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Source: 30dB.com – Bruno%20Mars
The multi-talented musician won six awards at the 60th annual Grammys, including Album of the Year. But a few months later, he’s embroiled in a discussion on Social about whether he’s a chronic offender of cultural appropriation. That conversation jumped off after a clip from a web series called “The Grapevine” went viral. In the clip, a writer named Seren Sensei raised the point that Mars “is not black at all, and he plays up his racial ambiguity to cross genres…. He’s a karaoke singer, he’s a wedding singer, he’s the person you hire to do Michael Jackson and Prince covers. Yet Bruno Mars has an Album of the Year Grammy and Prince never won an Album of the Year.” She added that Mars being racially ambiguous makes him more palatable to white audiences, and he hasn’t produced anything truly noteworthy. She’s gotten some pushback, though, from big names, including Stevie Wonder and R&B singer Charlie Wilson, who wrote, “Bruno’s songs on this album are original and no different from any other artist pulling inspiration from genres before him.” Still, over the last 14 days, “Bruno Mars” has just a 34 percent positive score on Social. –Alex Shultz
Republished from 30dB