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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Blogger Says the top song'Royals' on the Billboard Hot 100 Is racist?

Abraham - October 10, 2013

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An international war of words has broken out over a New Zealand pop star's chart-topping single, after an American blogger labeled the track racist.

 

"Royals," the debut single by Lorde, the stage name of Ella Yelich-O'Connor, currently sits above hits from Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making the 16-year-old the youngest artist to top the U.S. chart in 26 years.

 

The singer -- who sings about rejecting the trappings of consumerism in "Royals" and has admonished fellow pop star Selena Gomez for being insufficiently feminist -- has won plaudits from critics as a refreshing presence in the charts. But not everyone is a fan.

 

In a post on the prominent feminist blog feministing.com, writer Veronica Bayetti Flores took issue with the song's lyrics, in which Yelich-O'Connor sings that "every song" is about gold teeth and Maybach luxury cars -- both fixtures of hip-hop music videos -- before concluding "we don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams."

 

"While I love a good critique of wealth accumulation and inequity, this song is not one; in fact, it is deeply racist," wrote Bayetti Flores. "Because we all know who she's thinking when we're talking gold teeth, Cristal (champagne) and Maybachs. So why s--- on black folks? Why s--- on rappers?"

 

While I love a good critique of wealth accumulation and inequity, this song is not one; in fact, it is deeply racist said Blogger Veronica Bayetti Flores

The writer attacked critics who "have been so captivated by 'Royals' call-out of consumption that they didn't bother to take the time to think critically about the racial implications of the lyrics."

 

She concluded her post with the observation that the singer "apparently calls herself a feminist." "Let's just hope her feminism gets a lot less racist as she develops as an artist," she wrote.

 

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