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In our politically correct climate nowadays, you hear a lot of talk about “cultural appropriation.”

Before I was one of the people who watched others like a hawk to see if they were “appropriating.” I don’t know where I sit on the issue anymore, frankly. I remember hairstyles being a topic of discussion and at that point I just sort of quit.

But can you “copyright” a culture? I know how this may sound. I’m not arguing that people can take cultures and make whatever ridicule they want out of them. Hear me out, please. But do the trademarks of a particular culture, let’s say Hip-Hop, belong to a certain group of people by right?

I see a lot of sentiments around Hip-Hop for example but it’s not the only example. Before, Hip-Hop was predominately African-American. Now you have people of other races as frontrunners. There are some who insist that non-African-Americans will never truly embody Hip-Hop. The thing is, Hip-Hop has changed so much throughout the years, it’s not the same thing it was before. Hip-Hop has grown to have a global impact and not only is it influential, it’s lucrative too. As I look at Hip-Hop around the world, for example, in China, Japan, Korea, Canada, The UK, Germany, Russia… they are really just doing their own thing. While they certainly look up to American artists, they’re not much worried about what Americans think of them, let alone their music. They are appealing to an audience.

So do Hip-Hop artists from these countries owe American rappers something? Or are they just doing what humans do? Discovering something and putting their own flavor into it?

I like to think there’s no problem with this. But can you really own a sub-culture or a lifestyle? These are just my thoughts and this wasn’t meant to prove a point. Just to provoke thinking and hopefully spark a discussion. I’d love to hear from people in the comments. Until next time.