it's alllllll good.

[heatray5d]

There was a pretty blond woman in the Starbucks in the lobby of the 1 Financial Center building this morning with a nice canvas tote bag that said "Birthdays was the worst days, now we sip champagne when we thirsty."

I'm. . . not sure how I feel about that. Like, yeah, it's totally emblematic of the state of our culture that appropriation of that magnitude is not only "okay", but that lyrics from a rap song describing the artist's (hopeful) rise from a life of crime to phenomenal legitimate wealth somehow even makes sense applied to a reusable shopping bag that no doubt does double duty carrying a Macbook to and from work, and organic cherries and wine home from the Whole Foods. Of course we sip champagne when we thirsty. We work in finance. What else does one sip? And god, birthdays are just the worst. Ugh. Crow's feet.

I honestly think fussiness over cultural appropriation in pop culture is a little silly. Any culture (and especially pop culture) is sort of by definition a mass of appropriations from an earlier state anyway. On a certain level, if you're going to get angry at Miley Cyrus for twerking, you also have to get mad at Beyonce for pouring champagne into her hot tub. There's a racial dimension in the first case, sure (and in the case of the tote bag, which by the way I kind of want for myself), but in any of these examples it's harmless appropriation, IMHO. Raging against this kind of cultural drift is kind of like being really adamant about the Oxford comma. Regardless of your position you just seem kind of pedantic and dull, and maybe you need to think about your priorities for social justice and/or grammar.

Whatever. This is turning into my musings on cultural appropriation and class warfare. It's just. . .  Music is fun. Hip hop is fun. That tote bag is kind of funny, especially if maybe she got it at a wine tasting or something.

But there's a part of me that hopes the woman carrying is aware of what went into Biggie's lyrics. He was 21 when he recorded the song, and 22 when it was released on his first album. It records not his success but his aspirations. He'd had some exposure, but he'd also gotten out of jail for selling crack just a year earlier. Being a crack dealer was still a viable fallback plan for him if being a rapper didn't work out. His future looked pretty good, but it also must have looked pretty goddamn unstable, and I think that insecurity comes out in those lyrics.

Does that pretty blond woman know what it's like to walk that knife's edge? Has she ever thought about it? If she saw a young, unknown Biggie walking towards her on the street would she nod hello, or would she cross to the other side?

Comments

[sirendipity.livejournal.com]

Cultural appropriation is such a complicated topic, I don't really know where I stand on it, either. For better or worse, it helps the mainstream/middleclasses of the world better identify with minorities, even if superficially. Which could, hopefully, lead to more equality in society.

Then again, I can totally understand the frustration and anger behind watching something that was wholly your own being copied and monetized by a group that always wins and you get nothing. Again.

Use of the Oxford comma, on the other hand, is necessary, important, and so not the same thing. ;P

[chipadeedoodah]

I really was secretly hoping you wouldn't use an Oxford comma in that sentence.

[mistresshellena.livejournal.com]

I read a great article by a guy who will not teach voguing to anyone who isn't black/brown, queer, working-class/poor (and maybe a couple other intersections). Voguing is beyond appropriated by main stream culture, but it is still the right of people from the original culture that created it to take a stand on how they personally share it.

I this it's very hard once something is taken very out of context to trace its history. I'm glad when people take the time, like you have, to point out that we can do a little digging (while we're walking across the street staring at our smart phone?) to find out the story behind it.

Also recalls when I discovered what that catchy dance tune Electric Avenue was really about...

[cayetana.livejournal.com]

However, you don't know her story. She could have come from a place that made the words resonate with her.

But I know you know that. I'm just emphasizing.

Because people assume a lot of things about pretty blondes.

[lachesis.livejournal.com]

I still like your writing.

And thanks for being spot on about my current "boss" (I use that term loosely) in these words - "Raging against this kind of cultural drift is kind of like being really adamant about the Oxford comma. Regardless of your position you just seem kind of pedantic and dull, and maybe you need to think about your priorities for social justice and/or grammar."

She is all of those things, and so much less.