Summary: Following Bruno Mars´ success at the Grammy Awards winning 6 of the awards he is facing backlash from African American activists as his music is perceived to be cultural appropriation. Mars is described to be at the cross section of multiple music genres such as funk, soul, R&B, reggae and hip-hop which are all historically dominated by African American artists. People are frustrated with his success winning album of the year while Prince a former artist that was a pioneer in the musical genres Mars has found success in, never won the award. Several African American artists have come to support Mars stating that he is allowed to sing how he chooses and according to his race.
Analysis: Hip hop has recently overtaken rock as the most popular genre of music as is a lucrative area. One of the major criticisms of Mars is that he overplays his racial ambiguity in order to have a different perception to different demographics. Critics claim that white people are not threatened by Mars and therefore have different feelings towards him than African American artists. Tastes are an important part of every industry and for music, hip hop is increasing in popularity becoming more and more relevant for all demographics. Bruno Mars being a Filipino and Puerto Rican artist does not face racial discrimination in his music as other artists may and should not be playing up his racial ambiguity to enhance these differences.
Question:
1) Is there legitimacy in the argument that Bruno Mars is appropriating in his music?
2) To what extent is it alright for artists to use singing styles that are not of African American heritage to be recording these genres of music(Ex:Post Malone)?
3) Would it be alright for a Caucasian person rather than a person of color to be singing in the same manner and playing up their racial ambiguity?
4 comments:
I personally do not think that Bruno Mars is culturally appropriating music. I think that music is music and his new album is just for the sole purpose of entertaining people. People are making a bigger deal out of this than there needs to be. That's just me though.
I don't think that Bruno Mars is appropriating music. Any artist should be allowed to sing whatever they want. If people want equality within races, it should start here. Music is about entertainment not race. It doesn't matter what race you are if you sing or make good music, then everyone should enjoy it and be happy for their success. It's not fair to judge what type of music someone should play solely on their race. Personally, I think no one has the right to judge him on his music because of his race.
ok, here’s how I see it. Music is for everybody. It pushes beyond racial and cultural barriers, music is not meant to divide the people but on the contrary, it serves to bring all kinds of people together! I don’t know much about this issue but from a very broad perspective, I don’t think this should be taken too seriously. ALTHOUGH, I 100% COMPLETELY understand the frustrations of cultural appropriation since I myself identify as a racial “minority”. From what I know, Bruno Mars has always been a very open-minded individual who embraces diversity since he himself come from a mixed cultural background. I think it is ok for any artist, or any person from any background to sing, dance, or appreciate all kinds of music as long as it is done respectfully and NOT in an ignorant and mocking manner. Overall, just be a good person and be aware. I mean if you are white, I know it may feel like you have to be very careful with what you say, wear or do but understand that this is the same oppression which minorities have had to deal with for centuries and it could remain that way for a very, very long time. Learn to love and appreciate other culture and music styles but always do so with good intentions.
I don't see how Bruno can be accused of culturally appropriating. He isn't the one who decides to win the awards, that's what the Grammy's do, and I think that there's a lot of evidence that shows that the Grammy's have been very conservative in their choice of winners, for example with Adele winning album of the year over Beyonce's Lemonade, and then Bruno winning it over Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. Also there's the examples of how Kendrick didn't win record or song of the year... a heinous crime if you ask me. But let's get to the real problem here... SZA was completely robbed of her five nominations at the Grammy's this year. I don't see how you could pick Bruno Mars over SZA for best R&B album, and then Alessia Cara over SZA for best new artist. There's a complete disregard for new, unique, and powerful music that has characterized the Grammy awards for quite a long time now, and it is very frustrating to see how it isn't being changed at all.
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