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'Dear Iggy Azalea, Can You Not?' (Huffington Post article)

MakeEmLaugh

The Huffington Post published an article on 4th June by Lauren Duca criticising Iggy Azalea, and telling her to stop “accessorizing yourself with the black American South”.

Duca writes,

“Here are some things you should think about:

1. You are not black.
2. You are not from the American South.
3. You are not a black person from the American South.”

You can read the full article here.

Duca argues that

“You are not only disrespecting the culture of the black American South. You are also accessorizing yourself with it for profit. It is wrong (and often racist) to play the part of a marginalized person without having experienced their version of marginalization. You are not entitled to pick and choose certain elements of cultures....

Culture reflects the core of a person's being. It defines their experiences and perspective. It is inextricably linked to social, political and economic realities. It is not something you can just "put on" like a funny hat.”

This reminds me of the famous black American comedian Paul Mooney, who argued that white people such as Eminem performing rap was “blackface without the make up”.

What are people's thoughts on this?

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kneemos

pH wrote: »

I thought that Debbie Harry invented rap music no?

Rapture sounds suspiciously like rap.

sbsquarepants

Killer Wench wrote: »

No. She's appropriating an ethnic identity and selling it as a commodity.

I have 3 words for that.

So. Fúcking. What.

Samaris

Eh. I find Iggy Azalea annoying, but hey, I find most modern music annoying (alas, jaded at 28). Current rap isn't really region or race exclusive. There's plenty of white rappers. Putting on a southern American drawl when you're Australian does seem a bit daft, but eh. Look up Silibil 'n' Brains, a Scottish duo who found no-one was taking Scottish rappers seriously in London, so they put on Californian accents and got picked up by Sony.

Should a black woman sing Bollywood style music? Should she dress in the traditional outfit and use the bindi? Is that misappropriation of Indian culture? I personally think the bindi is pushing it a bit in that case, as it's a religious and deeply cultural symbol, but the clothing and the music is something that other people can share in. Bollywood-style singing is rather difficult to do in an Irish accent, mind you.

Should an Asian guy play a bagpipes? Well, I don't think anyone should play a bagpipes without prior warning, but that aside, sure why not. I can't deny he'd be a little unexpected in a kilt and sporran and the rest of it, but hey.

Look at Riverdance. Based on Irish traditional dance, has gone all over the world, has -changed- Irish dancing (what's this flailing the arms about and looking happy? Irish dance is about shoving a pole up your arse, arms tied to your sides, legs going ninety, and looking really depressed about it!), has been mixed with non-traditional instruments and been reinterpreted.
Music borrows and evolves. Music isn't original. It's not owned by any specific group, although a specific group may originate it.

topper75

Arsemageddon wrote: »

Wait 'til the southern rednecks hear some Irish country & western, then the **** will really hit the fan.

And I'll be there. With my ****-proof coat, switching that fan up to III.

dub_skav

I I mkkoook
Kkkkninkkmmkk

bur

She even had an arse implant.

Vile creature.

jonnypacket

Killer Wench wrote: »

She's appropriating an ethnic identity and selling it as a commodity.

This is the kind of tripe weak-mined sponges are being spoon-fed in universities across the United States, only to regurgitate it across tumblr and other social media in an effort to sound smart.

It's hard to know if the above poster is being serious or not. Poe's law in full effect.

[Deleted User]

I was going to say I like the song "problem" she did but that's ariana grande

I was told recently that black people can't be racist
So there you go
lol

smash

First things first, she's the realest...

bnt

If Eminem's good enough for Dr. Dré, he's good enough for everyone else. He's quite aware of where he fits in - example from Without Me:

No I'm not the first king of controversy
I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley
To do black music so selfishly
And use it to get myself wealthy (Hey!!)

[Deleted User]

Who?

Tilly

Is she still racist if she's engaged to a black dude?

bnt

circadian wrote: »

Who?

Not so much a Who?, more of a What?

Clandestine

What sort of loser would even complain about something like this?

#whitehipsterproblems

Corben Dallas

pH wrote: »

I thought that Debbie Harry invented rap music no?

Eh no she 'Borrowed it from Fab Freddie/Mel E Mel/Grand Master Flash.
(She stoooolled it/aka ripped it off...for artistic gain)

Started by above, perfected by The Beastie Boys.... who are also white!!!! :eek:

So much hatin on Iggy

mainly by black ppl (persons of colour), its like reverse racism.

+ Iggy has da Booooottaay!!!! ]:)

show some love people.
** yes i know its 'enhanced'

Shamone. hey hey. :P

wp_rathead

Huffington Post? This crowd seemed to be in favor of the people who opposed Charlie Hebdo receiving the PEN Award there recently
So they can kindly fnck off

Hans Bricks

Theres just something utterly pathetic about Iggy Azalea though. Its like she suffers from some privileged, self loathing white insecurity. Boom boxing Shaniqua Washington bursting out of a pasty Australian. Give over :pac:

Ronin247

I think someone should inform the BLACK stand up comedian that, that was a WHITE form of entertainment, and he's appropriating an ethnic identity and selling it as a commodity. While he is at it could he stop speaking English... fcuking racist gobsh1te.

tipparetops

obviously she has pissed off the wrong person, by not picking their label or not shagging them.
she raps the way she does as she wants to be big in the states, its easier if they think you are one of them.

ThinkProgress

Can you get a race change operation?

I'd totally like to be a blaxican!

snotboogie

Duggy747 wrote: »

This is the same Huff Post that let's Deepak Chopra frequently post absolute crimes against science.

It and The Guardian are pale shadows of what they used to be, they're click-bait jokes now.

And Grantland. Used to be the best sports and pop culture site on the web, now it's wrapped itself up in "rape culture" in game of thrones, pontificating about gamer gate and even got it's editor fired for droning on and on about Rodger Goodell, as if he was the one who knocked his wife out in a lift (you can't critique the actual person who threw the punch since he isn't a white man).

Special Circumstances

ThinkProgress wrote: »

Can you get a race change operation?

I'd totally like to be a blaxican!

You are what you identify as. You can self certify these things now. Most days I'm a velociraptor. Took me bloody ages to type this.

MistyCheese

Well, Beyoncé never comes under fire for straightening her hair. Or dyeing it blonde. Never gets told she's trying to be white.

But if Fergie or Gwen Steffani wear a bandana in their hair or Kendell (or was it Kylie?) Jenner wears dreads in hers or anyone from anywhere talks about having a large posterior then they are misappropriating black culture and holding black people back and keeping them down.

Seems a bit unfair.

MRnotlob606

kneemos wrote:

Thought rap was a genre,came from the streets of NY or wherever. Can't see how it's restricted to being black. Americans and they're black issues. Never seen a black comedian yet that didn't mention racial differences,it's the equivalent of a female comedian talking about periods...lazy and unimaginative.

It's not just restricted to black comedians.Jewish comedians like Larry David and Adam Sandler have talked about being Jewish.It's just ethnic humour.Doesn't work well here because we are a homogenous societiey.

kneemos

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

It's not just restricted to black comedians.Jewish comedians like Larry David and Adam Sandler have talked about being Jewish.It's just ethnic humour.Doesn't work well here because we are a homogenous societiey.

The Jewish thing can be funny.
Black or brown comedians on about white boys or the airport just gets old and repetitive pretty quick.

darkpagandeath

Hang on..... Culture = Race now ? And on the culture end of it maybe they need to pick-up a book and read about how culture evolves over time within human social groups.

SJW unite form of..... Err we don't know which side is the most right.

AndonHandon

Rabble rabble victim card African Americans rabble.

darkpagandeath

AndonHandon wrote: »

Rabble rabble victim card African Americans rabble.

Problem is you are probably dealing with people who are very young, And have no idea the influence black culture has had on the music scene. These lot going to ban rock and roll ? Burn Elvis albums I could go on.

Tasden

MistyCheese wrote: »

Well, Beyoncé never comes under fire for straightening her hair. Or dyeing it blonde. Never gets told she's trying to be white.

But if Fergie or Gwen Steffani wear a bandana in their hair or Kendell (or was it Kylie?) Jenner wears dreads in hers or anyone from anywhere talks about having a large posterior then they are misappropriating black culture and holding black people back and keeping them down.

Seems a bit unfair.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1358119/Beyonce-Knowles-Why-I-believe-betraying-black-Asian-Women.html

There are plenty of articles about beyonce and other black women "trying to be white".

Eugene Norman

Candie wrote: »

Thats not true. Azalea isn't being herself and engaging with black culture, she's claiming it as her own.

If a black person entered a career in classical music (and many, many do), they're not pretending to be something else, they're simply a black musician. Not that I see classical music as being solely 'white'.

Racism is a word thrown around and I don't think she's being racist. I think she's being tasteless and crass, and I'm not surprised some are offended. I'm personally not offended since it doesn't affect me.

If English people affected Irish accents and appropriated Irish culture as their own, plenty on here would be asking what that's all about.

So you should have doubts.

What now? She's claiming rap as her own but a black classical musician isn't claiming European originated music as his own ( and why not see classical music as white using the logic that rap is black?).

As for the black southern accent that's only noticeable because it's not a "neutral" American accent preferred by 99% of singers worldwide when they sing in English.

As always the problem is American hegemony. Far from being culturally oppressed black American culture is a large subset of a global cultural imperium that is American culture. It's hegemonic not oppressed.

A British person appropriating an Irish accent would probably be crass (unless he were Irish decent) because he is part of the dominant culture of these two islands, when it comes to power imbalances in pop culture America is so dominant that all a white Australian can do is pay homage to that overwhelming power.