Can we please address the elephant in the room? The one with a Bindi and gold chain, dancing Bollywood as he screams “West Side.” He, like many of our recording artists, has no respect for culture. I cannot be the only one who is tired of and offended by music artists exploiting culture to promote their music.
I’m not sure if artists are just that dumb or that naïve ― it’s probably a mixture of both ― but putting war stripes across your face doesn’t make you anymore Native American than gold chains and saggy pants make you black. I get it, you’ve been in this business for umpteen years now, and you’re afraid to admit that you’ve run out of ideas, so you’ve decided to try something new to appeal to a different crowd. Well, that was your first mistake.
Artists wear costumes in their music videos and forget that these are not costumes. People actually look like this, live like this and identify with this. The first artist who comes to mind is Miley Cyrus. It is true that many, if not all, of our male black rappers have gold chains, gold teeth and tattoos and sport baggy clothes, but we have to remember this is all a part of their lifestyle, not their image. These artists actually grew up in urban and poorer areas where they looked up to men who had the gold chains.
So when artists, such as Miley Cyrus, who were born and raised in Tennessee insist on wearing what many identify as a part of black culture as a costume, I cannot help but feel insulted. The reason excessive gold chains and gold teeth are so prevalent in the black community is because coming from nothing and then being able to afford these things was and still is a symbol of success and wealth. The closest Miley, with her famous country singer father, has ever been to experiencing the oppression in the black culture was arguing with Nicki Minaj on BET.
Can we please just have a moment of silence for Selena Gomez and her disgusting attempt to dance Bollywood. With the release of her song “Come and Get It,” somehow, she got the idea that the song had a tribal vibe and thought she’d pair this with a horrible attempt at Bollywood choreography. She wore her own version of traditional Hindu attire, and, to make matters worse, she sported a Bindi for several months after her performance.
Not only was her performance insulting, but the fact that she thinks a Bindi is a fashion accessory also makes me question her intelligence. Bindis have religious value and are only supposed to be worn by married Hindu women. Let’s examine this. Married? Negative. Hindu? Double negative. I don’t see what made Selena think she was qualified to wear one.
My all-time favorite display of cultural appropriation has to be Katy Perry’s performance of her song “Unconditionally” at the AMA award show. She exploited Asian culture to the point of no return. Not only did she use white face powder, but her attire was also a cross between a Japanese kimono and Chinese cheongsam. If you know anything about history, you’d know these two countries use to be arch enemies, and I have strong reason to believe they would not appreciate her mixing of their very different cultures.
In her defense, although these two cultures are considered Asian, I don’t think she realized their geographical or cultural differences. No two cultures are interchangeable, and that’s the problem with many people in the U.S.; we tend to classify people from the same continent as the same, forgetting that each individual country has their own beliefs, values and practices.
Stop exploiting culture to increase your sales. Not only do you look unintelligent, but you are also corrupting your viewers. I don’t think artists realize how much of an influence they have on the younger generation. Music artists are promoted on TV and paraded on billboards, and they conquer social media, and, unfortunately, the minds of youth are very impressionable.
So the things artists display in their videos ultimately shape and influence the thoughts of our adolescents and young adults. All of a sudden, people think it’s okay to mock black dialect and classify all Asians as Chinese, and Bindis, henna, and Native American war paint have become fashion statements. People laugh at those who identify with certain cultures and then turn around and do the very thing they just mocked but are seen as cool for doing so.
The biggest problem with cultural appropriation in our music industry is that it stereotypes our communities. It makes viewers think that people of a specific race or ethnicity have to be a certain way and often is used to classify them as unintelligent. Most importantly, it makes the viewers see cultural customs as costumes open to be ridiculed. No one would find humor in an artist parading as one of the U.S. founding fathers in their music video.
