Dominic Brown
Photography & Social Media Editor
Despite all his recent success at the Grammys, Bruno Mars has recently come under fire from writer and activist Seren Sensei on the Youtube show, “The Grapevine.” Mars was accused of being a cultural appropriator and a beneficiary of racial ambiguity. Many bring up points that he is not an original artist and that music produced by him is not in any way comparable to music produced by Prince or Michael Jackson.
First off, to understand the root of this issue, there are two things that need to be established, one being cultural appropriation. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, it is “the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.” To blatantly rip something from another culture without paying homage to it is cultural appropriating. Second, racial ambiguity refers to being unable to pinpoint one’s racial background just by looking at them. For example, if somebody’s mixed race or multiracial, simply by being looked at, they might be judged as being a part of one race by the color of their skin.
Now that that’s established, in no way is Bruno Mars in any fault whatsoever. Starting off with his racial ambiguity, nobody should ever be forced to identify or to validate their existence. The man was born from parents who are dark skinned. His mother is Filipina, and his father is Puerto Rican. It’s not like one day he decided to darken his skin and call himself black. And never once in any interview or song did he claim that he was black.
Next is the issue of cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation as stated earlier is to rip something off without giving credit. However, in the speech following receiving his Grammy, Bruno Mars credits early crooners or musicians to perform the same style of music that he does, stating that they were his inspiration and that they paved the way for his music to be developed as it is. America is a melting pot of multiple cultures, and it’s almost impossible to not hear something that inspires you. And without a doubt, while it’s unfortunate that so much black culture is prevalent and so many don’t receive recognition, he has worked hard, and as a composer has had his music heard for a long time before even becoming a superstar. There is a distinct difference between cultural appropriation and cultural exchange. Cultural exchange is where somebody who appreciates the culture and understands its background in today’s society shares in it. For example, nobody thinks that the Wu Tang Clan culturally appropriates Chinese culture. It was just a group of dudes who like Kung Fu movies.
All in all, I’m not trying to say that cultural appropriation doesn’t exist in today’s society. I just think that certain individuals should not be forced to be the scapegoat to something that fundamentally doesn’t apply to them.
