irrefutably, hip hop, jazz, and soul were created by people of african descent. over the years, a fair share of white artists have successfully crooned and dittyboped their way through these spheres of black music and some posses talent that demonstrates an obvious respect for both the music and its lineage. think: teena marie, adele, amy winehouse, joss stone. on the other hand, there are those “culture vultures” who are seemingly more fascinated with imitating and perpetuating stereotypes than the music itself. modern day minstrels who shuck and jive their way through metaphorical blackface performances. think: elvis presley and vanilla ice.
i heard about kreayshawn from a post at the crunk feminist collective and immediately felt a gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach. after watching her music video i quickly realized all she was missing was black paint on her face.
visual: bamboo earrings, piercings, three-finger rings, mono-syllabalic lyrics (louis, prada, gucci…) over hip hop beats.
music video: she’s riding through the hood in a convertible with her “homies” rolling blunts.
it gets worse: in a free-style she decided she could say nigger (always include the -er when white people say it) without repercussions.
after some recognizance, i learned this young woman is pretty privileged (aside from the most obvious–her whiteness), she earned (or is earning) a college degree in film from a distinguished university and she films and produces music videos for odd future.
conclusion: this barbie thug shit is a modern minstrel act that’s as tried and true as when minstrel shows were first popularized by al jolsen in the 1920s. i’m over it and refused to even add the video to this post. watching it once was more than enough.
