Cultural Appropriation in Music

So, judging by you tube views, lean on by Major Lazer and MØ has made it to the ears of more than a billion people. It has one of the most watched music video of 2014. It has been a major hit (no pun intended) but has also sparked a conversation of Cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture. Some believe that lean on has wrongly represented India while others believe that people who believe that lean on has misrepresented India are merely “nitpicking”. The main reasons people are having problems with lean on are-

The song has nothing to do with Indian culture. While watching, one gets the impression that some studio executives heard the song, thought it had a bit of a tribal/exotic feel, and decided to set it in a location (and with people) that conjured “tribal”, “exotic” imagery. The Indian settings and dancing could be replaced with any foreign culture for the same effect, and that’s how it made Indians feel-replaceable. Like Indian culture is unimportant and usable as decoration.

In several scenes, the main singers/producers merely stood/sat while ethnic dancers performed around them. This created a very uncomfortable ‘master’/’slave’ perceived dichotomy where the ‘native people’ danced around white people as entertainment in a servile manner. Sure, there were some scenes where MØ danced with the ethnic women, but in other scenes, she sat on a throne while women danced around her, and in another, two of the white artists soaked in a hot tub surrounded by kneeling Indian women. This is also an unfortunate way to go about things, considering the British invaded India in the mid-1900’s and created a ‘white superiority’ while occupying the country.

The video did nothing for Indian culture-it merely used the culture to enhance the presence of the artists. A lot of the outfits MØ was wearing, such as the flower headpiece near the beginning, aren’t actually part of Indian culture. There was no respect shown to any one foreign ethnicity; instead there is a hodge podge of many different foreign cultures merely included to create a foreign looking aesthetic created for the Western eye.

The more frustrating point that is brought forward is the fact that Indian artists that adopt western sounds never acquire as much fame and appreciation as the western artists adopting Indian edge even in India. Although some artists like Nucleya and more are gaining popularity.

Cultural appropriation in music has been very evident nowadays. It is not only a problem in India but all around the world. Critics were torn in half last year for Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” with half of them supporting Katy Perry for the accuracy of the video while the other half criticizing her for misinterpretation.

Miley Cyrus has also been called out to appropriate the black culture by use of twerking. Iggy Izalea has had major back lash for her southern black accent which is called out to be fake especially because she is an Australian citizen. Justin Bieber and Macklemore have also been accused of black culture appropriation.

There a huge discussion on line about the cultural appropriation in music. White people present the argument that they share their music which is country music and opera music so why is there a claim of mis-appropriation on them. The people presenting this argument fail to understand that there is a difference between participation and appropriation. Appropriation is made especially if the adoption is of an oppressed people’s cultural elements by members of the dominant culture.

Appropriation in music especially becomes a problem because the oppressed peoples’ cultures are mimicked by the dominant culture, observers may begin to falsely associate certain cultural practices with the mimicker, and not with the people who originated them.

If we were all equal and that culture's members were not mocked, ostracized and objectified for wearing the same things, then it would be okay. But, unfortunately, that’s not the case. This has become a problem because white artists earn more than black counterparts because of their additional infiltration into their markets but the white artists ignore much of their issues.

The biggest example of this phenomenon are the Beatles and Elvis Presley who not only out-earned every other rock group (heck, The Beatles remain the best-selling music artists in the United States), but reached critical acclaim to a point which overshadows the originators of the musical style.

As initiated before, participation is more than welcomed but appropriation of a culture in music should be avoided.