Bruno Mars hammered for Cultural appropriation

[Contrefaire]

A lot of good points have been made in this thread on both sides tbh (and I have dapped accordingly).

I don't have a dog in this fight cause I don't like Bruno and never have, his whole sound/aesthetic is annoying to me and always has been. BUT, I don't see how you can fault a man for doing music in the style he's most comfortable with and grew up around. The genres he's "copying" now are the same ones who influenced him as a youth. So he should just what, not make music? Bite another, unfamiliar genre's style, fake it and flop?

On the other hand, I also think it's stupid to act shocked and outraged when black people - who have seen their culture stolen and repacked WITHOUT proper credit or even royalties for DECADES - get mad when they feel like they're seeing it happen all over again. Are they right in this instance? Not really, but their concerns are not without merit.

Like I said, I don't like Bruno but I do feel like he is 100% THE WORST example to use for this argument because he is CONSTANTLY giving praise and credit - by NAME! not just vaguely referencing genres or eras like a lot of folks do - where it's due. What the hell more do you want??? And if the answer is you'd rather he just not exist then SAY THAT.

 

[dem bath salts]

Damn she's straight no chaser. I fukks with her smart, cute ass.

 

[Benefited]

People still don't get it. Life is luck.

Let a legend like Pharrell, who said it best educate you in 45 seconds.
@23:30 (video is timestamped)


Song could be great to you, and still not hit. How many songs that sound sonically pleasing never broke top 40?

Similar to how you could do all the right things, make no errors and still end up on the losing end. That's not a weakness, it's just life.

The people choosing and all occurrences that got somebody to that point is what makes them a star.

It's like when hearing somebody say they or _____ was good enough to be in the NBA, but never was in the NBA. Nah, you either were good enough to make it into the league or you weren't.

With music it's different because it's less "objective", but still the same. If your songs were great enough to sell X-million records, they would have. It takes more than sounds to make a hit record.

Like when she says: "I don't think Michael Jackson now in this day and age will be able to get to the point that he got to previously..."

How does she know that?! She nor nobody else can prove that wrong nor right and it doesn't matter either. What was done was done, it's already in the record books.

It either happened, or it didn't. All that other stuff is talk.

Pharrel is a damn liar,I do believe the cream rises to the top.But shyt floats too,and these labels know exactly the formula to keep it floating.And even go as far to supress the cream from rising,the cream can only rise through determination or signing themselves over to a machine that can turn their luck overnight.Its why its pointless to play their game,you can market directly to black people,put all of your focus into black demographics and make a very lucrative living.Then the outsiders will be forced to come to you anyway,this has been proven.

 

[Benefited]

And Pharell is a clown too,and another one of these new blacks who left the gate open.

Seen his all star performance full of wack music where he was dressed like an idiot. Trying to europeanize black culture is a no go,and he should be ousted.

 

[Contrefaire]

I should add... for all you Bruno bros (and even antis) who claimed black people are "responsible" for his popularity anyway..the black dollar is powerful but it's not making superstars out of anyone alone.

It sounds really dumb to claim black folks only care about appealing to a wider audience for that sweet, sweet "white acceptance" - and THAT'S why they're mad - as if money suddenly doesn't exist. What musicians - outside of maybe vintage nightclub singer/hobbyists and shytty garage bands - DON'T want to appeal to the widest possible audience?

And I peeped some of the bullshyt being said here about how oh...w...well, black artists should just stop trying to "appeal to white people!", as if ANYBODY could maintain a successful career long term by ONLY appealing to 13% of the population. And lets be real here, the true %age would be much lower given that the number of black folks under, say 35, is way less than 13%. Who the fukk is putting all the requisite time/money/energy into a venture that will yield them the least possible ROI??
.
And before getting emotional, really think about that shyt as a person living in 2018. In an era where the internet has made it possible to have all your favorite songs/artists at your fingertips within a matter of seconds for FREE.

But hey, keep pretending artists don't have to actually be profitable to continue and ignoring the fact that if you're not demonstrating crossover/mass-market appeal (i.e., an ability to generate large sums of money) you're dead to your label and WILL be dropped.

 

[BaltimoreTwilightMarauder]

So, you’re mad that Bruno Mars is making music that you feel he isn’t allowed to make, simply due to his race?... isn’t that textbook racism?

 

[spliz]

Im confused. Is this nikka NOT supposed to make the type of music he’s been a fan of since a kid? Is he only supposed to make Hawaiian or Phillipino music or some shyt? Im one of the FIRST people to call out culture vultures n shyt but its not like this dude is running around disrespecting legends, not giving props, or only has white people in his videos. This nikka dont run around acting like he created the shyt. Or none of that. See. This is the problem I have with social media. People yell some shyt loud enough and have the gift of gab and a bunch of gullible ass people follow behind it acting like they “woke” but be the most sleep muthafukkas out there. U ask em some shyt about something important and what’s REALLY affecting us as a people and what THEY are doing to help change it and its all crickets. The issue is not really Bruno himself. Its the system around Bruno but u can’t attack Bruno for that shyt. There’s a bigger picture yet people always wanna go for the easy targets.

 

[King Sun]

Tuxedo does this type of music better and don't sound like direct rip offs

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

When Madonna's first single "Everybody" was dropped in 1982, the label kept her photo
off the cover of the record.

Her producer was Stephanie Mills' producer, Reggie Lucas.

Madonna broke on black radio with Frankie Crocker and WBLS, and other black radio stations
across the country. She didn't cross over to white pop radio until later.

We did not know that Madonna was white at first -- we just grooved to the music. As it should be.

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

Im confused. Is this nikka NOT supposed to make the type of music he’s been a fan of since a kid? Is he only supposed to make Hawaiian or Phillipino music or some shyt?

And where do we stop?

Should Venus and Serena quit tennis?

Why is Tiger on the golf course?

Is it time to make Darius Rucker leave that country music alone?

Should we shut down the NBA for "appropriating" Dr. James Naismith invention?

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

Facts. And Teena Marie is still official. (Unless someone finds her doing some wild shyt.)

Well, she can't do much wylin' today because she died in 2010, but your point still stands.

 

[Deflatedhoopdreams]

You know what?? I really don't give a fukk

 

[Ziggiy]

She's basically saying everything that I've felt about Bruno since that "24K Magic" trash was released.

 

[@OffHalsted]

And where do we stop?

Should Venus and Serena quit tennis?

Why is Tiger on the golf course?

Is it time to make Darius Rucker leave that country music alone?

Should we shut down the NBA for "appropriating" Dr. James Naismith invention?

Difference is Black people elevated, created, break new ground, pushed the culture forward in sports....
Bruno ain't elevating, creating or trying to push the culture forward
Imagine a non black player in the nba today playing with a 1960s type of style & people gushing over shyt that been done years ago..
Thats Bruno
Country music is black music btw

 

[Azul]

Facts. And Teena Marie is still official. (Unless someone finds her doing some wild shyt.)

Well, she can't do much wylin' today because she died in 2010, but your point still stands.

I was just about to say I think it's a safe bet that won't happen