Hip-hop originated in the South Bronx neighborhood as a means for Black people to express themselves in a style that was uniquely their own. Appropriation occurs when an artistic invention by a specific group or community is used to anchor racist simplifications or categorizations about the original culture, but is considered great, sophisticated, or comical when the advantaged group adopts it for themselves. Azealia Banks slammed the credit disparity that falsely promotes the advantaged group’s artistic ownership rights (White label owners and artists) against the disadvantaged group's ownership rights (Black label owners and artists) (Akens, 2016).
Azealia described this as a type of ‘cultural smudging’ mostly concerning Black artistic creations where White artists or scholars take them, claim them as their own, and subsequently get the recognition as original creators. For example, in the past, the twerking dance was predominantly seen in hip-hop music videos. It was considered a tasteless, suggestive dance performed by Black women looking for men. But when Miley Cyrus started twerking, it became a trendy and socially acceptable dance. This exemplifies how racialized practices can be sanitized and celebrated when performed by mainstream White artists (Akens, 2016).
According to Gamble (2024), White people's encounter with universal Black culture is commonly short-lived and extortionist, yet the approach is outrageously widespread. This accentuates the cyclical dynamic where non-Black artists profit from Black culture while avoiding its existing truths. Furthermore, he writes that Black scholars perceived that White audiences want involvement in a kind of sanitized urban Black culture that exemplifies fashionable, youth sophistication and counters the narratives of socioeconomic exclusion without including the narratives of actual Black people, the originators of the culture. Gamble’s insight problematizes how hip-hop’s aesthetics are often consumed without acknowledging Black social struggle.
Furthermore, Sciullo (2018) underscored that hip-hop community members understand that this was the whitewashed and white-empowering version of history (Sciullo, 2018, p. 96), highlighting the discontent with mainstream media’s distortions of African history and civil rights legacies. In addition, Public Enemy’s 11th album was titled ‘Most of My Heroes Still Don’t Appear on No Stamps’ as a reference to ‘Fight the Power’ (Sciullo, 2018, p. 96), which challenged mainstream media’s idea about who gets memorialized and critiques systemic exclusions of Black heroes from cultural recognition.
The cultural appropriation started when hip-hop music became a profitable business. In the '80s, most hip-hop fans were urban Black kids. By the early '90s, it shifted mainly to suburban white boys, and the mainstream music industry adjusted to fit their needs. The commercialization of hip-hop was driven by changes in the ethnic makeup of the audience. Bubba Sparxxx reflected on this structural privilege and how it affected access and visibility in the music industry. “As a white boy, there are certain doors you’ll automatically get in that perhaps no Black person or other race could ever get in.” Likewise, Vanilla Ice did not embrace hip-hop’s Black roots but was more successful than Black artists, showing the clear difference between cultural participation and appropriation based on authenticity and respect for origins. This contrasts with G-Eazy’s approach, which is rooted in acknowledgment and respect. “I get to contribute to a culture that I grew up in, and I’m very appreciative and grateful.” The widespread popularity of hip-hop has raised questions about who can and should thrive in a space created by Black artists. This foundational sentiment involves discussions around access, belonging, and cultural ownership (Abdi et al., 2023, July 22).
Similarly, mainstream pop music’s adoption of Trap music’s melodic and visual artistry is both systemically normalized and challenged. Black digital creators still operate in a contested space where racialized appropriation happens in real time. Non-Black digital creators often draw on energetic, expressive, and jubilant performances by Black artists in many visual media appearances, which are perfect for memes, reaction GIFs, and hip-hop aesthetics. Copying is not wrong, but its history in popular music is rarely positive because of how power differences influence cultural appropriation practices. Cultural appropriation is influenced by structural inequality and power dynamics rooted in unjust racial superiority (Gamble, 2024).
Moreover, hip-hop artists are comparable to authors and painters. They do not create distinguished works every time, and this should be acceptable in an analytical thinking community (Sciullo, 2018, p. 100). However, mainstream media constructs these idealistic creative principles driven by their desire for commercial gain. These ideals have led to the over-commodification of hip-hop culture through product placement, where artists promote brands, hoping for endorsement deals and free products. Movies, TV shows, and video games often include product placement (Sciullo, 2018, p. 59). These examples show hip-hop’s deep involvement in the commercial strategies of the entertainment industry. Hip-hop’s influence on lifestyle and its marketability affect how people organize their lives, what they eat and drink, what they wear, and what they care about. It has also led to the formation of subgenres and social groups (Sciullo, 2018, p. 60). But commercialization often obscures the differences within hip-hop's subcultural identities. Hip-hop has blurred the line between high art/culture and low art/culture (Sciullo, 2018, p. 89), demonstrating how it crosses into traditionally exclusive artistic fields and challenges class-based boundaries. As one response, Swizz Beatz created ‘No Commissions’ to allow artists to earn from their work without galleries taking large cuts (Sciullo, 2018, p. 87). This move challenged traditional gatekeeping in the art world, giving artists more control and protection from exploitation. Others, like Dapper Dan, partnered with Gucci (Sciullo, 2018, p. 90), exemplifying hip-hop’s evolution from cultural marginalization to recognition in high fashion.
Cultural appropriation is rooted in a colorblind ideology that gives Whites broad access to validate their presence within a specific scene. This directly links ideology to how people navigate their identities, showing how whiteness is generally accepted within a historically Black space. For instance, Whites appropriate hip-hop by stripping away the racially charged meanings embedded in the music and replacing them with color-blind interpretations, which shows that cultural appropriation is not just about aesthetics; it involves an ideological reinterpretation, especially when the audience is still mostly white. This demographic imbalance explains how White consumption has become dominant, even in events designed for diverse participation. The color-blind ideology functions in practice, allowing whites with racial power to culturally appropriate hip-hop, even if unwittingly (Rodriquez, 2006).
References
Abdi, M. K., Lippiello, E., LoCascio, J., & Pereira, I. (2023, July 22). White hip-hop artists navigate line between art and cultural appropriation. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/white-hip-hop-artists-navigate-line-art-cultural/story?id=101550759
Akens, D. (2016, May 23). A look at cultural appropriation within the hip-hop culture. The Odyssey Online. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/look-at-cultural-appropriation
Gamble, S. (2024). Hip Hop and online cultural appropriation discourse: Trap, pop, and race. In Digital Flows: Online Hip Hop Music and Culture (pp. 130–155). Oxford University Press. https://academic.oup.com/book/58670/chapter/485386213
Rodriquez, J. (2006). Color-blind ideology and the cultural appropriation of hip-hop. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 35(6), 645–668. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241606286997
Sciullo, N. J. (2018). Communicating hip-hop: How hip-hop culture shapes popular culture. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
