Initially, minstrel shows emerged as a form of racist mockery, exaggerating black features and stereotypes to reinforce racist viewpoints in early 20th century America.  Once black people were allowed to join in, however, it became something slightly different.  That original racist intent was still very much there, but now it had become something like performance art.  It was something inherently silly and based around stereotypes, but at the same time it often provided black artists with early methods of upward mobility.  At the time, black people were extremely disenfranchised, so many took this rare opportunity to actually share genuine parts of their culture and make their voices heard, even if the means was inherently racist.  Everyone could enjoy it, even if white enjoyment of black artistry was somewhat insidious – they would never view it as something serious, but it was still fascinating, so it sold well.  At the same time, black people could get a form of representation, even one so twisted.  In the modern day, the legacy of the minstrel show lives on in a much subtler way.  Current performers tend to do the same thing that early minstrel shows did, conforming to exaggerated stereotypes as a means of gathering attention.  While it is often still a conscious decision, it’s less inherently based in mockery and racism.  Black artists still use the same methods they once did, but I believe that there’s a different attitude behind it.  I doubt most people in the entertainment industry think about why stereotypes sell, but they very much do, which is why it continues.  “Performative Blackness” is a term that I’ve heard used before that I think fits this phenomenon rather well.  Artists will exaggerate whatever aspects of themselves or their personalities will sell the most records, and for many black artists, that happens to be the stereotypes that go along with race.  However, I think that in a modern setting it’s less about the mockery of the original minstrel shows and has much more to do with something that’s just ingrained in American culture, whether people understand the original intention behind it or not.