The Internet has been rife with debate this past week over whether Bruno Mars, one of the highest-grossing, and most highly-decorated artists in the music industry today, is appropriating black culture.
As Twitter insists on staying ‘woke,’ and experts and artists all over the world have chosen to make their voices heard in defense of the pop star, there seems to be little left to discuss.
Today’s Washington Post Morning Mix assessed the history of the issue succinctly, sharing a video by The Grapevine, geared towards millennials, that kicked up all the dust. During the discussion, Seren Sensei formed a weak-spined argument that Mars is “not an original artist” and is “karaoke” and a “wedding singer”.
The most poignant takeaway from the Post article, for me, however, was critic Stereo Williams’ quote from Billboard:
“We’ve reached a tipping point in the ‘cultural appropriation’ conversation. It’s become knee-jerk and lacks nuance.”
We’ve talked ourselves to death about Elvis doing black music, we allowed Eminem to mock us all in 2002’s Without Me, Fergie sounded black, Michael Jackson didn’t sound (look, or act) black enough, and Iggy Azalea was just a hot mess. I’ve lost track, as a 5'3" white mother of three, what I am even allowed to listen to anymore.
Plus, I’m tired. Aren’t you?
And since someone was kind enough to yell out “FACTS” repeatedly during the video, over Sensei’s ironclad, forensic analysis of Mars’ career, let’s share a few, shall we?
- Bruno’s band, The Hooligans, is predominantly black With the exception of his brother, drummer Eric Hernandez, the musicians with whom he spends the greatest amount of his time are African American. When he throws around lyrics, toys with beats, or creates choreography for his music, with whom do you think this happens? And, since we’re on the topic, with whom do you believe this should happen?
- Bruno writes music with and for varied artists and genres including Sean Kingston, Justin Bieber, and Adele. He’s collaborated with some of the greatest names in the industry. Also, many of his co-writers are African American. Once the words and music are woven together, a cultural appropriation argument becomes extremely difficult to maintain.
- 90’s R&B, which is sparking much of the current debate, was not exclusive to black audiences During the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s when R&B dominated (think Jade, SWV, and Jodeci), I was not once asked to leave a dance floor. Arguments may have been raging, but I couldn’t hear them over the sweet bass lines. 24K Magic, the multi-Grammy winning juggernaut and fully immersive throwback to this ‘90’s style, has earned praise from fellow artists, actors, tv and radio personalities, and fans all over the world. It would be fair then to state this album is not exclusive, either.
- Emotions are universal Music is meant to stir the soul, to evoke emotion. Pardon my rolling into the intangible, but if we’re talking feelings and experiences, we’re all human. Anger, love, and joy are experienced by ALL people. You’re simply splitting hairs when you run them over a backbeat. I recently saw Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. If you’re not familiar, Carole King, born Carol Klein, American singer and songwriter, with her husband Gerry Goffin, wrote hit songs for artists including Aretha Franklin, The Shirelles, The Chiffons, and The Drifters. At the end of the show, my companion turned to me and said, “I can’t believe that little white Jewish lady wrote all those songs.” It happens.
- Bruno is a minority Let’s hang onto the ‘you shouldn’t appropriate black culture’ assertion for just another second. Bruno is Puerto Rican and Filipino. What type of music, pray tell, would a Puerto Rican Filipino make? Is there a genre for that? And how many Filipino Puerto Ricans do you know? I’m Italian and Armenian, and my family is often mistaken for Latino. What type of music should I listen to? At what point does your ethnicity dictate the type of music you enjoy? And why does it continue to be okay to label English-language music ethnically rather than stylistically?
I’m not debating history in any way. I’m not debating the gross injustices that have taken place in this country (and around the world) for hundreds of years. I’m not, because my own family escaped genocide three generations ago. And I’m painfully aware that racial tension exists. It’s just — why make it worse?
Bruno, like most of us, enjoys being successful. You can’t fault the guy for being spry. You can’t fault him for finding a sound that feels good and makes people happy. You can’t fault him for wanting to stay on top, improve himself, and maintain his momentum. The man performs, and before he even steps off a stage, he’s being begged to return. He can easily sell out a concert venue anywhere in the world. But at what point does that make him a credible artist? At what point will we allow him to make the music he wants to make? And why do we feel we must decide this for him?
You can’t argue his otherworldly success. His songs are loved by young and old, far and wide. But you can debate the deeper issue, which requires some soul searching on our parts. What is driving this desire to divide? Why must we always call someone out as different? Why can’t he belong? Why can’t we enjoy music together, which is something that HE wants?
He doesn’t discriminate, so why should we?
Assuming we aren’t capable of understanding because we have different backgrounds is simply ignorant. And music, in my opinion, should not exclude. If you exclude people, how can they ever hear your message? Further, if music has such tremendous power to unite, why use it as fodder to tear people apart?
Just remember that when those lyrics are written, they’re most often written in black and white.
And we’re all the same in black and white.
