Cultural Appropriation In Hip Hop

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The notion of Cultural appropriation is controversial; It is misinterpreted as a restriction on engaging with other cultures. According to an article by (Rodriguez,2006), the notion of color blindness appropriates Hip-Hop. This essay will provide a broader context and provide a more in-depth understanding concerning cultural appropriation and unearth the connection with the ghettoized popular Hip-Hop. Moreover, it will show examples of appropriation, results of appropriation, examples of grey areas and where the concept of cultural appropriation was first inspired. The paper will dispel the myth behind Hip-Hop’s definition and address the notion of cultural appropriation. This paper will also demonstrate the grey areas around civil cases where international property laws cannot apply. The Definition of Cultural Appropriation Cultural appropriation is the use of intellectual property to profit from and to pass it off as another person’s property. In situations where the cultural property is appropriated, slippages can occur where the cultural protocols and use for the object are skewed, thus modifying significant aspects of the culture’s expression (Anderson & …show more content…

This pronunciation got passed down through generations in the African American communities as a form of cultural heritage along with the tradition of toasting which evolved into Hip-Hop (Black talk, 2000; Rodriquez, 2006). The distinct difference in grammar was segregated and referred to as “baby talk” or “jungle tongue” in the 1960’s (Smitherman, 1996). Today, Ebonics is still economically discriminated against and associated with the uneducated. Meanwhile, some white Hip-Hop fans and artists such as Iggy Azalea mimics Ebonics when they perform; appropriating African American verbal cultural heritage into their acts as their own art form for

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