Slick Rick is British but grew up in New York. EVEN WHEN he spits you can still hear his accent. If Slick Rick doesn't force a Brooklyn/ Harlem accent, why should Iggy force a southern accent when she raps?
+Tyler Belisle "Couldn't I chew up the Bad Brains for playing in a primarily white genre and style for the same reasons Myke is offended by Iggy?" Not even close to the same thing. I'm not blasting Iggy for rapping. Nor am I saying Iggy doesn't belong in hip hop. My only semi-gripe with her is this super weird fake Southern accent she puts on only when rapping. It's not at all like what Bad Brains did. You're bringing them up solely because they were black men playing in a predominately white genre, but that's not the issue with Iggy. If anything, you bringing up Bad Brains brings up a good point so I'm glad you mentioned them. Bad Brains came into punk rock and didn't pretend to be anything they weren't. They didn't speak in a different voice than how they sang. If anything, they introduced things to punk rock culture. Who in punk really knew about reggae or Rastafari back then? That's not at all similar to Iggy coming into hip hop and, instead of inserting herself or Australian culture (whatever that may be), putting on a weird front (regardless of how she grew up). If that was her normal voice (like, say, V Nasty) I'd understand. But it's not. It's a costume and I just find it dd. As I said before, I find her doing this far more weird than I do offensive. You may wanna talk to Kennith Inge if you wanna discuss someone being genuinely offended.
If you actually listen to her speaking voice in comparison with "fresh off the boat" Australians you would notice a distinct difference. She doesn't sound fully Australian. She still has an accent yes, but it's a bit of a stretch to call what she's doing "modern blackface" I'm in a similar boat, I've been in the Bay Area since I was 16 and a rap. I'm originally from England. My talking voice distinctively different from how I rap autonomously due to the influence of the environment I'm currently in. It is what it is. Unless you're from a different country it's hard to understand or explain why she sounds like she does, but I get it. To ME it seem's like people are just taking offense to her because she's white but don't want to admit it. Especially when you look at artists like MF DOOM who get a pass. If you listen to enough MF DOOM interviews you see him fall out of character occasionally and hear his English accent. Why don't y'all call him out? Cos he's black? Or because you like him so it doesn't matter? Seems like hypocrisy to me. Just leave her alone. Her music is trash regardless.
***** "I don't think she sounds nice at all to be honest." Hahaha! I agree with you, bro. I mean, I don't really see the HUGE deal either. It's just that the topic came up and when asked I think it's wack. But, as a daily thing, Iggy does not come up in my life.
IRespireRhythm I definitely agree with you on Iggy's speaking voice. I don't think she sounds all that Australian either. There are shades of American in her voice. Also, I didn't know MF Doom was British.
Kiros Amhara Accents change over time once you've been immersed in a different culture. Listen to US Soccer Goalkeepers that played in England like Brad Friedel, Tim Howard or Hugh Laurie (Actor from House) talk about this at length. I'm sure she was rapping like the crocodile hunter when she first came here, but guess what, that was 8-9 years ago. She doesn't sound like a Fresh Off the board Australian now at all. You just haven't had enough experience with people from there. Similarly my "British accent" is different from those that are directly from England as I've been here for about a decade now. It happens. It's not "being fake" or whatever bullshit criticisms people or throwing round. It's a completely natural pphenomenon for the ear and brain to try and acclimatize to new environments. Again this isn't me theorizing this is something I live everyday both as a rapper and a foreigner in this country. And DOOM does sound VERY British every now and again when breaks character then he catches himself and sounds like a New Yorker. There are numerous interviews on RUclips where this is evident just look. The only valid criticism of Iggy is that her music is garbage and not authentic in delivery her artistic content. Calling her not out rapping "Australian" is stupid and shows how ignorant people are regarding those that may have relocated here while being inspired by the culture.
I appreciated the the fact that they mentioned that they're missing the black female voice. A voice that is missing and needed in a lot of conversations.
Drake does the same thing but because he is mixed he gets a pass, he talks like a fuckin choir boy but raps like he's hard or some shit, Plies used to do it too
I'm pretty sure I remember drake actually having some southern roots because of his dad and cousins who he'd visit but aside from that he did spend a lot of time in Houston and got into that scene and the whole screw sound so I think it's an homage to that when we raps in that accent
ItsDuranDuran13 all that you just said about Drake can apply to Iggy to I think Feefo made that point, Iggy and Drake (IMO) are both fake as fuck even Tyga said Drake is a very fake person,
Drake doesn't necesarily get a pass though. TOOONS of black people have questioned Drake's vocal authenticit when he raps. that's part of where the hate for him stems from tracing back to 2009-2010 when he blew up.
I just came across this channel and I have to say it has instantly become my favorite channel on youtube. It's refreshing to hear a discussion where there are dissenting opinions but it doesn't turn into a shouting match. Everyone got to voice their opinion and now the comment section can find their own conclusions. Great stuff.
Its about time someone talked about this. Black rappers and celebrities are scared to address this. FUCK THAT! Thats why we're losing. T.I. is a culture vulture for bringing her into the game. She's like Robert Downey Jr.'s character in Tropic Thunder.
The Aussie accent actually sounds really good when rapping. Anyone ever hear of the Hilltop Hoods? Might have heard a song or two of theirs from the old Tony Hawk games.
Plenty Australian and British rappers rap in their native accents and sound dope as fuck, so the argument of using it as the only way to sound good is BS.
Not necessarily. It's all down to opinion, I am from Ireland and I can't listen to any local or British artists that use their own accents because it just doesn't sound good to my ears. Therefore when I make music, I don't use my own accent because I am 120% more comfortable using the type of accent that influenced me in music. I don't necessarily think about it as an accent though, or what I talk like in conversation. I just think of it as a sound, just like any instrument, the vocals should sound however the ARTIST wants their music to sound. Although you are right, there are people here who do like the accent and the way it sounds on a track, but like I said; it's all down to opinion.
***** I don't know, for me it's understandable. I'm Dutch myself, with a good understanding of English. I watch alot of English tv, but still some English rappers are hard to follow for me, it can be less accessible.
Isn't Childish Gambino doing this same thing? He's explicitly stated in his raps that he doesn't have a Southern accent, and yet now we have STN MTN where he's spitting about "Hot sauce on them chitlins"
ActionHank75 Yeah but there was a song on camp I think where he said "I'm from the south, don't got no accent don't know why" and now he's acting all southern just so Atlanta will fuck with him
Hip-hop made Iggy. I knew about her way before she popped off, in interviews she always talks about how, as a kid, when her friends were listening to the top 40, she was listening to rap. That voice, that demeanor, that style was appropriated from HIP HOP. Everyone takes from culture they feel they want to identify with. Can it be interpreted as subtle blackface? Sure. My question is, in 2014 and moving forward is it really that okay for Hip-Hop and Black culture to be considered one in the same?
idar sumpter jazz, rock, and blues haven't lost they're history that's still apart of black culture. Art is never contained to one group of people, aside from it's origin. Hip-hop started with us but it should be created and appreciated by as many people as possible
I hate that we have to talk about this. Yes, what she's doing is offensive. She doesn't deserve to represent black culture to MILLIONS of people. She's making money off pushing us further down and portraying us in a certain way that makes OTHER people want to do it to. Black people believe and OTHER new people who want to be successful in hip-hop will do the same thing and this makes a cycle.
Sorry but lying about who you are and what you do has always been apart of hip hop. Iggy catching flak for it is kind of bs. She rapped with and mentored by Atlanta rappers to think she wouldn't pick up there sound is kind of ridiculous.
it's not "picking up a sound". it's appropriating black culture and it's presenting black people, someone who isn't black is doing it. that's what I don't like. Iggy Azalea does not deserve to be the spokesperson for my race in front of an audience of millions. Other rappers do it too, and I don't like it either, but it's a lot less fake. It really is blackface and I'm glad someone brought that up. Don't go around parading what your idea of black culture is when you aren't a part of it. It's not even like she's doing anything positive, if she was using hip-hop and her fake accent to say/do something positive I'd be 100% okay with it. Instead she's just offending an entire race, making tons of money off of it, and making commercial hip-hop even worse.
Blacktician Because Nicki Minaj is doing our race proud right? She isn't doing anything that hasn't been done already. The only issue is her skin tone which is 100% bullshit. You're saying it's alright to feed our people brainless crap as long as they're black. If you have a problem with Iggy fine! then have a problem with mainstream hip hop as a whole. Just the whole self righteous bullshit is pissing me off. Like hip hop was so upstanding until "evil whitey" came along.
no I'm not saying that. when did I say that lol, self righteous. stop lol, I'm really not even sure what you're trying to defend in the first place or why you're trying to defend anything really. those are both bad situations.
It is very offensive. It's like if I moved (I'm from NC) to India. And get there and start making music in a over exaggerated Indian accent. Everybody there would be offended. It's the same thing... Because nobody in the south really sounds that southern...
I'm british and I don't think you can really compare singing accents to rapping in accents. When people sing, for the most part they use a different part of their voice than when they speak so it's quite hard to totally maintain accents. Whereas when it comes to rapping, it is naturally closer to speaking voice. Btw in reference to Adele, however, if you listen to the pronunciation of some of her words you can decipher the cockney accent. Same with Craig David, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, if you listen closely you can decipher their accents. Maybe I can hear their accents more easily because I'm british, however and hence and am more familiar with the sound.
i'm guyanese. rapping in our accent would sound weird as fuck and most if not all of the guyanese rappers rap in an american accent. there's a reason foreign rappers don't make it big. what's more, who the fuck cares? shouldnt we be concerned with the quality of her music? if there's no place for "fakes" in rap then bye drake, rick, 2 chainz, et al
+seon fredericks i think the point they are trying to make is it's not that she is rapping in a american accent she is specifically trying to rap like a black women from the south that's the problem, and rappers like rick ross and 2 chainz they are different because even though they aren't really about what they rap about they grew up and knew people that were, iggy azalea acts nothing like he background, she didn't know people in the murder business lol and drake, i don't see how drake is fake, he never talks about being a real nigga and how he was in the hood
+cooleojordan50 their problem is fundamentally based in race. Im saying why should we give a fuck? a white girl pretending to be black - score one (or 0.1) for progress. and Drake does subtly come across as a "hard" rapper on most of his features but his fans don't care; neither do I.
seon fredericks well yeah one his features he does but i mean like you gotta come across as hard if you're gonna be feautred on like a YG or future song, but yeah idc, i don't really care as long as you put out good music, Igyy does not so i think that makes it even worse lol
I'm with Feefo, I don't listen to her music, so I don't care. Add that to the fact that most of the mainstream rappers are fake as fuck, so how can you get mad at her for following suit. If you're going to get mad at her as at black person, be mad a Rick Ross as well. She's an entertainer, nothing more or less.
Feefo247 Idris Elba is an actor and when he raps he actually uses a British accent. Making music and acting are completely different. You should care because Iggy could be the future of Hip Hop and you have some influence on the culture. Clear Soul Forces - Gotham City (Feat. Idris Elba)
Upful Soul He doesn't have to care because he doesn't listen to her. He's not contributing to her success, so what's the point of caring. If people like/love her music, what's the big deal? If black people are pissed then stop buying her music, problem solved.
Durell Patterson She has flopped many times but the "industry" has kept trying to push her. That's why she left Grand Hustle. No black artist can make it let alone get accolades if they are mediocre in a white genre art form so it should matter to people that care about Hip Hop culture. That's why a lot of people have been critical of her and the reason Dead End Hip Hop joined the conservation in the first place.
Upful Soul But, the only thing that we can do to not support her music is not buy it or listen, which it sounds like no one on DEHH listens to it in the first place. Sanctioning marches and crap over it some nonsensical, especially if people really like her music. It comes down to taste, there's no reason to get hurt over it.
This was an interesting discussion. I'm just perplexed that there are grown adults who don't seem to understand the difference between singing and rapping or acting and rapping. I find it interesting that people go out of their way to create excuses for her "rapccent"..."Oh, she grew up in the south" or "She's influenced by southern rap". I distinctly remember her saying in an interview, that when she moved here she was basically taught to rap that way. By the way, if she was 16 when she moved here then that means that she was too old to adopt an American accent. As far as being inspired by southern rap goes, inspiration and imitation are two completely different things. I think more people should discuss her "runaway slave master" lyric and her comments about women like Eve in rap being expected.
***** In one of her songs she has a lyric where she called herself a runaway slave master. It caused some controversy. The Eve comments were sparked by Eve saying she doesn't f with Iggy's music and she can't believe her. Iggy then responded by saying a girl like Eve rapping is expected. Funny, I always thought Eve was unique and different. She also had some other things to say in that response. Google it, you'd be surprised.
This is a really great convo! You all had good points and differences in your views and you all brought something to the table and Adan Bean hit the nail on the head when he said adding women to the convo would supremely benefit the discussion. Awesome vid keep it up!
After 16 years living in Australia, that accent isn't going anywhere, BUT if she started and only if she started rapping after moving to the South, it's easy to pick up that accent when rapping. Her learning to rap with all her southern friends can cause her to pick up some shit, even an accent. It might be reaching, but it can happen. I've seen people pick up British accents when singing by listening to and learning from British artists.
I wouldn't say Black people as a whole are cosigning Iggy. Just a certain segment because there were a lot of Black blogs and twitters calling her out for years. Even before she was famous and that XXL cover. You basically have the same of group of Black people (mostly men) cosigning her that are cosigning Miley. It's not everybody.
To make it in American rap is to sound like an American rapper. It is very hard for black people to accept outsiders. So you have to emulate them to have a better shot at being accepted.
I actually saw a couple of Breakfast Club Power 104 NYC interviews with Iggy before I'd heard any of her music. So all I knew her by was her Australian accent and she was a white girl it was cool ok. Then about 6 months later Im watching the fancy video and I hear "First things first Im the realest... I can hold ya dooown like a lesson in physics" and Im like bitch you need to chill. She does a good rapping black chick impression is alls Im saying. I thought it would be interesting to hear an Australian white chick rap but she blew it. Have a seat biznite.
Now, I may not be black, but I think it's a little silly if you're offended. If you actually LISTEN to her voice when she talks, she DOES sound like how she raps, she just loses the accent, and even then, slightly. Y'all actin like it's so different, but it's actually not that different if you listen. Also, some people don't feel comfortable rapping in certain ways. Maybe she feels comfortable only in the way she does it. It shouldn't be a big deal~
Like you said...you are not black. So basically you dont know what its like to be black, you dont have our perspective. So you should probably stop telling us how we should feel...coz like you said....youre not black.
Pier Vic Mvono I'm black and I agree that being offended is silly. She is literally playing the whole mainstream game. I honestly doubt it if ANYONE gave this chick radio play if she didn't fake the accent and became eye candy for these dudes. Its happened time and time again with many artists but off of a sudden its problem when a white chick does it? Come on now.
Markens Thelusma I'm not disagreeing with the idea that its silly. Im just saying that when you're not part of a group of people you should abstain from telling them how to feel. It's alright to be baffled and confused about something, but to call something silly, when you don't walk in someone else's shoes is inconsiderate, regardless of whether it is silly or not. I agree with most of what you guys are saying, I just don't think a non-black person should tell me (or any black person) how I should feel as a black man. Just like as a man I can't tell a woman how she should feel about certain things, because I don't know what its like to be her (and vise versa). Instead of Cynima saying "it shouldn't be a big deal" she should ask why it is a big deal to some people. She can't just say it shouldn't...cause she doesn't have a black person's perspective. Again...I'm not saying that her opinion is wrong or stupid.
Pier Vic Mvono No, but I know what it's like to deal with racism. LOL White people are made fun of left right and center all the time. White people are treated like generics. Like we HAVE no skin and culture. White is a color. People should be aloud to rap however they want and sing how they want, despite their race. Gambino sounded white, should he have changed the way he sounds? lol
Im glad this is being discussed. I remember hearing about Riff Raff and Iggy Azalea back in 2011. I said at that time if these two get put on it will be the death of Hip Hop. FFWD 3 yrs later and here we are. These two are killing the game for real.
Huh? What the hell are you on about. Neither of them are killing hip hop. Iggy has a couple of songs that little kids love and Riff Raff biggest songs is only heard on a vine clips.
ststama Iggy got a major label deal and two songs with 600+ million views on you tube. And they starting to play Riff Raff on the radio now. Im scared for the future of hip hop to be honest
***** Riff Raff accepted??? See this is the shit im talking about right here! Riff Raff is the WORST rapper in the history of rap. He is moving the culture BACKWARD. So is Iggy
***** just because he'll being accepted dont mean what he is doing is great for the culture. He's getting this attention because of ignorance and nowadays ignorance make money and the media knows it so thats why those two are getting this attention.
Yeah but Iggy is POP, she in that Justin Bieber, ariana grande lane. So her having that many views doesn't surprise me. As for riff Raff he has that one song, which is only on the radio because of vine, he'll never have another hit, I don't even think that songs made it in the top 30, never mind top 20. You are worrying about nothing if I'm bein honest
Not only does she exploit black people she plays on white equality in hip hop until she has an issue with another rapper. Then she wants to be respected like a white woman instead of sharing in the struggle with our sisters that encounter the same kind of oppression. I don't like Lil Debbie but I loved her comment. Everyone wants to be black until it's time to be black.The thing with Snoop made me so upset!
First Mike says he don't believe in southern white accent or a southern black accent yet he says when he first heard her he expected a some1 like gansta boo but it was a white woman which he thought was weird. That alone shows that the fact that she is white is the problem rather than her accent. Mind you she came to the US when she was 16 years old, grew up on the music and the culture. Now I get that it is weird what she is doing but it is no way shape or form racist. Racism involves race not culture, if a white person from South did that shit then in your book it should be classified as racism. Too complain about her being fake is like complaining about ilovemakkonen being fake or all these other rappers being fake. Btw not a fan of her music.
If Iggy were black, this wouldn't be an issue. Just sayin. The woman WAS BORN IN AUSTRALIA. Of course she's gonna have an Australian accent when she speaks! But she's lived in the States long enough for it to influence her, just like any other person would be influenced by a culture change like that. Look at T.I.; that dude doesn't talk AT ALL like he raps. Have you seen his interviews?? They're almost night and day from his songs. But nobody says a word about HIM sounding different. Smh
But he still has a southern Drawl, Yeah rappers put on accents change the pitch in their voice and stress certain words and vowels more than others, but they don't change their overall voice to such an extent that they have a whole different person.
James Hodgson When The Rolling Stones popped, they weren't trying to break into a primarily black dominated arena. They simply liked American rock n roll. blues and R&B and wanted to be a part of it. I don't see this as the same thing at all simply because how do you appropriate American culture? And what the fuck is American culture anyway? They weren't speaking like black men. Adding some soul into their music doesn't compare with speaking in a completely different accent. Especially the accept of a group of people that is generally look down upon. I get your point, but I really don't think it's the same thing.
Myke C-Town To be fair Myke, that sounds similar to Iggy's story. The little I just read about her, she left Australia for the US because she was that much into American rap, and didn't fit in at home because of it. So she's basically doing it too because she likes it, and actually moved around the world because she wanted to be a part of it? Ofcourse it's still hard to look at her in any positive light for me because her music is just that shit.
inepthabit Nah, as I said, The Stones were not trying to break into a black dominated area by pretending to be something else. We have to remember that the parameters around "sounding black" were not nearly the same as they are now. If you're trying to relate something in 2014 to something from 1976, you'd have to say that every single pop/rock group from that era was emulating black music. It's just not the same. Things have changed and in 2014 there's no real way to justify something like this the same way you can music back then.
Myke C-Town Rolling stones were breaking into a primarily Black Arena. It's called Blues, but when White boys do it it's Rock N Roll, which is a black slang for sex. Mick Jaggers style is taken from a Blues artist named SLim HArpo. Not to mention Rolling stones covered many Black blues tunes.
I not sure if anyone will agree with me on this but I felt this video is very important on talking about how hip hop focuses on sonic quality and flow rather than lyrical content. I'm not sure that is the point there getting at but that's what I got from it in terms of Iggy Azalea rapping in a different accent from her original accent
As much as I love these as a collective I really wish they would add 1 young person to the group, someone between the ages of 20-25 just to give a young perspective on stories like this or when they listen to artist who are in there early 20's. I really think it would be beneficial to them
I'm glad you agree, my comment wasn't a shot at you by the way. It's just that I've been watching DEHH for the past year now and when I watch these videos & I hear them say "oh I've never heard of this person" or "who is this person" I just feel that someone around my age would be able to better educate them on certain artists and certain projects
Honestly i think a lot of black people double talk when...i personally don't speak the same way at work as i do when i'm talking to friends....i believe that may be the case with a tip plies ross not sure about iggy but also it could just be a recording voice like lil kim talking voice is high pitched her rap voice isn't
Kennith Inge Kennith Inge Yo Kennith I love and fully appreciate your brutal honesty regarding this culture vulture fraudster, you really spoke for me and a lot of others in this video. Love the passion you showed for authenticity in Hip Hop! Thank you bro!
Real talk, Iggy was blowing up underground before she went mainstream anyways, I didn't see any outrage then, it's only now that that she's hot (let's also keep it real she's just having a good year, so getting mad about a Forbes article saying he's running hip-hop when they also post the wealthiest men in the genre is wrong). and all of a sudden people want to be place red flag saying she's the death of hip-hop. I can't be offended at her because I never got into her music and never cared to take this further and at the end of the day the ppl critiquing never supported her to begin with.
I'm glad the "closing statements" are a thing because i honestly didn't understand C-Town's point off view until he mentioned the "being able to turn it off" situation.
I don't know how much my experience can add to what's already been said, but here goes: I came to Chicago as an immigrant from Pakistan when I was 7. I grew up on the far north side. I spoke like the far northsiders spoke. While living there, I met a lot of other immigrants and they would all eventually end up talking like us. That is unless they were older then they moved to the northside. They would still have an accent, even after living on the north side for over a decade. But a couple of them did mess around with rap. And they would rap like a particular rapper of that was time . One dude rapped like DMX. Another dude rapped in the style of Mace. Eventually, I moved to the suburbs, when I was 19. Slowly, I stopped speaking with my north side accent. Which I didn't notice I even had until I had lost the accent and heard other people speak it when I would visit my friends who still lived there; this was about the time I turned 25. I, myself, messed around with rap for years. And the way I rapped changed when I lost my north side accent. I started rapping with better grammar and used street language in a more poetic way. I would also change my style to suit the topic I was rapping about. But now I've been away from the street language so long that I can't even replicate it if I tried. My street language is forever stuck in the 90s rhetoric.
Hip hop now are mostly bunch of actors, Rick Ross acts like a drug kingpin but was a correction officer, tiger act like from the hood he was raised in a very financial stable home. The list goes on and on. If your mad a iggy you have to be mad at everybody. And I rather listen to iggy then a another young thugg record lol
Tyga said on the breakfast club that he did the show on MTV that had him acting like he was rich for money. Tyga really is from Compton. I agree with you on Rick Ross tho.
Personally, I disagree with Myke; it's really not deeper than that. There is no issue- to me- because 90% of this mainstream rap shit is just disingenuous presentation and performance anyway. I think that Iggy Azalea raps the way she does because she thinks that that's the way she's got to sound in order to make it in America. And it's not as if there isn't some precedent for this; Monie Love is from England, but you'd never guess that by listening to her rap.
When singing you loose the accent maybe to an extend, but even then not completely. Rapping is completely different than singing though. And like Myke says, she didn't just loose an accent, she gained a new one.
I don't like love her, or hate her. The girl just don't bother me. I think its wrong to criticise somebody for expressing themselves (in any way). At the end of the day this is art and is subjective. (sorry for my bad english)
MouraLive A lot of times it's hard for one to relate to being offended by something that only affects a certain group if that person does not belong to said group. I feel you about it being art...but sometimes things have to be seen as deeper than that. And your English seems fine to me!
Maybe it's just a cultural subject. Here (Portugal) we have a lot of artists trying to perform characters and accents, and everyone seems to be ok with that. Maybe the general public is ok with the "fakeness", and people who really listen to music (like us, I presume) take it a little more serious. I like to see both sides of everything. As always, nice topic of debate DEHH ;)
For the record, Iggy Azalea was a XXL Freshman in 2012 with Hopsin, Danny Brown, Macklemore, etc. Kendrick Lamar was on the cover in 2011 was guys like YG, Mac Miller, Lil B, Yelawolf, etc.
Lets be really real, this sounds like the issue is bigger than Iggy. If what Iggy is doing is culture vulture than so is a lot of rappers like Rick Ross for example. People actually have to go through the stuff he talks about but while he just raps about what he saw and profits off of it without him going through it right? Isn't that culture vulture too? But at the same time that has always been in hip hop. I think Iggy is getting talked about so much as opposed to others is that she is white mixed in with the way her body looks.Either way wrong is wrong and I think Iggy is wrong for doing that but I also think a lot of rappers are wrong for doing what they do black or white, female or male. So at what point does one problem become bigger than the other because honestly I think Iggy profiting off of a fake accent isn't nearly as bad as said rapper profiting on someone else's life story or struggle and acting like they went through it. That being said I agree with Adan Bean was saying especially about needing a woman's perspective because this is i'm just talking from a 19 year old black male's perspective.
Most rappers rap from perspective of others. Rick Ross can't be a culture vulture if he's from the culture he raps about. At the most, Rick Ross bends the truth more than he needed too, He hid the fact that he had a past job instead if just coming clean. But culture vulture..... Erm... No.
dazza818 well that's what im saying tho, what are you defining as culture because it sounds like you're saying all black people are the same culture which I disagree with and think is a common misconception. Rick Ross may have grown up in a black neighborhood but that doesn't mean he grew up around the things he is talking about. Also he specifically took the name Rick Ross which is a known street dude and is sounding like he is trying to act like he is him. So I do think that is culture vulture, taking someone's whole life and acting like it was yours and making profit off of it. I actually think it is worse than putting on a fraud accent. Musically and even lyrically Rick Ross is better than Iggy undoubtedly but that doesn't mean what I think he has done is any more morally right than what Iggy is doing.
If you don't understand culture then you just won't understand it. I am from black culture, I see what culture is even though I might not live or partake in all of it. Doesn't mean it's not of black culture. Going to the barbers to get a nice line up is black culture. Not every black man has a low cut ceaser, but they understand Barber shop culture. The funny thing is, now I go barbers and have to wait for a line of white guys looking sharp line ups. Why is this....? I see lot of white Barber shops, so why not go there? It's the culture they crave. Guess what I don't see.. >> black men lining up to get their hair cut outside white Barber shops. A part of culture does not define every black man or woman. But it doesn't take away the fact it is black culture.
I agree with you anyone who extorts the culture needs to be accountable for it no matter what color they are. The thing that is unique about Iggy is that she comes from a place of privilege. It's not the same as a Rick Ross or Cheif Keef born in an oppressive environment making rap music to get out of his situation. Also, there is a double standard when it comes to conflict she encounters.
imperialshalom yah I understand that but i'm just saying people acting like this shit is new and I hate that. Lets be really real and start seeing this for what it is and has been for years now.
I came into this video throwing away the whole point of this discussion, because how I see it, her songs and features that are made onto the radio don't show anything more than using hip hop more as a product for easy-to-digest pop music. But as angry as Ken got, he and Myke do make a good point in taking the whole "cultural appropriation" side of this issue seriously. Real good conversation, guys, keep being cool-n-stuff!
9 лет назад+4
If you care about the preservation of the culture you should care about this.
testnowhehe Almost every single he made was heavily influence by western style. Lorde, Adele, and Amy Winehouse this is a common thing to do in music. You sound like the audience you're preforming for. You wouldn't go to Australia and sing in Spanish. People are just being Nit-picky about her because they can't really say why her music is bad without sounding like a hater, So they bash her accent because they can't complain anything else. Just like Nicki Minaj was going around faking a British accent everyone was cool. But when a Iggy does it it's bad. #GodDamnRacists PS. No female rapper has a better than Lauryn Hill.
listen to children story and ask yourself if that sounds like a krs or rakim or Curtis blow, also iggy just sucks at rapping period care less if she's white because Nicki. Minaj sucks equally as bad.
A good topic. I do understand why artists from countries other than North America may change up their accent so as to be more palatable in the US audience, however I think rule #1 of hip-hop, wherever you're from, is to "be yourself" and so altering something as fundamental as your accent is in a way a violation of that rule.
What about Mr. Probz? , since he is getting a little bit more famous these days. He is dutch (so am i) but does he sound so? Great discussion DEHH, again :]
You are a product of your environment, and the people around you. Growing up, everyone said I sounded white cause I lived in white suburbs. I still do, but i also work around the ghetto, and hangout with some people from the ghetto, so the way I speak has changed, and more people are inclined to say I talk black. Plus I listen to hip hop 24/7 so yeah
You guys should get Raq on this, being someone who creates music as well, it'd be interesting to hear what she's got to say about her and how it feels for other women who want to be in music.
I think the truth is, someone like Iggy Azalea wasn't ever meant to be this mainstream and now that she is as big as she is, things such as her extremely manipulated voice on stage are being called out for exploitation and cultural appropriation. I don't Iggy personally meant any harm by it and probably viewed it as paying homage, but truthfully this parallels Elvis Presley's career. Elvis Presley was known for stealing his shit from other black blues musicians and yet still sold 5x as many records as some of them. You have to consider that most people buying Iggy Azalea albums are probably teenage white girls with wealthy parents. They could relate probably relate more to a white girl rapping about being fancy than to a black female rapper from the south talking about her struggles. Iggy Azalea has done an excellent job crafting/selling her image and make quality pop/rap songs with that southern twists which is continually getting popular as we have now have rappers from others parts of the country such as ASAP Mob who are embracing it.
I say this fully aware that my comment is coming somewhat from an outside perspective. I'm a white kid that grew up in Detroit, surrounded by hip-hop, naturally became a fan and have been most of my life. The thing I see as the most important thing is to be real, spit about what you know and don't try to be something your not, generally that seems to be the most important thing. That's the thing about Iggy is there's nothing real about her from her accent to her lyrics. That's my 2 cents.
For all the people that keep mentioning Slick Rick. If you say he changed his accent, please tell me what part of the US did he sound like he was from? Because he sounded English as fuck to me. Even with his vocabulary, he would refer to broke people as peasants. I'm sorry but Rick the Ruler never changed his accent, go listen to Da Art of Story Telling by Outkast, years after he had been in the game he still sounded the same.
There's a precedence for this in rock and roll as well. CCR was from Southern California but jumped on the southern rock bandwagon. They're one of the most well know in the style, but they definitely weren't actually Born on the Bayou. It's a gray area. There are artists and entertainers. How genuine do we expect entertainers to be? I'd say with pop stars, nearly nothing is expected honesty-wise. They're mostly a brand, and the person at the center of it all is only playing a small part of the image being sold.
Holy shit, I just realized and immediately had to come post this..... Why is it ok for Niki Minaj to talk in her fake ass British accent while everyone gets mad at Iggy Azalea for speaking in ebonics ?
I can't say this is something that ever crossed my mind. To me (and I think most people) it's just a flow, a way of rapping. I think saying it's like "black face" is a pretty damn extreme thing to compare it to.
Rick Ross in interviews: I like pears
Rick Ross in the booth: I'M SELLIN' DOPE ON DA IPHONE
LMAO
Myke doesn't even have to speak. I can read what he's going to say before he says it lol. His facial expressions are priceless.
I know right. This is my type of people.
If TI supposedly got Snoop Dogg to apologize to Iggy Azalea, then TI should apologize for letting Iggy Azalea into hip-hop.
damn lol
hiphopismydrug1 Lmao you're right who am I kidding? This isn't the first time he fucked up his own community with something white.
k1dkur0 ur on a roll here
Slick Rick is British but grew up in New York. EVEN WHEN he spits you can still hear his accent. If Slick Rick doesn't force a Brooklyn/ Harlem accent, why should Iggy force a southern accent when she raps?
+Tyler Belisle "Couldn't I chew up the Bad Brains for playing in a primarily white genre and style for the same reasons Myke is offended by Iggy?" Not even close to the same thing. I'm not blasting Iggy for rapping. Nor am I saying Iggy doesn't belong in hip hop. My only semi-gripe with her is this super weird fake Southern accent she puts on only when rapping. It's not at all like what Bad Brains did. You're bringing them up solely because they were black men playing in a predominately white genre, but that's not the issue with Iggy. If anything, you bringing up Bad Brains brings up a good point so I'm glad you mentioned them. Bad Brains came into punk rock and didn't pretend to be anything they weren't. They didn't speak in a different voice than how they sang. If anything, they introduced things to punk rock culture. Who in punk really knew about reggae or Rastafari back then? That's not at all similar to Iggy coming into hip hop and, instead of inserting herself or Australian culture (whatever that may be), putting on a weird front (regardless of how she grew up). If that was her normal voice (like, say, V Nasty) I'd understand. But it's not. It's a costume and I just find it dd. As I said before, I find her doing this far more weird than I do offensive. You may wanna talk to Kennith Inge if you wanna discuss someone being genuinely offended.
If you actually listen to her speaking voice in comparison with "fresh off the boat" Australians you would notice a distinct difference. She doesn't sound fully Australian. She still has an accent yes, but it's a bit of a stretch to call what she's doing "modern blackface"
I'm in a similar boat, I've been in the Bay Area since I was 16 and a rap. I'm originally from England. My talking voice distinctively different from how I rap autonomously due to the influence of the environment I'm currently in. It is what it is.
Unless you're from a different country it's hard to understand or explain why she sounds like she does, but I get it. To ME it seem's like people are just taking offense to her because she's white but don't want to admit it. Especially when you look at artists like MF DOOM who get a pass. If you listen to enough MF DOOM interviews you see him fall out of character occasionally and hear his English accent. Why don't y'all call him out? Cos he's black? Or because you like him so it doesn't matter? Seems like hypocrisy to me.
Just leave her alone. Her music is trash regardless.
***** "I don't think she sounds nice at all to be honest." Hahaha! I agree with you, bro. I mean, I don't really see the HUGE deal either. It's just that the topic came up and when asked I think it's wack. But, as a daily thing, Iggy does not come up in my life.
The label obviously gave her a gimmick to use.
IRespireRhythm I definitely agree with you on Iggy's speaking voice. I don't think she sounds all that Australian either. There are shades of American in her voice. Also, I didn't know MF Doom was British.
Kiros Amhara Accents change over time once you've been immersed in a different culture. Listen to US Soccer Goalkeepers that played in England like Brad Friedel, Tim Howard or Hugh Laurie (Actor from House) talk about this at length. I'm sure she was rapping like the crocodile hunter when she first came here, but guess what, that was 8-9 years ago.
She doesn't sound like a Fresh Off the board Australian now at all. You just haven't had enough experience with people from there. Similarly my "British accent" is different from those that are directly from England as I've been here for about a decade now. It happens. It's not "being fake" or whatever bullshit criticisms people or throwing round. It's a completely natural pphenomenon for the ear and brain to try and acclimatize to new environments. Again this isn't me theorizing this is something I live everyday both as a rapper and a foreigner in this country.
And DOOM does sound VERY British every now and again when breaks character then he catches himself and sounds like a New Yorker. There are numerous interviews on RUclips where this is evident just look.
The only valid criticism of Iggy is that her music is garbage and not authentic in delivery her artistic content. Calling her not out rapping "Australian" is stupid and shows how ignorant people are regarding those that may have relocated here while being inspired by the culture.
as an Australian we are sorry for iggy, we got some interesting artists here tho
im an aussie n iggy gettin money ALL I GOTTA SAY
Tame Impala is great
HIATUS KAIYOTE
Hiatus kaiyote
I appreciated the the fact that they mentioned that they're missing the black female voice. A voice that is missing and needed in a lot of conversations.
That nigga with the big dreads look like a great sage and like he has some wisdom to teach young grasshoppers.
Lol
She's a marketing gimmick. Period.
00ABBITT00 if no one understands marketing you do that statement alone sums up the convo good vid though.
Drake does the same thing but because he is mixed he gets a pass, he talks like a fuckin choir boy but raps like he's hard or some shit, Plies used to do it too
alot of people question Drake and Plies character tho. Iggy has the racial undertones which makes it worse
Yeah. Drake came up in this discussion - but it didn't make the final cut apparently.
I'm pretty sure I remember drake actually having some southern roots because of his dad and cousins who he'd visit but aside from that he did spend a lot of time in Houston and got into that scene and the whole screw sound so I think it's an homage to that when we raps in that accent
ItsDuranDuran13 all that you just said about Drake can apply to Iggy to I think Feefo made that point, Iggy and Drake (IMO) are both fake as fuck even Tyga said Drake is a very fake person,
Drake doesn't necesarily get a pass though. TOOONS of black people have questioned Drake's vocal authenticit when he raps. that's part of where the hate for him stems from tracing back to 2009-2010 when he blew up.
i think TI had a MAJOR hand in the southern accent she made
I just came across this channel and I have to say it has instantly become my favorite channel on youtube. It's refreshing to hear a discussion where there are dissenting opinions but it doesn't turn into a shouting match. Everyone got to voice their opinion and now the comment section can find their own conclusions. Great stuff.
that Adan dude popped outta nowhere at 9:00!! like damn let us know anotha nigga in the room! i was like damn whos this nigga lol
Lol i saw him in another video so i wasnt so surprised
Adan was a welcomed sight. Such a handsome man.
Its about time someone talked about this. Black rappers and celebrities are scared to address this. FUCK THAT! Thats why we're losing. T.I. is a culture vulture for bringing her into the game. She's like Robert Downey Jr.'s character in Tropic Thunder.
dude with the dreads is chill af
The Aussie accent actually sounds really good when rapping. Anyone ever hear of the Hilltop Hoods? Might have heard a song or two of theirs from the old Tony Hawk games.
i'm glad that mike c brought up Em and V Nasty. it puts the debate into a context of "who people actually are"
Adan Bean should be a permanent member of the DEHH crew.
Plenty Australian and British rappers rap in their native accents and sound dope as fuck, so the argument of using it as the only way to sound good is BS.
Not as the only way to sound good, but as the only way to obtain major success for sure, especially in the US.
inepthabit which is sad when you think about it.
Not necessarily. It's all down to opinion, I am from Ireland and I can't listen to any local or British artists that use their own accents because it just doesn't sound good to my ears. Therefore when I make music, I don't use my own accent because I am 120% more comfortable using the type of accent that influenced me in music. I don't necessarily think about it as an accent though, or what I talk like in conversation. I just think of it as a sound, just like any instrument, the vocals should sound however the ARTIST wants their music to sound. Although you are right, there are people here who do like the accent and the way it sounds on a track, but like I said; it's all down to opinion.
***** I don't know, for me it's understandable. I'm Dutch myself, with a good understanding of English. I watch alot of English tv, but still some English rappers are hard to follow for me, it can be less accessible.
I've definitely commented this on videos before, but Hilltop Hoods are probably the best hip hop thing to come out of Australia.
Isn't Childish Gambino doing this same thing? He's explicitly stated in his raps that he doesn't have a Southern accent, and yet now we have STN MTN where he's spitting about "Hot sauce on them chitlins"
well it was on a southern beat
He's from Stone Mountain.
ActionHank75
Yeah but there was a song on camp I think where he said "I'm from the south, don't got no accent don't know why" and now he's acting all southern just so Atlanta will fuck with him
TimmiT
I truly believe that the mixtape is a troll tape. I think he's subtly mocking other Southern rappers.
ActionHank75 Maybe, but the fact that Southern artists are collaborating with him makes me think otherwise
Hip-hop made Iggy. I knew about her way before she popped off, in interviews she always talks about how, as a kid, when her friends were listening to the top 40, she was listening to rap. That voice, that demeanor, that style was appropriated from HIP HOP. Everyone takes from culture they feel they want to identify with. Can it be interpreted as subtle blackface? Sure. My question is, in 2014 and moving forward is it really that okay for Hip-Hop and Black culture to be considered one in the same?
powerful
Hip hop is a large part of black culture and I identity, I don't think they're the same but in some ways they can be synonymous.
Black ppl let jazz, rock and the blues fall out of the culture quite a bit but I'd hope hip hop isn't something we lose.
yes hip hop is apart of black culture.
idar sumpter jazz, rock, and blues haven't lost they're history that's still apart of black culture. Art is never contained to one group of people, aside from it's origin. Hip-hop started with us but it should be created and appreciated by as many people as possible
I haven't heard someone say Craig David's name since the crusades...
ha!
No singers sing with accents. The accent normally disappears. Rapping is different. When you rap, the accent doesn't disappears
I hate that we have to talk about this. Yes, what she's doing is offensive. She doesn't deserve to represent black culture to MILLIONS of people. She's making money off pushing us further down and portraying us in a certain way that makes OTHER people want to do it to. Black people believe and OTHER new people who want to be successful in hip-hop will do the same thing and this makes a cycle.
Sorry but lying about who you are and what you do has always been apart of hip hop. Iggy catching flak for it is kind of bs. She rapped with and mentored by Atlanta rappers to think she wouldn't pick up there sound is kind of ridiculous.
it's not "picking up a sound". it's appropriating black culture and it's presenting black people, someone who isn't black is doing it. that's what I don't like. Iggy Azalea does not deserve to be the spokesperson for my race in front of an audience of millions. Other rappers do it too, and I don't like it either, but it's a lot less fake. It really is blackface and I'm glad someone brought that up. Don't go around parading what your idea of black culture is when you aren't a part of it. It's not even like she's doing anything positive, if she was using hip-hop and her fake accent to say/do something positive I'd be 100% okay with it. Instead she's just offending an entire race, making tons of money off of it, and making commercial hip-hop even worse.
Blacktician Because Nicki Minaj is doing our race proud right? She isn't doing anything that hasn't been done already. The only issue is her skin tone which is 100% bullshit. You're saying it's alright to feed our people brainless crap as long as they're black. If you have a problem with Iggy fine! then have a problem with mainstream hip hop as a whole. Just the whole self righteous bullshit is pissing me off. Like hip hop was so upstanding until "evil whitey" came along.
no I'm not saying that. when did I say that lol, self righteous. stop lol, I'm really not even sure what you're trying to defend in the first place or why you're trying to defend anything really. those are both bad situations.
Great discussion. I hope you guys keep bringing Adan in, I'm really enjoying his perspective and opinion.
It is very offensive. It's like if I moved (I'm from NC) to India. And get there and start making music in a over exaggerated Indian accent. Everybody there would be offended. It's the same thing... Because nobody in the south really sounds that southern...
+The “Kid at Heart” Rap ,right that's what im saying, even people that were born and raised in the south don't sound like that
It's crazy that she talks like Olivia newton John but raps like Trina/Gangsta Boo
I'm british and I don't think you can really compare singing accents to rapping in accents. When people sing, for the most part they use a different part of their voice than when they speak so it's quite hard to totally maintain accents. Whereas when it comes to rapping, it is naturally closer to speaking voice.
Btw in reference to Adele, however, if you listen to the pronunciation of some of her words you can decipher the cockney accent. Same with Craig David, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, if you listen closely you can decipher their accents. Maybe I can hear their accents more easily because I'm british, however and hence and am more familiar with the sound.
I know you won't see this but you're right.
Once I heard Craig David sing "Tuesday" on 7 Days I picked up that he was British.
@@robertjackson1987 loool I made this comment 6 years ago! I appreciate you responding man 🙏🏾😅
i'm guyanese. rapping in our accent would sound weird as fuck and most if not all of the guyanese rappers rap in an american accent. there's a reason foreign rappers don't make it big. what's more, who the fuck cares? shouldnt we be concerned with the quality of her music? if there's no place for "fakes" in rap then bye drake, rick, 2 chainz, et al
+seon fredericks i think the point they are trying to make is it's not that she is rapping in a american accent she is specifically trying to rap like a black women from the south that's the problem, and rappers like rick ross and 2 chainz they are different because even though they aren't really about what they rap about they grew up and knew people that were, iggy azalea acts nothing like he background, she didn't know people in the murder business lol and drake, i don't see how drake is fake, he never talks about being a real nigga and how he was in the hood
+cooleojordan50 their problem is fundamentally based in race. Im saying why should we give a fuck? a white girl pretending to be black - score one (or 0.1) for progress. and Drake does subtly come across as a "hard" rapper on most of his features but his fans don't care; neither do I.
seon fredericks well yeah one his features he does but i mean like you gotta come across as hard if you're gonna be feautred on like a YG or future song, but yeah idc, i don't really care as long as you put out good music, Igyy does not so i think that makes it even worse lol
I'm with Feefo, I don't listen to her music, so I don't care. Add that to the fact that most of the mainstream rappers are fake as fuck, so how can you get mad at her for following suit. If you're going to get mad at her as at black person, be mad a Rick Ross as well. She's an entertainer, nothing more or less.
Thanks homie
Feefo247 Idris Elba is an actor and when he raps he actually uses a British accent. Making music and acting are completely different. You should care because Iggy could be the future of Hip Hop and you have some influence on the culture.
Clear Soul Forces - Gotham City (Feat. Idris Elba)
Upful Soul He doesn't have to care because he doesn't listen to her. He's not contributing to her success, so what's the point of caring. If people like/love her music, what's the big deal? If black people are pissed then stop buying her music, problem solved.
Durell Patterson She has flopped many times but the "industry" has kept trying to push her. That's why she left Grand Hustle. No black artist can make it let alone get accolades if they are mediocre in a white genre art form so it should matter to people that care about Hip Hop culture. That's why a lot of people have been critical of her and the reason Dead End Hip Hop joined the conservation in the first place.
Upful Soul But, the only thing that we can do to not support her music is not buy it or listen, which it sounds like no one on DEHH listens to it in the first place. Sanctioning marches and crap over it some nonsensical, especially if people really like her music. It comes down to taste, there's no reason to get hurt over it.
I Agree wit Myke when you dive into it a little deeper and black history of music in general its a little in the offensive territory
This was an interesting discussion. I'm just perplexed that there are grown adults who don't seem to understand the difference between singing and rapping or acting and rapping. I find it interesting that people go out of their way to create excuses for her "rapccent"..."Oh, she grew up in the south" or "She's influenced by southern rap". I distinctly remember her saying in an interview, that when she moved here she was basically taught to rap that way. By the way, if she was 16 when she moved here then that means that she was too old to adopt an American accent. As far as being inspired by southern rap goes, inspiration and imitation are two completely different things. I think more people should discuss her "runaway slave master" lyric and her comments about women like Eve in rap being expected.
***** In one of her songs she has a lyric where she called herself a runaway slave master. It caused some controversy. The Eve comments were sparked by Eve saying she doesn't f with Iggy's music and she can't believe her. Iggy then responded by saying a girl like Eve rapping is expected. Funny, I always thought Eve was unique and different. She also had some other things to say in that response. Google it, you'd be surprised.
16 is not too old to adopt an accent lol, but that's her choice
This is a really great convo! You all had good points and differences in your views and you all brought something to the table and Adan Bean hit the nail on the head when he said adding women to the convo would supremely benefit the discussion. Awesome vid keep it up!
Iggy remind me of snow the dude that did Informer in the 90's.
Or vanilla ice.
09:07 Beezy lookin at Adan liek " damn homie , give me some of that hair'' XD
After 16 years living in Australia, that accent isn't going anywhere, BUT if she started and only if she started rapping after moving to the South, it's easy to pick up that accent when rapping. Her learning to rap with all her southern friends can cause her to pick up some shit, even an accent. It might be reaching, but it can happen. I've seen people pick up British accents when singing by listening to and learning from British artists.
I wouldn't say Black people as a whole are cosigning Iggy. Just a certain segment because there were a lot of Black blogs and twitters calling her out for years. Even before she was famous and that XXL cover. You basically have the same of group of Black people (mostly men) cosigning her that are cosigning Miley. It's not everybody.
u can hear the british accent when Adele sings too
To make it in American rap is to sound like an American rapper. It is very hard for black people to accept outsiders. So you have to emulate them to have a better shot at being accepted.
I actually saw a couple of Breakfast Club Power 104 NYC interviews with Iggy before I'd heard any of her music. So all I knew her by was her Australian accent and she was a white girl it was cool ok. Then about 6 months later Im watching the fancy video and I hear "First things first Im the realest... I can hold ya dooown like a lesson in physics" and Im like bitch you need to chill. She does a good rapping black chick impression is alls Im saying. I thought it would be interesting to hear an Australian white chick rap but she blew it. Have a seat biznite.
I like the points Bishop from Xmen is making, when he's not busy saving the future he should come on here more often
This Adan dude is good, I hope we see him in more videos
Now, I may not be black, but I think it's a little silly if you're offended. If you actually LISTEN to her voice when she talks, she DOES sound like how she raps, she just loses the accent, and even then, slightly. Y'all actin like it's so different, but it's actually not that different if you listen. Also, some people don't feel comfortable rapping in certain ways. Maybe she feels comfortable only in the way she does it. It shouldn't be a big deal~
Like you said...you are not black. So basically you dont know what its like to be black, you dont have our perspective. So you should probably stop telling us how we should feel...coz like you said....youre not black.
Pier Vic Mvono I'm black and I agree that being offended is silly. She is literally playing the whole mainstream game. I honestly doubt it if ANYONE gave this chick radio play if she didn't fake the accent and became eye candy for these dudes. Its happened time and time again with many artists but off of a sudden its problem when a white chick does it? Come on now.
Markens Thelusma
I'm not disagreeing with the idea that its silly. Im just saying that when you're not part of a group of people you should abstain from telling them how to feel. It's alright to be baffled and confused about something, but to call something silly, when you don't walk in someone else's shoes is inconsiderate, regardless of whether it is silly or not. I agree with most of what you guys are saying, I just don't think a non-black person should tell me (or any black person) how I should feel as a black man. Just like as a man I can't tell a woman how she should feel about certain things, because I don't know what its like to be her (and vise versa). Instead of Cynima saying "it shouldn't be a big deal" she should ask why it is a big deal to some people. She can't just say it shouldn't...cause she doesn't have a black person's perspective. Again...I'm not saying that her opinion is wrong or stupid.
Pier Vic Mvono No, but I know what it's like to deal with racism. LOL White people are made fun of left right and center all the time. White people are treated like generics. Like we HAVE no skin and culture. White is a color.
People should be aloud to rap however they want and sing how they want, despite their race.
Gambino sounded white, should he have changed the way he sounds? lol
Pier Vic Mvono I understand your position on the matter
Im glad this is being discussed. I remember hearing about Riff Raff and Iggy Azalea back in 2011. I said at that time if these two get put on it will be the death of Hip Hop. FFWD 3 yrs later and here we are. These two are killing the game for real.
Huh? What the hell are you on about. Neither of them are killing hip hop. Iggy has a couple of songs that little kids love and Riff Raff biggest songs is only heard on a vine clips.
ststama
Iggy got a major label deal and two songs with 600+ million views on you tube. And they starting to play Riff Raff on the radio now. Im scared for the future of hip hop to be honest
*****
Riff Raff accepted??? See this is the shit im talking about right here! Riff Raff is the WORST rapper in the history of rap. He is moving the culture BACKWARD. So is Iggy
***** just because he'll being accepted dont mean what he is doing is great for the culture. He's getting this attention because of ignorance and nowadays ignorance make money and the media knows it so thats why those two are getting this attention.
Yeah but Iggy is POP, she in that Justin Bieber, ariana grande lane. So her having that many views doesn't surprise me. As for riff Raff he has that one song, which is only on the radio because of vine, he'll never have another hit, I don't even think that songs made it in the top 30, never mind top 20. You are worrying about nothing if I'm bein honest
Not only does she exploit black people she plays on white equality in hip hop until she has an issue with another rapper. Then she wants to be respected like a white woman instead of sharing in the struggle with our sisters that encounter the same kind of oppression. I don't like Lil Debbie but I loved her comment. Everyone wants to be black until it's time to be black.The thing with Snoop made me so upset!
First Mike says he don't believe in southern white accent or a southern black accent yet he says when he first heard her he expected a some1 like gansta boo but it was a white woman which he thought was weird. That alone shows that the fact that she is white is the problem rather than her accent. Mind you she came to the US when she was 16 years old, grew up on the music and the culture. Now I get that it is weird what she is doing but it is no way shape or form racist. Racism involves race not culture, if a white person from South did that shit then in your book it should be classified as racism.
Too complain about her being fake is like complaining about ilovemakkonen being fake or all these other rappers being fake.
Btw not a fan of her music.
no he said he dont believe in sounding like a certain or whole race
Woah Myke C Town closing Statement was Deep ! There needs to be a part 2 with some Ladies in there ...
If Iggy were black, this wouldn't be an issue. Just sayin. The woman WAS BORN IN AUSTRALIA. Of course she's gonna have an Australian accent when she speaks! But she's lived in the States long enough for it to influence her, just like any other person would be influenced by a culture change like that. Look at T.I.; that dude doesn't talk AT ALL like he raps. Have you seen his interviews?? They're almost night and day from his songs. But nobody says a word about HIM sounding different. Smh
But he still has a southern Drawl, Yeah rappers put on accents change the pitch in their voice and stress certain words and vowels more than others, but they don't change their overall voice to such an extent that they have a whole different person.
Glad you guys finally talked about this. Good commentary all around
Rolling Stones and early beatles had american accents, imitating black blues, r and b and rock n roll acts, I see no difference with this and iggy
Exactly!
James Hodgson When The Rolling Stones popped, they weren't trying to break into a primarily black dominated arena. They simply liked American rock n roll. blues and R&B and wanted to be a part of it. I don't see this as the same thing at all simply because how do you appropriate American culture? And what the fuck is American culture anyway? They weren't speaking like black men. Adding some soul into their music doesn't compare with speaking in a completely different accent. Especially the accept of a group of people that is generally look down upon. I get your point, but I really don't think it's the same thing.
Myke C-Town To be fair Myke, that sounds similar to Iggy's story. The little I just read about her, she left Australia for the US because she was that much into American rap, and didn't fit in at home because of it. So she's basically doing it too because she likes it, and actually moved around the world because she wanted to be a part of it? Ofcourse it's still hard to look at her in any positive light for me because her music is just that shit.
inepthabit Nah, as I said, The Stones were not trying to break into a black dominated area by pretending to be something else. We have to remember that the parameters around "sounding black" were not nearly the same as they are now. If you're trying to relate something in 2014 to something from 1976, you'd have to say that every single pop/rock group from that era was emulating black music. It's just not the same. Things have changed and in 2014 there's no real way to justify something like this the same way you can music back then.
Myke C-Town Rolling stones were breaking into a primarily Black Arena. It's called Blues, but when White boys do it it's Rock N Roll, which is a black slang for sex. Mick Jaggers style is taken from a Blues artist named SLim HArpo. Not to mention Rolling stones covered many Black blues tunes.
I feel like this is how Rock n Roll was taken from us.
Myke
A.K.A: C- Town
A.K.A: The White Woman's Advocate
A.K.A: The Vegan Destroyer.
I not sure if anyone will agree with me on this but I felt this video is very important on talking about how hip hop focuses on sonic quality and flow rather than lyrical content. I'm not sure that is the point there getting at but that's what I got from it in terms of Iggy Azalea rapping in a different accent from her original accent
As much as I love these as a collective I really wish they would add 1 young person to the group, someone between the ages of 20-25 just to give a young perspective on stories like this or when they listen to artist who are in there early 20's. I really think it would be beneficial to them
I agree with you. It would add a lot and would be helpful to the coverage in a lot of ways.
I'm glad you agree, my comment wasn't a shot at you by the way. It's just that I've been watching DEHH for the past year now and when I watch these videos & I hear them say "oh I've never heard of this person" or "who is this person" I just feel that someone around my age would be able to better educate them on certain artists and certain projects
ststama I wish we knew some younger people. I agree with you 100%.
ststama agreed.
Honestly i think a lot of black people double talk when...i personally don't speak the same way at work as i do when i'm talking to friends....i believe that may be the case with a tip plies ross not sure about iggy but also it could just be a recording voice like lil kim talking voice is high pitched her rap voice isn't
Wait he is bothered by Iggy Azelia but not by that white chick who was saying nigga all the time
Very interesting discussion the topic never crossed my mind
kinge always keepin it real
Geron Fletcher My man. Thanks for watching.
so true.
jasmine wallace One day my mouth is going to get me in trouble.
lol doubt it. Stay true to how you feel. I was definitely in agreement with you on this.
Kennith Inge Kennith Inge Yo Kennith I love and fully appreciate your brutal honesty regarding this culture vulture fraudster, you really spoke for me and a lot of others in this video.
Love the passion you showed for authenticity in Hip Hop!
Thank you bro!
Tinie Tempah was a really big rapper at one point and he didn't have to change a accent.
Real talk, Iggy was blowing up underground before she went mainstream anyways, I didn't see any outrage then, it's only now that that she's hot (let's also keep it real she's just having a good year, so getting mad about a Forbes article saying he's running hip-hop when they also post the wealthiest men in the genre is wrong). and all of a sudden people want to be place red flag saying she's the death of hip-hop. I can't be offended at her because I never got into her music and never cared to take this further and at the end of the day the ppl critiquing never supported her to begin with.
You Guys Have To Do A Logic Under Pressure Album Review
The whole rap community is disingenuous. You can't segregate Iggy for what 80% of the rest of the rap community is doing.
I'm glad the "closing statements" are a thing because i honestly didn't understand C-Town's point off view until he mentioned the "being able to turn it off" situation.
I don't really care. If they make good music, fine. But Iggy makes trash.
I don't know how much my experience can add to what's already been said, but here goes:
I came to Chicago as an immigrant from Pakistan when I was 7. I grew up on the far north side. I spoke like the far northsiders spoke. While living there, I met a lot of other immigrants and they would all eventually end up talking like us. That is unless they were older then they moved to the northside. They would still have an accent, even after living on the north side for over a decade. But a couple of them did mess around with rap. And they would rap like a particular rapper of that was time . One dude rapped like DMX. Another dude rapped in the style of Mace.
Eventually, I moved to the suburbs, when I was 19. Slowly, I stopped speaking with my north side accent. Which I didn't notice I even had until I had lost the accent and heard other people speak it when I would visit my friends who still lived there; this was about the time I turned 25.
I, myself, messed around with rap for years. And the way I rapped changed when I lost my north side accent. I started rapping with better grammar and used street language in a more poetic way. I would also change my style to suit the topic I was rapping about. But now I've been away from the street language so long that I can't even replicate it if I tried. My street language is forever stuck in the 90s rhetoric.
Hip hop now are mostly bunch of actors,
Rick Ross acts like a drug kingpin but was a correction officer,
tiger act like from the hood he was raised in a very financial stable home.
The list goes on and on.
If your mad a iggy you have to be mad at everybody.
And I rather listen to iggy then a another young thugg record lol
Tyga said on the breakfast club that he did the show on MTV that had him acting like he was rich for money. Tyga really is from Compton. I agree with you on Rick Ross tho.
Well it's a good thing I don't like most mainstream rappers.
+tvar doasair Tiger......
The beats at the beginning of these videos....where can I find them please
I believe Beezy makes em!
Renecide yo does he have like a ....a website or SoundCloud or something? To find them? Especially this one on this video
Personally, I disagree with Myke; it's really not deeper than that. There is no issue- to me- because 90% of this mainstream rap shit is just disingenuous presentation and performance anyway. I think that Iggy Azalea raps the way she does because she thinks that that's the way she's got to sound in order to make it in America.
And it's not as if there isn't some precedent for this; Monie Love is from England, but you'd never guess that by listening to her rap.
Completely agree with the guest speaker and feefo. Most rappers do this. She is just more transparent.
Everybody looses accent when singing...
MouraLive But not everyone creates one.
When singing you loose the accent maybe to an extend, but even then not completely. Rapping is completely different than singing though. And like Myke says, she didn't just loose an accent, she gained a new one.
I don't like love her, or hate her. The girl just don't bother me.
I think its wrong to criticise somebody for expressing themselves (in any way).
At the end of the day this is art and is subjective.
(sorry for my bad english)
MouraLive A lot of times it's hard for one to relate to being offended by something that only affects a certain group if that person does not belong to said group. I feel you about it being art...but sometimes things have to be seen as deeper than that. And your English seems fine to me!
Maybe it's just a cultural subject.
Here (Portugal) we have a lot of artists trying to perform characters and accents, and everyone seems to be ok with that. Maybe the general public is ok with the "fakeness", and people who really listen to music (like us, I presume) take it a little more serious.
I like to see both sides of everything. As always, nice topic of debate DEHH ;)
For the record, Iggy Azalea was a XXL Freshman in 2012 with Hopsin, Danny Brown, Macklemore, etc. Kendrick Lamar was on the cover in 2011 was guys like YG, Mac Miller, Lil B, Yelawolf, etc.
Lets be really real, this sounds like the issue is bigger than Iggy. If what Iggy is doing is culture vulture than so is a lot of rappers like Rick Ross for example. People actually have to go through the stuff he talks about but while he just raps about what he saw and profits off of it without him going through it right? Isn't that culture vulture too? But at the same time that has always been in hip hop. I think Iggy is getting talked about so much as opposed to others is that she is white mixed in with the way her body looks.Either way wrong is wrong and I think Iggy is wrong for doing that but I also think a lot of rappers are wrong for doing what they do black or white, female or male. So at what point does one problem become bigger than the other because honestly I think Iggy profiting off of a fake accent isn't nearly as bad as said rapper profiting on someone else's life story or struggle and acting like they went through it. That being said I agree with Adan Bean was saying especially about needing a woman's perspective because this is i'm just talking from a 19 year old black male's perspective.
Most rappers rap from perspective of others. Rick Ross can't be a culture vulture if he's from the culture he raps about. At the most, Rick Ross bends the truth more than he needed too, He hid the fact that he had a past job instead if just coming clean.
But culture vulture..... Erm... No.
dazza818 well that's what im saying tho, what are you defining as culture because it sounds like you're saying all black people are the same culture which I disagree with and think is a common misconception. Rick Ross may have grown up in a black neighborhood but that doesn't mean he grew up around the things he is talking about. Also he specifically took the name Rick Ross which is a known street dude and is sounding like he is trying to act like he is him. So I do think that is culture vulture, taking someone's whole life and acting like it was yours and making profit off of it. I actually think it is worse than putting on a fraud accent. Musically and even lyrically Rick Ross is better than Iggy undoubtedly but that doesn't mean what I think he has done is any more morally right than what Iggy is doing.
If you don't understand culture then you just won't understand it.
I am from black culture, I see what culture is even though I might not live or partake in all of it. Doesn't mean it's not of black culture.
Going to the barbers to get a nice line up is black culture. Not every black man has a low cut ceaser, but they understand Barber shop culture.
The funny thing is, now I go barbers and have to wait for a line of white guys looking sharp line ups. Why is this....? I see lot of white Barber shops, so why not go there?
It's the culture they crave.
Guess what I don't see.. >> black men lining up to get their hair cut outside white Barber shops.
A part of culture does not define every black man or woman. But it doesn't take away the fact it is black culture.
I agree with you anyone who extorts the culture needs to be accountable for it no matter what color they are. The thing that is unique about Iggy is that she comes from a place of privilege. It's not the same as a Rick Ross or Cheif Keef born in an oppressive environment making rap music to get out of his situation. Also, there is a double standard when it comes to conflict she encounters.
imperialshalom yah I understand that but i'm just saying people acting like this shit is new and I hate that. Lets be really real and start seeing this for what it is and has been for years now.
I came into this video throwing away the whole point of this discussion, because how I see it, her songs and features that are made onto the radio don't show anything more than using hip hop more as a product for easy-to-digest pop music. But as angry as Ken got, he and Myke do make a good point in taking the whole "cultural appropriation" side of this issue seriously. Real good conversation, guys, keep being cool-n-stuff!
If you care about the preservation of the culture you should care about this.
Am I the only fan of Tropic Thunder?
"You're Australian! Be Australian!"
Black people are easily offended. Hip Hop is filled with a bunch of characters. Most that "keep it real" are either dead, in jail, or broke
your format is great
When Iggy fakes her American accent it's wrong, but when Slick Rick faked his American accent it's fine. God Damn Racists
Knock me out da box REG!
Slick rick sounds british in his raps...
UM??? TELL ME WHEN SLICK RICK FAKED AN AMERICAN ACCENT HE'S FROM LONDON AND RAPPED LIKED HE WAS FROM LONDON???
testnowhehe
Almost every single he made was heavily influence by western style. Lorde, Adele, and Amy Winehouse this is a common thing to do in music. You sound like the audience you're preforming for. You wouldn't go to Australia and sing in Spanish. People are just being Nit-picky about her because they can't really say why her music is bad without sounding like a hater, So they bash her accent because they can't complain anything else. Just like Nicki Minaj was going around faking a British accent everyone was cool. But when a Iggy does it it's bad. #GodDamnRacists
PS. No female rapper has a better than Lauryn Hill.
listen to children story and ask yourself if that sounds like a krs or rakim or Curtis blow, also iggy just sucks at rapping period care less if she's white because Nicki. Minaj sucks equally as bad.
A good topic. I do understand why artists from countries other than North America may change up their accent so as to be more palatable in the US audience, however I think rule #1 of hip-hop, wherever you're from, is to "be yourself" and so altering something as fundamental as your accent is in a way a violation of that rule.
Salute... I'm with Ken on this one. 100% but I don't give a damn about her music tho.
Jay TheJet My man. Thanks for watching.
Kennith Inge salute my g
Ken and Myke had me in tears. XD
Her being as big as she Is just confirms that hip hop is dead.
Radio music is dead*
You guys have to review the new Apollo Brown & Ras Kass album "Blasphemy"
What about Mr. Probz? , since he is getting a little bit more famous these days. He is dutch (so am i) but does he sound so? Great discussion DEHH, again :]
You are a product of your environment, and the people around you. Growing up, everyone said I sounded white cause I lived in white suburbs. I still do, but i also work around the ghetto, and hangout with some people from the ghetto, so the way I speak has changed, and more people are inclined to say I talk black. Plus I listen to hip hop 24/7 so yeah
You guys should get Raq on this, being someone who creates music as well, it'd be interesting to hear what she's got to say about her and how it feels for other women who want to be in music.
I think the truth is, someone like Iggy Azalea wasn't ever meant to be this mainstream and now that she is as big as she is, things such as her extremely manipulated voice on stage are being called out for exploitation and cultural appropriation. I don't Iggy personally meant any harm by it and probably viewed it as paying homage, but truthfully this parallels Elvis Presley's career. Elvis Presley was known for stealing his shit from other black blues musicians and yet still sold 5x as many records as some of them.
You have to consider that most people buying Iggy Azalea albums are probably teenage white girls with wealthy parents. They could relate probably relate more to a white girl rapping about being fancy than to a black female rapper from the south talking about her struggles. Iggy Azalea has done an excellent job crafting/selling her image and make quality pop/rap songs with that southern twists which is continually getting popular as we have now have rappers from others parts of the country such as ASAP Mob who are embracing it.
I like what C-Town said about privilege near the end especially, that didn't really cross my mind as I was watching.
Can we have more Adan Bean please?? he fine lol
I say this fully aware that my comment is coming somewhat from an outside perspective. I'm a white kid that grew up in Detroit, surrounded by hip-hop, naturally became a fan and have been most of my life. The thing I see as the most important thing is to be real, spit about what you know and don't try to be something your not, generally that seems to be the most important thing. That's the thing about Iggy is there's nothing real about her from her accent to her lyrics. That's my 2 cents.
wow...craig david is frm the uk...never knew
The South is still America. If that's the accent she attained, it is what it is.
For all the people that keep mentioning Slick Rick. If you say he changed his accent, please tell me what part of the US did he sound like he was from? Because he sounded English as fuck to me. Even with his vocabulary, he would refer to broke people as peasants. I'm sorry but Rick the Ruler never changed his accent, go listen to Da Art of Story Telling by Outkast, years after he had been in the game he still sounded the same.
thank you! i'm not understanding those comments either. you said it all. i never once thought Slick Rick was from the U.S. growing up.
Foxxy Brown raps in a deep voice and she has a high pitch voice!
Myke's face at 2:00-2:02 LOL
I hope there is a part 2!!!
There's a precedence for this in rock and roll as well. CCR was from Southern California but jumped on the southern rock bandwagon. They're one of the most well know in the style, but they definitely weren't actually Born on the Bayou. It's a gray area. There are artists and entertainers. How genuine do we expect entertainers to be? I'd say with pop stars, nearly nothing is expected honesty-wise. They're mostly a brand, and the person at the center of it all is only playing a small part of the image being sold.
Holy shit, I just realized and immediately had to come post this..... Why is it ok for Niki Minaj to talk in her fake ass British accent while everyone gets mad at Iggy Azalea for speaking in ebonics ?
I can't say this is something that ever crossed my mind. To me (and I think most people) it's just a flow, a way of rapping. I think saying it's like "black face" is a pretty damn extreme thing to compare it to.