cuz there's no other genre to call it then what it is) and they be getting SNUBBED unless they're eminem ofc so I feel like her making an album and calling it r&b is not a big deal." one reactor said.

Reneé Rapp is on her Bite Me tour

Reneé Rapp is currently embarked on her Bite Me tour. The dates and venues for the remaining shows of the tour are as follows:

• October 26, 2025 – Atlanta Georgia at State Farm Arena
• October 27, 2025 – Tampa Florida at Yuengling Center
• October 29, 2025 – Charlotte North Carolina at Spectrum Center
• March 11, 2026 – Antwerp Belgium at Lotto Arena
• March 12, 2026 – Amsterdam Netherlands at AFAS Live
• March 13, 2026 – Berlin Germany at Uber Eats Music Hall
• March 15, 2026 – Cologne Germany at Palladium
• March 16, 2026 – Paris France at Zenith Paris at La Villette
• March 18, 2026 – Manchester UK at AO Arena
• March 19, 2026 – London UK at OVO Arena Wembley

Trending

Pop Crave

@PopCrave

Reneé Rapp on being inspired by Black musicians and why she hasn’t made an R&B album:​“Any non-Black person that makes anything that can be deemed remotely soulful or R&B…historically will always be praised and uplifted much more than people who are actually Black and make R&B music […] I would never consider an album of mine at any point to be R&B because in my opinion, R&B is just tied to something much more culturally significant than me.”

Reneé Rapp's Bite Me tour is in support of the album of the same name Bite Me. The album was released on August 1 2025. The album consists of 12 tracks and has a runtime of 32 minutes and 22 seconds.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback