I've seen on multiple occasions people complaining about music when the writer isn't of a certain group or background. They talk about "authenticity" and how people without shouldn't even bother with music. For example, I've seen "only black people can sing blues" or "only country people can sing country" and things like that. I remember a while back that one singer attracted controversy because she rapped in a southern accent despite being Australian.

Me, personally, I think it's kind of silly. I can see the appeal of "authentic" artists, but I see music as music. If something sounds nice, I'll listen to it. If for some reason I don't like the artist, then I might not listen to them. Doesn't mean I can't respect what they create, but I'm not going to make a fuss about it. I think anyone should be able to write whatever they happen to enjoy.

Any thoughts?

4815340
No, you pretty much summed up my own thoughts. Just so long as they're good at it.

4815340
Authenticity all comes down to what someone thinks music is about. People use "authenticity" to bring a background and a cultural aspect of music into play instead of just the music itself. When you bring in that idea, that's when you start assigning cultures to music instead of just having it be music or simply point out influences in music.

It's like the age-old question: can white people rap (or rather, should they be able to)? Maybe not age-old, but still a big one that is probably the best modern example of this. You can't deny that rap grew out of black traditions and first became popular amongst poorer urban blacks, but does that mean it is something which is reserved for them? And then the question of "What is culture?" comes next - is rap based on ethnicity, or maybe background? Take Eminem, for example. White? Yes, so he doesn't fit in to that culture. But he did come from a poorer family, which is the general stereotype for rappers. So if you base music off of culture, does Eminem get to fit in because of his background, regardless of his race? Then take Will Smith; black, but not really that poor growing up. The problem with assigning labels and cultures to music is that then you have to make a lot of exceptions to let people whose music fits but their personality doesn't. There are plenty of white rappers, and there are plenty of rappers who didn't have a hard life growing up.

So while you can listen to something and point out its influences (like with rap, can point out African influences), it becomes harder to assign a whole culture to it. And then because of that, it's hard to point out authenticity because you then need to define what's authentic and what isn't. It's not so easy with music, because it's hard to point out the boundaries of when something is and isn't that genre.

Just more bullshit sjw mentality. Music belongs to everybody.

4815340

I agree with everyone so far.

I am not a big fan of Rap Music ( I like only two or three songs at most); So I went further back, to the birth of Rock N' Roll (1950s), and the problems of introducing different forms of music to a wider (and whiter) audience.

4815340 I think you're conflating two different issues when you mention people saying "You have to be black" or "You have to be from a poor background" to do rap in comparison to speaking about the backlash that Iggy Azalea receives (because everyone knows that is who you're talking about).

Those people who say "You must be ___ or ___" to perform rap, I agree are being rather simplistic. Yes, rap has its roots in a specific place and culture, and that is for a reason, but when you start getting into how someone looks, then you start getting into assuming what their life and experiences have been like. Eminem was mentioned, and he is a great example. Regardless of his skin, he grew up in the culture of hip hop and rap and the culture in which the technique of rap is taught as a culture. Meaning, the same way you might look at a, idunno, traditional Irish fiddle player, a traditional Italian opera singer, or a traditional Japanese dancer, there are specific rules, there is a cultural history, and there is a rhyme and a reason for the way the music/dance/story plays out. Same for rap. There are cultural rules, mostly in lyrical style and what dictates a rapper that is actually rapping well. Lots, dare I say, most people who don't usually listen to rap, will hear just anybody say a really long complicated sentence, rhyme two words at the end, and call it good rap when rap culture and technique go far deeper than that. Like you can learn to play a fiddle, but that doesn't necessarily make you a good Irish fiddle player. You can learn to sing, but that doesn't mean you're a good opera singer. You can learn to dance with a fan in a kimono and never speak to an actual traditional Japanese dancer. Thus, you're dancing, but it isn't Japanese dancing just because you look the part and wore a kimono, you know? And it doesn't matter if a bunch of people from outside of that culture think you kinda look great. You are still just performing sub-part mimicry and puppetry. There's no authenticity. If those who formed the culture will look at the person and say "No. Something is off," then it's just off. It's not adhering to cultural aesthetic that created and is cherished within it in the first place.

This is why, for example, I respect and like Eminem, but not so much Macklemore, and most certainly not Iggy Azalea. Eminem grew up in the culture and he learned the cultural dictates of an aspect of what was essentially black culture. That was his culture too, no matter what anyone says. Did he experience it differently because he was white? Of course, but as far as rap goes, he wasn't afraid to go down to the rap battles and MOST IMPORTANTLY: LISTEN AND LEARN. That culture was his to succeed in, and he is an amazing rapper because he learned and lived the culture of rap to be able to learn how to rap well. There is always a difference between what you think a cultural style is and learning what it actually is. And you will be hard pressed to find any person, black or white, who likes rap (may hate Eminem as a person maybe), but rarely will ever say that Eminem can't rap. He can, he's mostly been pretty amazing, and that is a fact to most rap lovers.

Macklemore on the other hand. I will admit, I don't know his life story, but I know he didn't grow up, nor does he sound like he really learned from within a rap culture the dictates behind good rap music, and when I say that, I'm mostly meaning good double entendre, clever usage of metaphor, etc. Like I said, most people simplify rap, thinking it's just rhyming two words, and when I listen to Macklemore, he raps like that. He will say a really long technical sentence and the two last words will rhmye. It isn't playful, it isn't clever, there's nothing for the listener to sit down and ponder about. He's just rhyming, and that isn't what rap is really about. And I'd be willing to bet that he has never stepped foot within any American culture in which rap culture is also particularly important, and had those same people critique him to help him grow as a rapper. His subject matter? Noble. His execution? Bad. And yet, in the mainstream, Macklemore received all of these accolades as a rapper which he really did not deserve over the likes of say Kendrick Lamar, who basically writes poetry full of metaphor and puzzles for the listener to figure out over time. And most people in the mainstream have no idea what rap culture entails. They don't know why they like Macklemore more than Kendrick but they claim it is for his rapping skills of which there is very little. They overpower the voices of the people from that culture who are saying "No, something isn't right. Macklemore isn't quite there yet with his technique," and they don't care that they silence those creating and living rap culture. That is disrespectful to the artform, and the culture that created it. This is probably why mainstream loves Macklemore, and people who are actual rap and hip hop heads don't care about him at all. Because... well... he isn't a good rapper and he doesn't care. But his fans don't care either, so, there ya have it.

Iggy Azalea is a whole other story. She also has never experienced black or hip hop or rap culture (not necessarily interchangeable) in its authenticity to learn from the people who create it, but what she is excellent at doing is mimicking, which isn't altogether bad if you do it in a way that isn't completely offensive. Let me be clear: What Iggy Azalea raps about isn't necessarily what's bad. She is 'ok' as far as verse and rhythm goes. What makes her completely messed up is how she feels she cannot be Australian and be a good rapper at the same time. She feels compelled to throw away her accent to fake one that sounds "black" when she isn't from anywhere near the United States, much less a black neighborhood. She constantly tries to push herself into a world, and then really has little respect for the people already in it. She's being inauthentic to herself, and if there is a rule #1 to rap it is that you have to be genuine. She could easily study rap, and talk about being an amazing rapper who happens to be white and from Australia, but that is not what she chooses to do, and it turns people off of what she's saying because in the back of their minds people know: "These are lies. She is not this person she is puppeteering, and that makes for bad rap culture which is based on authentically being yourself, or at least not trying to make swarthes of people believe you are something you're just not, be it poor, black, white, country, city, whatever. Iggy Azalea, instead of actually joining and learning culture is sideshow mimicking it, which is always going to look offensive from the people from that culture.

At the end of the day, those simplified arguments like "You have to be black to do rap," are simple minded and wrong, but they are rooted in a much bigger problem, and that is cultural and musical authenticity. And in America, it isn't shocking to see some white (or other) rappers who have never experienced rap culture or learned the cultural fundamentals of good rap to get famous and popular because most people don't actually give a damn about rap or rap culture, they juse care that they're white. Even Eminem admitted that his being white in the industry worked to his advantage because tons of mainsteam white kids who could care less about rap or rap culture otherwise only bought his album or liked him because he was white too. They didnt even know how to realize that he was actually good at it which is a shame because he is.

Regardless, if that is happening, then at that point, you have to start wondering why the mainstream loves them so much if they aren't exceptional rappers and most people giving them praise don't even like rap that much.

Tldr: It is all about intent and authenticity. Eminem is authentic, and his intent is to be a part of modern and growing rap culture, and the people that continue to create it. Macklemore and Iggy Azalea, not so much. Anyone can create good rap if they learn from rap culture how to create good rap. It's that simple, and yet, something that tons of people who aren't from the culture or community that enjoys and creates rap don't get. It goes far deeper than skin color, even though skin color can still be relevant.

4815340
Music dose not belong to a culture. Music is a shared experience that is defiantly influenced by culture, but is not in any way "owned" by one. If you are a white man who grew up in the rich neighborhoods of Stockholm, Sweden and want to do southern American crunk, then he has every right to do so as long as it is not for the sake of mocking or putting down the genre. As long as that person wants to do because they actually enjoy the genre is what matters and there is no reason to stop people of different backgrounds and cultures from enjoying and doing music that is drastically different than their cultural expectations.

The concept of a culture "owning" a particular genre of music is a dangerous one because it prevents those who are from a culture outside of a particular genre from every having the chance to participate, it closes the door.

Music and culture are meant to be shared with the world in order to broaden horizons and spur creativity that could eventually create new forms of culture along with a blending of styles to create something completely new. No one can own a non-physical concept or idea, music among them.

But the important thing to note is whether it is being done in way that brings respect to genre and not to mock or put it down.

That is my opinion on the thing. So if you are a white Australian woman, go ahead and record that rap album you always dreamed of recording, because no one can "own" the genre, it is actually everyone's genre. We need more people like that who are willing to break the mold and do something different.