From Appropriation to Appreciation

Across the world, people regularly draw from Black American Musics as they develop their artistic style, and that's because all American popular musics - every single one - are rooted in Black American Musics. And because American music is a massive global export, BAM is woven into popular music in almost every country in the world.

Unfortunately, white Americans have a very long history of exploiting Black Americans and their culture for their own gain, neglecting to credit and compensate original artists for their work and influence.

If you're white and are considering embracing Black American Music as part of your artist identity, I humbly offer these very basic and beginning steps for engaging from a respectful place. I am in no way a DEI expert, and highly recommend learning from trained DEI coaches and Black experts.

You’ll find resources for further reading at the end of this page, but I wanted to begin by pointing you to Black voice teachers who offer training and resources in Black American Musics:

  • Alison Crockett (Ms. DivaBlu), social media content and online course

  • Melissa Foster, author of Don’t Sweat the Technique: A Performer’s Guide to Hip-Hop & Rap

  • “Mz Lyndia” Lyndia Johnson, Professor of Pop Voice at USC Thornton, Sterling Vocal Coaching

  • Dr. Dione Napier, @amplifyvocalstudio on IG

  • Dr. Trineice Robinson, Berklee College of Music, Soul Ingredients™ method

Before You Begin, Focus In

Often, we begin by thinking about what music we want to learn and/or what music we want to include in our style. What happens when you begin by asking yourself “what culture do I want to invest in and honor?” instead of just "who do I want to sound like?"

Why did you choose this genre to sing?

What do you currently know/believe about the genre-culture and its history?

Three Bases: Home - Field - Heart

Do the Home-based Work

Whenever possible, use resources created by Black experts.

The Larger Experience

Watch live recordings of this music, starting with the artists you most admire.

  • What are some of the settings where this music is experienced?

  • What similar musical characteristics do you hear from performance to performance?

  • What are some characteristics that vary from artist to artist?

  • What is the spirit of this musical experience?

  • What purpose does this music seem to serve in the lives of the people participating?

  • Why might they want/need music to serve this purpose?

  • What elements seem to repeatedly show up in the music?

  • What activities seem to regularly accompany the music?

  • How do the musicians and audience participate and interact?

  • How are each of these things helping to serve the purpose?

Artist Study

Choose one artist to focus on for the following questions. You can start with the artist you initially wanted to learn from.

  • Who is the artist?

  • What are some of their popular songs?

  • What’s their story?

  • How did they learn their craft?

  • Who are their musical influences?

  • Why do/did they make music?

  • What are some other songs/albums/projects they’ve worked on?

  • What are they intending to accomplish with their music and their influence in the world? What is important to them?

  • Why did they create the song(s) you listened to?

  • How did they create this song(s) you listened to?

  • What were some of the major things that were happening in the world at the time this song was written? How did those events influence the creation of the song?

  • How did white Americans engage with this artist and their music when their hit songs were released? How are white Americans engaging with them and their music today?

  • What are the differences in how white people engage(d) with their music and how white people engage(d) with them as people?

Artist Family Tree

Complete the musical family tree of an artist in this genre-culture until you reach the folk and work songs of enslaved Africans. Have at least one genre, artist, and song for each decade. http://musicmap.info is a great place to start. It’s extremely likely that Black artists innovated each generation of this genre’s ancestry, so look for them first.

After you complete the family tree, choose several artists and complete the Artist Study for each.

  • 2020’s

  • 2010’s

  • 2000’s

  • 1990’s

  • 1980’s

  • 1970’s

  • 1960’s

  • 1950’s

  • 1940’s

  • 1930’s

  • 1920’s

  • 1910’s

  • 1900’s

  • 1890’s and before

Listen

Put the songs and artists you’ve learned about into a playlist and begin spending more time with the music.

Do the Field-based Work

In 1935, Hall Johnson, prominent Black violinist and composer, wrote this response to George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess: “The informing spirit of Negro music is not to be caught and understood merely by listening to the tunes; and Mr. Gershwin’s much-publicized visits to Charleston for local color do not amount even to a matriculation in the preparatory-school that he needed for his work." Getting to know a culture takes time.

Begin by going to gigs where this music is played, and meet and get to know the people who are creating it on their own turf. When you go, respect that this is someone else’s space and story and be respectful, humble, and observant. Let yourself be an outsider and sit with any discomfort, appreciating how others may feel when they feel like an outsider in your spaces. Observe the music in its fullness, complete with the setting and community and experience that make it what it is. Listen. Learn. Participate if appropriate.

Keep in mind that cultural differences may prevent you from fully understanding what’s behind the musical experience. Many people get tripped up by individual elements of the experience and make unfair judgments before they get to the heart of it. Learning from musicians and people within the culture gives you the best chance to get what it’s all about.

As a white person, recognize that your white body will change the space. Also keep in mind that some spaces are specifically created to be safe from white people. Respect this and consider what that means in terms of using elements from that style in your singing.

It’s very possible that the people who created the music want you to love their music. But Black Americans are all too familiar with white Americans loving Black culture while conveniently being absent when it’s time to stand up for their right to an equal quality of life, to step up as antiracist allies, or to invest in them on any level.

If this particular music is truly important to you, becoming a supportive participant in the community demonstrates that you’re not just there for the music, but more importantly, for the people.

Reflect

Revisit your answers from your Home-based Work under “The Larger Experience.” Reflect on your experience attending live performances. Add to your answers. Compare and contrast the recordings of live concerts and the actual live experience.

Connect

As you connect with people in the community, demonstrate genuine love and respect for them, and build trust. You can use questions like the following to learn more from them about the genre-culture:

  • Why do you love to create and listen to this music?

  • What are some things that are really important to you about this music?

  • How do you feel about someone like me incorporating this music and/or elements of this music into my own style and singing?

  • How can I best do that in a way that honors this community and the purpose of the music?

Do the Heart-based Work

"I think when people of color and dominated groups just become a backdrop with no voice and context, no humanity, I think that's the problem [with appropriating]."  - Nitasha Tamar Sharma

Once you’ve done some homework and field work, do some soul searching:

Am I making the people who created this music a backdrop? Am I giving them a voice and context? Am I prioritizing their humanity?

Why do I want to sing or borrow from this style? Is it out of a genuine interest? Is it something I feel called to do? Or, is it simply for approval or personal gain of some kind?

How have my assumptions been challenged in my homework and field work? How can I continue to challenge those assumptions?

As a white person, what can I do to better understand the complexity of my own relationship to this culture?

How can I work to break down racist systems and policies that are affecting this community?

Resources

Music Appropriation

Antiracist Music Education

Black American Music History

Black History

Antiracism