BSU discusses cultural appropriation of music

Students were surrounded by reverberations of traditionally African American music, from gospel to jazz to modern hip hop, as they made their way to “White Faces in Black Spaces: A Discussion of the Appropriation of Black Music.”

The event was held on Feb. 15 in Hodson Hall, and was hosted by the Johns Hopkins Black Student Union (BSU) as part of a month-long Black History Month event series. The purpose of the event was to address the white adoption of culturally black music. Is this adoption cultural assimilation or is this theft?

The group defined the term “appropriation” as “the adoption or theft of icons, rituals, aesthetic standards and behaviors from one culture or subculture by another [that] often occurs without any real understanding of why the original culture took part in these activities or the meanings behind these activities.”

The event itself focused on hip-hop, a genre with a rich history within the black community and, more recently, popularity among white artists. Hip-hop began with a more general debate surrounding the question of whether black music belongs exclusively to black artists.

Attendees and BSU board members were divided on the issue.

There was a passionate discussion between those who think traditionally black music should not be replicated as it is unique to a specific culture, and those who believe it can be fully assimilated by other races as it is part of general American culture. A range of other opinions resulted from these broad viewpoints.

The second part of the program was led by BSU Vice President Tierra Langley and Community Relations Chair Matthew Brown. They guided the group through the history of hip-hop, beginning in the 1970s with “Rapper’s Delight,” the first song within the genre to generate major commercial success.

Following this was a political commentary on “gangsta rap” in the 1990s, the focus of which was on rappers’ personal struggles as well as on the hardships faced by inner city youth.

Hip-hop saw a general decline in the 2000s, potentially due to a rise in the illegal downloading of music. It’s also possible that weaker rap lyrics that relied more heavily on violence and drug use contributed to this decline.

The presentation ended with an overview of modern-day rap, a genre which white artists like Eminem, Macklemore and Iggy Azalea have adopted.

Also presented were historical examples of when black music had been irrefutably appropriated by white artists. For example, “Tutti Frutti,” a popular song from 1955 which originally sung by Little Richard, was turned into a hit by Elvis Presley in 1956. The recent lawsuit between Robin Thicke and Marvin Gaye’s family over Thicke’s hit “Blurred Lines” was also mentioned.

Langley and Brown then played a clip from the 2006 film Dreamgirls, a film which tells the story of a black trio trying to gain success in the music industry within a white-dominated society.

The room lifted with laughter when the song “Cadillac Car” played and the film portrayed an instance of appropriation. This song, originally performed by the trio, was “stolen” by a white group, only to become a massive success.

Finally, there was a group conversation mediated by all members of the board, each of whom raised their own questions on the subject.

One issue brought up was the question of whether or not a white artist could become popular within a traditionally black genre, while still respecting the culture and history behind it. This led to a discussion on why, for example, Eminem has been generally accepted as a rapper while Iggy Azalea has received a great deal of backlash.

Also discussed was the observation that white artists, historically accepted in popular culture and society, can succeed in the music industry at the financial cost of black artists.

The conversation occasionally deviated from music to include other elements of culture that can be adopted, like clothing and style. A Native American headdress holds religious  or traditional meaning for many, but others wear it for purely stylistic reasons. Does this diminish its original significance?

While no consensus was reached, the event initiated a vibrant discussion on a  complex topic that, given the rising popularity of white rappers particularly at award shows like the Grammys, is as relevant today as it was throughout the last century.