Rod and Karen discuss Amber Guyger verdict, Remy Ma compares assault survivors to prostitutes, short men get their own store, simplifying people in death, government sues Match.com, Haitian senator busts shots, Juul CEO steps down, Kevin Hart sued by woman in sextape, Lilly Singh sparks discussion on appropriation, That’s Ya’ll Man, White People News and Sword Ratchetness.
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I use to watch Lily Singh and there has definitely been a progression in her YouTube career that has led her to where she is now. It’s reminiscent of how people felt about Danny Glover rise in that he never publicly atoned for that past (not saying he has to) but his art has changed reflecting that he’s learned from it. Lily’s work is the same in my opinion. Early in her YT days, her own community use to call her out for playing up Indian stereotypes through the portrayal of her parents for clicks (it was true though). She’d just reduce the critique as ‘haters’ but I did notice the decline in those types of videos over time.
She later started doing mostly self depreciating raps (she absolutely has bars, lol) and unicorn/sparkly type of content that we all know caters to pre-teen white girls, the audience YouTube makes bank off of. That was the very beginning of the mainstream exposure. It was interesting observing the commentary in the Punjabi-Canadian community, some were proud, some were saying she’s the “safe” brown girl that caters to white entertainment (sounds familiar). There’s also the nuance you spoke on in regards to people who feel othered feeling a kinship with African-American culture specifically. I’ve notice the Indian-Canadian population tend to take on bits of our culture at a greater rate than the Indian-American population. How does that happen!? I can even understand the frustration of the Jamaican-Canadian commentor cause in Toronto, everrrrryybody bites off Jamaican culture specifically and there’s even historical nuance to THAT. There could be a mix of projection with that exhaustion. There’s just so much more nuance than “she raps so she’s appropriating”. While I’ve personally out-grown her brand of entertainment, I can also recognize how she’s grown and doesn’t engage in our culture in that ‘culture-vulture’ way. Meanwhile, I’ll still copy those dances in that Truth Hurts video and cherish that time hip-hop fucked with South Asian imagery hard in the early 2000s #hyposcrisygangganggang
Regarding matchmaking companies sending their customers fake love interest messages, I think something similar happened to me a few years ago. I was doing a free trial for a black dating site (that I’ve forgotten the name of). The ‘conversations’ typically consisted of:
Them: “Hey,â€
Me: “Hi, How are you?â€
No response. Then the next day…
Them: “Hey.â€
It was so ridiculous. Then two days before my trial was up, I got a message from a guy who could actually hold a conversation and held similar interests to mine. The day before my trial was up there was no message from him, then after it expired there was a message, but I would have had to pay to see it. I figured it must have been someone working for the company trying to get my coins, and so I left it alone.
As a black woman who enjoys K-pop, Anime, Bollywood, Latin Music, and The Last Dragon, I appreciate how complicated Cultrual Appropriation / Vulturism / Appreciation / Exchange is. As far as K-pop artists being trash towards black people, it does happen, but what’s worse is the reaction of the non-black k-pop fans when black fans speak out on it. That’s where you really see the vitriol and uninhibited racism explode.
I agree with Rod, men are much more thirsty then women. We men are suckers for this scam. Back in 2000, I got catfished from a dating site a coworker recommended. Once I signed up as a free user, I started getting those messages, but of course if you wanted to respond back you had to upgrade to premium. And of course, most of the messages were bogus.
Y’all really are the best… I’m typing this comment as I’m listening to this episode. A couple points…
I agree w/ Karen’s assessment of the Match.com situation. I tried Match & E-harmony, many years ago, so things could’ve changed by now… but, I definitely chose them because they were reputable & supposedly for people only interested in serious relationships. E-harmony, in particular, requires you to complete a profile that takes about 2 hours, if not more… so, by the time I did all that crap, I definitely wanted to pay for the service & receive instant results. I believe both sites sent me tips on how to enhance my profile to receive desired attention & results… but, never sent dummy responses. I think I received one response, & ultimately canceled both subscriptions after a couple months.
In saying all that, I see why Tinder, & similar sites, are now so popular because quite honestly, I found that I got more hits on the free dating sites like Yahoo (@ that time)… & those sites didn’t require extensive profiles & questionnaires… but, of course, the men mostly just wanted to “Netflix & chill.” So, anyone on Match & E-harmony, even now, are probably trying to weed out the “hook up” crowd.
I love your commentary on cultural appropriation. It was very nuanced & much needed. Initially, I thought y’all were being hypocritical because I remember your commentary on Katy Perry & Iggy Azalea. I know y’all are better than that so I patiently awaited as y’all fleshed out your points… & you did. The truth is, there is a difference. There is a difference in culture vultures & culture blenders or borrowers.