Love is Same All: Music is Love

I love all people, and I do not support Gatekeepers.

Let me explain.

My son said to me this morning, “Mom, what’s wrong with you?” as I was struggling in the kitchen to keep my true feelings under control and to myself.

I did not want to get into it but found it extremely hard to hold back. My anger levels were high which doesn’t feel good in the body.

After quickly expressing what had me upset, he said why don’t you just say that somewhere, as if it were that easy.

I realized he was right.

I’m fed up with people trying to ruin the joy of music with protesting and boycotting, which is rampant in today’s society. One place where it is especially prevalent is in KPOP. Music is meant to unite us and not divide us. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. That is non-negotiable. If you have truly been wronged, you deserve to express that and ask for a better way forward. But often this basic right is being abused and misused and I am not okay with that.

I work for a fan-run fan club of a popular Chinese / K-POP band. Our band has just released the first teaser image and title of their newest album set to release next month. My reaction is excitement over what is to come. I love how they explore, reinvent, and put out something fresh every time. I love their curiosity about all kinds of music and how they interpret it. Our band and their whole team work their butts off to deliver exciting and fresh music to their fans and this new album looks to be another example of them doing that. I cannot wait for this new album.

Some people are responding on social media that our band is culturally appropriating from the hip hop/ black culture in the way they are styled and the phrasing of the album title.

Okay. If this is true, and they are drawing from hip hop / black culture, what is wrong with borrowing and blending of cultures, styles, and music genres? Are those people who are upset, saying that Chinese / KPOP artists are not allowed to blend different genres of music? Are they saying that only black people are allowed to make hip hop music and wear hip hop fashion? I can only say that this sounds wrong to me.

I’m disappointed because in discussions surrounding this issue yesterday, it was suggested that we needed to get educated on the subject, but the suggested group who could educate us had a caveat. Only non-white members are allowed to join the discussion.

If you stop and think about it, isn’t this wrong? I’m saying it’s wrong. I’m not actually mad about this, it’s more a feeling of sadness for the people who think this is okay. I hope people who feel this is okay will grow and learn that it is not okay.

Not that it matters, except for I kind of think it’s relevant … I was raised in a home with two working moms, one white and one black. I spent 9 hours on Saturdays at the hair salon with my black mom while she got her braids done. I ate the delicious southern food she cooked for me and grew up in the poorest neighborhoods and rode the all-girls black bus to school and was always one of the only non-black kids at my schools. I was loved. Even if I didn’t have this beautiful upbringing that I cherish and appreciate…even if I was just a white skinned person without a life experience like this…I should still be valued and heard because it’s not the color of my skin that matters, but the message I bring. I want people to stop being afraid of each other.

The end result from yesterday’s discussions was us posting a notice that because it could be seen by some as insensitive for our Chinese/KPOP band to draw from black culture in their latest concept and music style, that if people needed to, they could reach out to the record company to share their concerns. In the notice, the record company was asked to consult with cultural experts about this issue. (Mind you, our band’s songs are heavily written by black songwriters who love working with them. I’d appreciate knowing their feelings on this.)

I think people who feel offended should have the right to speak out and voice their opinions at all times, but to ask a band to re-do their album because you don’t like the way they blended the styles and cultures feels wrong. To go further and threaten to boycott and call for the band to be cancelled feels wrong. Please stop and think about what you are actually saying.

Music is for everyone. Music is about blending and creating. If someone is emulating you, it’s because they love your style and your culture. It’s because you have inspired them and they want to show that love. They are trying to unite us, not divide us. Here is a big one, just because they are a different skin color or nationality doesn’t mean they haven’t experienced similar things to you and have just as much right to express that. We all suffer hardships in life that overlap with each other. We are all discriminated against unfairly. I can guarantee you this. One group of people does not own the exclusive rights over pain, trauma, degradation and how to express themselves after encountering them. Humans own those rights. All humans own those rights.

I was that white girl in my 20’s who had braids and extensions because I wanted to look beautiful like my black mom. By the way, I apologize to her for referring to her as my black mom. She is a beautiful, loving human being with a name who I am protecting. (I love you.)

How dare any one of us assume the right to tell any other person on this planet that they cannot blend and draw from others when they create.

That is the heart of inspiration.

Not long ago, there was a movement in the writing community where writers were told they could not write characters or stories that they hadn’t personally lived and experienced because it would be culturally appropriating.

I was angry and heartbroken back then too. I write about diverse characters. I write about their hearts and their feelings. They are of all colors, nationalities and ethnicities. I also write about animals and angels. I write about nature. All kinds of things I have never personally been, to my knowledge, although how beautiful it would be to be an ocean wave or a gorgeous black Asian Caucasian indigenous butterfly. To those accusing others of culturally appropriating, please explain to me how you are right about this? I do not understand.

I’d like to remind everyone that our guts are all the same color on the inside. Our blood is the same color inside our bodies. Our bones are the same color inside. Don’t let our outsides where we appear differently trap you into a life of segregation and discrimination against your fellow human beings.

I can’t let people who are trapped in this type of thinking upset me. Those people who are screaming cultural appropriation and calling others racist thieves can say what they feel called to say, but it doesn’t make it true. I hope my Chinese/KPOP band and their record label do not succumb to the cries of those few whose misguided attempts are to divide and gatekeep.

I support artists blending, borrowing, creating and making music that ultimately serves to unite us. No one person or group of people hold the sacred rights to every aspect of any given culture.

Gatekeepers are not about love. They are about fear. I hope they find a way through that.

Love is Same All. This is the meaning of the Japanese artist’s name, LiSA. I saw her in concert last week. She is amazing and beautiful. Just like her name. I will follow that lead every day, every time.

Thank you for your time today.