Jagar said:

Didn't he once say Fats Domino was the real king of rock n roll?

Yes he did, and Elvis disliked being called The King.

SoulAlive said:

I'll bring the Michelob amber bock.

MickyDolenz said:

Jagar said:

Didn't he once say Fats Domino was the real king of rock n roll?

Yes he did, and Elvis disliked being called The King.

One time when he was onstage, a fan in the audience yelled "We love you Elvis. You're the king!" He turned to the lady and said "no ma'am, I'm no King, Jesus is the real King." He hated being given the title. He considered Fats, Chuck, Ike, B.B. and Little Richard to be way better than him.

babybugz said:

Throughout the years, white artists have abused Urban culture for their own personal gain. Seeking to increase their record sales, access broader markets and keep up with industry trends, these individuals conveniently adopt the styles of their peers without a true appreciation of the music.

Yup, and the exact same accusation can be levelled at countless black artists that sold out their original fanbase and chased the pop audience.

However, this exploitation of Urban culture is far from a new phenomenon. White artists have imitated their Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul and Rock & Roll counterparts for decades; blatantly cloning their music, performance styles and even fashion so that they could achieve greater success.

For instance, Elvis Presley was often accused of imitating Little Richard and James Brown as he established himself as the supposed King of Rock & Roll. In fact, that particular genre of music was developed primarily by African-American artists, such as Ike Turner and Fats Domino, yet quickly became dominated by white acts.

How did those white acts of the 1950s and 1960s easily rise to the forefront of Rock & Roll? Quite simply, they were white. That obvious fact afforded them the label resources and support to nab media promotion that their black contemporaries did not receive.

This author is in desperate need of a history lesson. Elvis' first single was "That's All Right." Yes, it was a cover of a black artist (Arthur Crudup) but it was hardly a note for note cover. Little Richard was recording for years before Elvis but he didn't have a hit record until late 1955/early 1956. Was Elvis even aware of who Little Richard was before he had a hit record? Probably not. Yes, Elvis covered some of Little Richard's songs and he was a fan but even without the existence of Little Richard Elvis would still have had a career. James Brown as an influence on Elvis? That is really a stretch. For much of the fifties James was basically a one-hit wonder and that one hit happened in 1956. By that time Elvis was already an established star. When discussing Elvis so many people just accuse him of stealing from black artists but that misses the genius of his early music. Yes, he was heavily influenced by black artists but he mixed those influences with "white" music (country) to create a unique new sound. If you objectively listen to Elvis' fifties recordings you will hear that his music was more than just copies of what black artists were doing.

Imagine yourself sitting on your carpeted living room floor while watching your black and white television in the 1950s. Don’t you think that if you constantly saw Presley or another random white artist being introduced with the tagline “the King fo Rock & Roll” on your screen then you would easily believe it? That is the power of media propaganda and at that time, only popular white performers were given that level of promotion.

Of course, that does not mean that the white artists were the only people who got the opportunity to perform on television. Really, Ike & Tina Turner were incredibly successful in the 1960s and 1970s but their impact was easily dwarfed when compared to that of Presley.

Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! Record companies only see one colour: green. If they can make a buck off of someone they don't care what colour they are. This also ignores the fact that all early rock and roll artists, black or white, suffered a huge backlash. People like Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent didn't perform rock and roll to get rich they did it because they loved the music. It would have been easier for any of them to perform tamer music that would have been accepted by a wider audience. Remember, at that time it was basically teenagers that were into rock and roll. There was a much bigger adult audience that they could have been chasing. Ike and Tina? Their problem was not that they were black it was a lack of quality material. I don't know why the author picked them of all the countless more successful black artists from that era.

Here's my problem. Absolutely, black artists were instrumental in the creation and development of early rock and roll music. Chuck Berry arguably did more than any other artist to define the sound of rock and roll. However, white artists also made key contributions which are ignored by some people. If not for them rock and roll would have had a very different sound. By the late fifties/early sixties many of the key innovations in rock and roll were being made by white artists. The reality is that very early on most black artists lost interest in rock and roll and moved in a different direction. White artists were more than happy to keep the ball rolling and along the way created something much different than early rock and roll music. The rock music of the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties was very different than that of the fifties and would never have existed if rock stopped growing and changing after "Rocket 88."

This Urban culture whitewash persisted throughout the last 60 years and expanded into various other genres of music. I doubt anybody has forgotten Snow’s ridiculous take on Reggae with‘Informer’ in which he tried his best to imitate a Jamaican accent.

Additionally, despite her current haughty speech and platinum blonde hair, Christina Aguilerawas also an abuser of Urban culture. Flashback to 2002 when she was promoting her ‘Stripped’album and she cleverly pierced her nose, layered her hair with weave, partied with Lil Kim and suddenly learned how to speak in ebonics. Aguilera even visited BET’s ’106 & Park’ where she proudly boasted about her Latina roots and her love of Hip-Hop.

“…being Latina does not equate to being from the hood so why did Christina Aguilera suddenly become a representative of the streets?”

Yes, Aguilera never denied that her father was born in Ecuador (her mother is white) and she even released a Spanish album, ‘Mi Reflejo’, in 2000, but it seems that she only remembers her heritage when it is convenient. Also, being Latina does not equate to being from the hood so why did Aguilera suddenly become a representative of the streets? It was the ‘in’ thing for her do at that time.

Now, before you defend Aguilera and write hateful comments about my island being washed away by a tsunami, ask yourselves this: why did she stop speaking in ebonics? That’s right, she moved on to another album campaign and the bad cabaret music of ‘Back to Basics’ didn’t include any references to the bitches and hos from Harlem. So, Aguilera dumped her Urban persona and started speaking similar to Madonna (post-Sean Penn).

Other artists who regularly imitate Urban culture are Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake. The latter’s request to work with R. Kelly was publicly rejected because of his clear exploitation of R&B music:

“I [R. Kelly] refuse to write hits for someone who uses and abuses this thing called R&B music just to gain respect and acceptance from their opposite counterpart. I refuse to write hits for someone with the name of Justin Timberlake .”

Furthermore, let’s not forget about Beiber’s confirmation that he is only pulling from Hip-Hop so that he could sell records to an older crowd. Meanwhile, people are overlooking these comments and writing heated letters to Mary J. Blige about her Burger King chicken wraps commercial.

The key point about this incredibly long article is that many white artists simply do not have a real understanding and appreciation of Hip-Hop, R&B or Soul. Instead, unlike Adele, Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone and others who actually study these artforms, they simply emulate their peers when the time is right.

Yet, that is the nature of popular culture; it is defined by shifting trends and themes. Indeed, many Urban artists are currently prancing on the Dance/Pop bandwagon and utilising Dubstep production styles just to score a hit so who are we to blame the white artists for doing the reverse?

http://thelavalizard.com/...um=twitter

Yeah, I'm not going to defend the Justins other than to say that R. Kelly has worked with Celine Dion who is essentially the antithesis of R & B music. Christina? OK, let me flip this a bit. Queen Latifah was very "street" early in her career. When she went into acting she started sounding a whole lot more "white." Is it fair to attack her for that the same way the article attacks Christina for acting "black?" What about the Dana Owens album? Was that a sellout or is it ok for black artists to change their sound but not white artists?

babybugz said:

The key point about this incredibly long article is that many white artists simply do not have a real understanding and appreciation of Hip-Hop, R&B or Soul.

I've come to the conclusion that most contemporary black artists that do mainstream music have not developed a real understanding and appreciation of hip-hop, r&b and soul either. Otherwise they would not be doing the the type of material that they're doing.

Timmy84 said:

MickyDolenz said:

Yes he did, and Elvis disliked being called The King.

One time when he was onstage, a fan in the audience yelled "We love you Elvis. You're the king!" He turned to the lady and said "no ma'am, I'm no King, Jesus is the real King." He hated being given the title. He considered Fats, Chuck, Ike, B.B. and Little Richard to be way better than him.

so that's why no one calls him self proclaimed king

novabrkr said:

babybugz said:

The key point about this incredibly long article is that many white artists simply do not have a real understanding and appreciation of Hip-Hop, R&B or Soul.

I've come to the conclusion that most contemporary black artists that do mainstream music have not developed a real understanding and appreciation of hip-hop, r&b and soul either. Otherwise they would not be doing the the type of material that they're doing.

That is a very fair point.

babybugz said:

Throughout the years, white artists have abused Urban culture for their own personal gain. Seeking to increase their record sales, access broader markets and keep up with industry trends, these individuals conveniently adopt the styles of their peers without a true appreciation of the music.

However, this exploitation of Urban culture is far from a new phenomenon. White artists have imitated their Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul and Rock & Roll counterparts for decades; blatantly cloning their music, performance styles and even fashion so that they could achieve greater success.

For instance, Elvis Presley was often accused of imitating Little Richard and James Brown as he established himself as the supposed King of Rock & Roll. In fact, that particular genre of music was developed primarily by African-American artists, such as Ike Turner and Fats Domino, yet quickly became dominated by white acts.

How did those white acts of the 1950s and 1960s easily rise to the forefront of Rock & Roll? Quite simply, they were white. That obvious fact afforded them the label resources and support to nab media promotion that their black contemporaries did not receive.

Imagine yourself sitting on your carpeted living room floor while watching your black and white television in the 1950s. Don’t you think that if you constantly saw Presley or another random white artist being introduced with the tagline “the King fo Rock & Roll” on your screen then you would easily believe it? That is the power of media propaganda and at that time, only popular white performers were given that level of promotion.

Of course, that does not mean that the white artists were the only people who got the opportunity to perform on television. Really, Ike & Tina Turner were incredibly successful in the 1960s and 1970s but their impact was easily dwarfed when compared to that of Presley.

This Urban culture whitewash persisted throughout the last 60 years and expanded into various other genres of music. I doubt anybody has forgotten Snow’s ridiculous take on Reggae

with‘Informer’ in which he tried his best to imitate a Jamaican accent.

Additionally, despite her current haughty speech and platinum blonde hair, Christina Aguilerawas also an abuser of Urban culture. Flashback to 2002 when she was promoting her ‘Stripped’album and she cleverly pierced her nose, layered her hair with weave, partied with Lil Kim and suddenly learned how to speak in ebonics. Aguilera even visited BET’s ’106 & Park’ where she proudly boasted about her Latina roots and her love of Hip-Hop.

“…being Latina does not equate to being from the hood so why did Christina Aguilera suddenly become a representative of the streets?”

Yes, Aguilera never denied that her father was born in Ecuador (her mother is white) and she even released a Spanish album, ‘Mi Reflejo’, in 2000, but it seems that she only remembers her heritage when it is convenient. Also, being Latina does not equate to being from the hood so why did Aguilera suddenly become a representative of the streets? It was the ‘in’ thing for her do at that time.

Now, before you defend Aguilera and write hateful comments about my island being washed away by a tsunami, ask yourselves this: why did she stop speaking in ebonics? That’s right, she moved on to another album campaign and the bad cabaret music of ‘Back to Basics’ didn’t include any references to the bitches and hos from Harlem. So, Aguilera dumped her Urban persona and started speaking similar to Madonna (post-Sean Penn).

Other artists who regularly imitate Urban culture are Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake. The latter’s request to work with R. Kelly was publicly rejected because of his clear exploitation of R&B music:

“I [R. Kelly] refuse to write hits for someone who uses and abuses this thing called R&B music just to gain respect and acceptance from their opposite counterpart. I refuse to write hits for someone with the name of Justin Timberlake .”

Furthermore, let’s not forget about Beiber’s confirmation that he is only pulling from Hip-Hop so that he could sell records to an older crowd. Meanwhile, people are overlooking these comments and writing heated letters to Mary J. Blige about her Burger King chicken wraps commercial.

The key point about this incredibly long article is that many white artists simply do not have a real understanding and appreciation of Hip-Hop, R&B or Soul. Instead, unlike Adele, Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone and others who actually study these artforms, they simply emulate their peers when the time is right.

Yet, that is the nature of popular culture; it is defined by shifting trends and themes. Indeed, many Urban artists are currently prancing on the Dance/Pop bandwagon and utilising Dubstep production styles just to score a hit so who are we to blame the white artists for doing the reverse?

http://thelavalizard.com/...um=twitter

what a demagogic, populist, resentful article

I can even understand why some folks hate Elvis, but the rant against Snow, Xtina and Timberlake was pathetic

another racist article (ye, I said it, RACIST) that claims that certain genres are only meant for an specific race.

some people

[Edited 5/12/12 4:57am]

I'm gonna keep my mouth shut on this one.

[Edited 5/12/12 18:57pm]

Elvis had several regional hits and several national country hits in 1954/55, however his big bang release was inarguably Heartbreak Hotel in January 1956.

This is how popular music looked to the industry by the end of that year, from Billboard magazine ("The Billboard") issue Dec 22, 1956.

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/eileenmpls/billboardmag122256.jpg[/img:$uid]

WOW, really...

Music is music, everyone borrows from someone else no matter what the ethnic background

How about Dr Dre abusing Urban Culture -and so many other AA wanna be's who adopted a Thug, Gangsta Street image to make it in Hip Hop

or the ones who went from bad boys to mainstream

Andre Romelle Young aka Dr Dre

Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", he often attended a club called The Eve After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A.^[11] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".^[12] He later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru under the independent Kru-Cut Records in 1984. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early 1980s West Coast hip hop, and their first hit "Surgery" would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntables and sell 50,000 copies within the Compton area.^[13] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.^[14] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".^[15]

His frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.^[16] He later dropped out of Chester to focus on performing at the Eve's After Dark nightclub.

OldFriends4Sale said:

WOW, really...

Music is music, everyone borrows from someone else no matter what the ethnic background

How about Dr Dre abusing Urban Culture -and so many other AA wanna be's who adopted a Thug, Gangsta Street image to make it in Hip Hop

or the ones who went from bad boys to mainstream

Andre Romelle Young aka Dr Dre

Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", he often attended a club called The Eve After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. He subsequently became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A.^[11] Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology".^[12] He later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru under the independent Kru-Cut Records in 1984. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early 1980s West Coast hip hop, and their first hit "Surgery" would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntables and sell 50,000 copies within the Compton area.^[13] Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show The Traffic Jam.^[14] Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled Concrete Roots. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".^[15]

His frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house.^[16] He later dropped out of Chester to focus on performing at the Eve's After Dark nightclub.

Exactly, i mean the writer of this moronic article (if u wanna call him a writer) seemed to just cherrypick a few things and base his agenda on that. I mean with his examples then you could say PRINCE was a sell out to the "white" audience by walking away from the sound of his first four records, it really pisses me off when people say TODAYS AUDIENCE is free minded and knows no race...BS todays world is more in the "box" and restricted than ever, today silent racism exists, there is an illusion that we all co-exist when we are more labelled now than anytime before.

I really wish this so-called writer would have done more research, i mean is Kanye West abuse "white culture" when he said "i wanna work with coldplay" or when Timbaland worked with Elton John, what aobut LIONEL RICHIE now all of a sudden is selling a million albums doing "country music" hmmm forgot to mention that in the article? BS article, Music is Music let it go already. Did the Bee Gees abuse black culture, the Beastie Boys, were they cashing in on a genre that wasnt even on the fucking map yet? i mean come on with crap articles like this.

Disgusting article. How can people preach about equality for all and then someone writes an article like this?

I had no clue R Kelly refused to work with Timberlake - Does that mean he will only create an r&b album for black artists? What about him working with Celine Dion to broaden his audience? It can't work only one way.

Terrib3Towel said:

What do u call Whitney Houston jumping around in a blonde wig? Or falling for a white guy? Or MJ with his long silky hair? Or lightening skin? Or Mariah basically hiding her true ethnicity? They were BLACK artists who jocked WHITE peoples music. Horrible article. Just listen to music and enjoy it. No need to ruin it with politricks.

/thread

Terrib3Towel said:

Or MJ with his long silky hair? Or lightening skin?

Say that shit again about his vitiligo (PROVEN in the autopsy).

Terrib3Towel said:

What do u call Whitney Houston jumping around in a blonde wig? Or falling for a white guy? Or MJ with his long silky hair? Or lightening skin? Or Mariah basically hiding her true ethnicity? They were BLACK artists who jocked WHITE peoples music.

The hell are you talking about?

smoothcriminal12 said:

Harlepolis said:

Terrib3Towel said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Say that shit again about his vitiligo (PROVEN in the autopsy).

Did he also have chronic silky hair?

Yes. Yes he did.

Terrib3Towel said:

What do u call Whitney Houston jumping around in a blonde wig? Or falling for a white guy? Or MJ with his long silky hair? Or lightening skin? Or Mariah basically hiding her true ethnicity?

Making themselves palatable to a whie audience for bigger sales?

Terrib3Towel said:

Harlepolis said:

The hell are you talking about?

My point is if you're gonna say whites ripped off blacks it goes both ways. I personally thinks its all silly and borderline bigotry and prejudice.

Yea... but that was kinda ignorant what you said...

Fuck it, Imma say it.

BLACK artists abuse urban culture more than anyone else.

This kind of article belongs in the 1950s.

"These individuals conveniently adopt the styles of their peers without a true appreciation of the music."

What does this writer think Timberlake and Aguilera actually listen to?

Cinny said:

This kind of article belongs in the 1950s.

"These individuals conveniently adopt the styles of their peers without a true appreciation of the music."

What does this writer think Timberlake and Aguilera actually listen to?

I wouldn't say that's never the case. But neither can I agree the article more "belongs in the 1950s."

Someone like Pat Boone covering Little Richard, for example, wasn't "adopting the styles" of Little Richard or Berry. He was recording and performing those songs in the same traditional pop vocal style he used for everything. Nobody was listening to the radio and saying, geez I can't tell, is that Pat Boone or Little Richard? He changed nothing about himself to "adopt the style"of another.

Someone like Presley, well to argue at this point that he didn't have a true appreciation of the music he was performing would be just blinkered. Your same point is apt re: "actually listen to?"

If there is anyone abusing black culture these days, it's white major record label executives, NOT white artists.

mjscarousal said:

MickyDolenz said:

^^Elvis couldn't even speak up to Colonel Parker and just did what he said. Elvis never really spoke on anything social. He did do interviews with Jet magazine though. Besides during that time, even if he wanted to, it wouldn't have been a good idea to do any speaking. He would have been labeled as communist and shut down by McCarthy or Hoover. Elvis was already being spied on by the FBI, for what I don't know.

I think Elvis could have given props to the true innovators of rock regardless. He might not didnt have to touch on racism but sometimes in these discussions people imply that is what Elvis was doing when that isnt true. He was playing safe to keep his image in line and I dont think he cared about blacks getting the credit they deserved because if he did he would have spoken on it. I think regardless Elvis could have spoke out if that was something he truly cared about regardless of the back lash or other risks.

I can completely understand your perspective on this based on the information about Elvis that gets recylced all the time, but you don't have to look very far or very hard to find plenty of evidence about Elvis singing the praises of black artists. What some people miss is that Elvis doesn't cite his contemporaries as his inspiration so much as acknowledge their greatness, but the artists who came befor him? Elvis praised Arthur Crudup, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, and many of the great R&B bands and blues artists that preceded his success (and some white performers as well).

As late as 1969 Elvis said that as far as he was concerned Fats Domino was the real king of Rock and Roll.

You will not be able to find a quote by Presley claiming credit for creating rock n roll. He always acknowledges that it had been around for years and that he could never hope to equal the work of Crudup or Bill Kenney (sp?).

A couple of other quick notes to consider:

Elvis released his first commercial record in July of 1954 (Blues classic "Thats Alright Mama coupled with bluegrass classic "Blue Moon of Kentucky") Within a month he had his first major live appearance. His physical performance drove the teens in the audience crazy.

Elvis released records on the regional level through Sun for the next year and drove thousands of miles doing one night stand concerts which caused riots throughout the south and this was all before he met Tom Parker. Many people try to give Parker all the credit for Presley's success, but the base facts are that he was selling unprecedented amounts of records (for a regional artist) and causing unexpected hysteria at his concerts for a year before Parker really became heavily involved in his career. So, rather than Parker creating the hysteria, he witnessed the explosion that was Elvis and decided "I want a piece of that..."

Had Presley not met Parker, there is a chance that he would not have become as financially successful, but Presley had already started the fire that would lead Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis to the doors of Sun Records, and opened the door for young people to be open to music that they otherwise might have ignored...

Parker wouldn't have been able to do for any other performer what he was able to do with Elvis.

I think it is easy to look back with hindsight and say "it would have been better if such and such artist had done or not done" what ever we think would have been better, but what is harder to do is place Elvis' actions in context to their times. He openly violated segration laws in Memphis to attend African American events, he openly celebrated black culture at a time when to do so could have been career suicide and unlike many other performers of his generation (black and white) he always gave credit where credit was due.

But the times they were what they were and it is sad that so many performers never got the credit or financial reward they rightfully deserved, but it was the society and the system that did that, not Elvis.

I git tired of the blacks complainin' bout what folks stole from them! Now, you talking' bout' the KANG!!!! Elbis Presley is the KANG o' rock n' roll and dammit he's gone stay the KANG! You gots Martin Luther Kang; Elbis is the kang o' rock n' roll!!!

This topic started out much bigger than Elvis.
The subject matter is much bigger than Elvis.
Its funny how people talk about the 50s and 60s like most whites weren't outwardly racist as hell and wanted nothing directly to do with black people, black culture or anything dark enough to be considered non-white.
Jimi had to leave the country in order to get props.

The TRUTH is
Elvis's label DID use Elvis as many labels used their white artist to sell music that was stolen or borrowed from black people because America was RACIST. People need to stop trying to re-write or downplay history. It was a marketing technique of the time period. It wasn't equal and blacks in general weren't running around trying to imitate white artists. It was the other way around. Defending Elvis doesn't change the fact that the entire system of how things were done was inherently racist and in different ways, it still is today.

Every major label has used hip-hop and R&B to sell non-black artists to mainstream audiences.
The truth is people like to see a representation of themselves on screen and in their entertainment. The Eminem syndrome is real. Every artist named in that article by the author has used hip-hop and R&B to sell themselves to the mainstream. People are well aware of who today's culture vultures are. Oh, and artists who let their labels do the dirty work are still part of the system, so no passes are given.

Where the author and I disagree is the implied intentional "abuse of urban culture"; that is not exactly true. These execs are trying to sell an image to as many people as possible but their target market is 14-24 year old white females. The intent is to make money. The "abuse" is a byproduct. They aren't sitting in board rooms trying to figure out ways to abuse black culture, they are sitting in those meetings trying to figure out ways to make the most money by doing the least amount of work and spending the least.