White American culture can simply be summed up as a stolen culture. The majority of what America claims is “theirs” was mostly found on the back of Black people. From Art to dance, hairstyles, clothing, and more White Americans tend to be inspired by Black experience but fail to understand the context and history.
One could say there should be no issue as Black people are nearly forced to assimilate making things "even," however, there is a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. For example, White celebrities wearing durags or cornrows is, in fact, cultural appropriation. These celebrities have no historical context, many would never have known that during slavery Black women would braid up maps in their hair for directions to avoid getting caught by slave owners. In the present, White women with cornrows are called beautiful and exotic while Black women with cornrows are called "ghetto" and "tacky." The majority of White people cannot even understand how this is deemed disrespectful, and that we call privilege.
This concept extends far into the various facets of the Black experience, even down to the music. Nearly every genre of music was created by a Black musician or singer. However, history would tell it that they were created by a White artist who most often completely ripped off a Black artist. The damage is worse than it sounds, literally. To this day, numerous hit songs have been performed by White artists but truthfully were stolen from Black artists and claimed as their own; giving no credit whatsoever to Black artists that inspired them. In several cases, this resulted in lawsuits, financial griefs, and more as Black artists claimed ownership of their work.
Take a look at these nine artists who fought back below.
1.“Hound Dog”- Big Mama Thornton
Elvis Presley, “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” more like “The King of Copy ‘n’ Paste,” is the number one White artist to steal songs from Black artists. His hit song “Hound Dog” was originally sung in 1952 by Big Mama Thornton. This female Black singer received no credit for decades!
2. “Security of The First World”- Public Enemy
Two years after Public Enemy released “Security of The First World” on their album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Madonna sampled it on her song “Justify My Love.” This is considered copyright infringement, but instead of a lawsuit, Public Enemy allowed the hip hop group Young Black Teenagers to sample the same beat in the song “To My Donna.” The song responded to Madonna with sarcasm and sexual teasing.
3. “Joyful Noise”- Flame
The Christian rap group Flume sued Katy Perry for infringing copyright of their song. Many argue that both songs use different beats, but there are audio breakdowns where it proves Katy Perry stole the beat from Flame. The story ends with Katy Perry paying for her damages.
4. “Mbube”- Solomon Linda and The Evening Birds
When you hear the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” you automatically think of the movie “The Lion King,” but when the Linda family hears this song they automatically think of betrayal and abuse. “Mdube” was released in 1939; inspiring the song “Wimoweh” in 1955 and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in 1961. Two songs and zero credit for Solomon Linda and The Evening Birds. The Netflix documentary “ReMastered: The Lion's Share,” explains deeply how a South African journalist traces back to the original writers of the song and helps the Linda family receive the credit they deserved.
5. “Sweet Little Sixteen”- Chuck Berry
It’s sad to say that Chuck Berry’s (the inventor of rock ‘n’ roll) whole career was stolen. Sure, The Beach Boys made a few changes to Chuck Berry’s song “Sweet Little Sixteen,” they still had the audacity to claim themselves as the writers. This was straightened out five years later giving Chuck Berry credit and listing him as the writer.
6. “Uptight”- Stevie Wonder
“Step Out” released in Oasis album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? and was mysteriously removed. It was later released as a B-side track on their CD Don’t Look Back in Anger giving Stevie Wonder full credit. Not everyone can be Oasis’s Wonderwall.
7. "You Need Love."- Willie Dixson
The 60s rock band isn’t as original as it seems, Led Zeppelin faced many copyright cases. Dixon sued Zeppelin for the songs “You Need Love” and “Bring it Home.” They have also been sued by artists Jake Holmes and band Spirit.
8. “Oops Upside Your Head”- The Gap Band
You’re not the only one that thought “Uptown Funk” was an overplayed song, just ask the artists The Sequence and The Gap Band. “Uptown Funk” was sued by various artists. In 2018, The Gap Band filed a copyright claim which gave them writing credit and a 17 percent share of the publishing royalties.
9. “Let’s Get It On”- Marvin Gaye
It’s clear that Ed Sheeran ripped off Marvin Gaye’s classic, “Let’s Get It On.” If you think otherwise, then how does one explain why Ed Sheeran sang “Let’s Get It On” during one of his live performances? After facing federal court, Marvin Gaye copyright holders won the battle.
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