The Style & Vibes Podcast
The Style & Vibes Podcast
Celebrating Cultural Currency: Black Creativity and Global Trends (Throwback Episode)
Ever wondered why cultural trends started by Black creatives often go unrecognized? This throwback episode explores this.
Inspired by my experience at Culture Con, a gathering celebrating Black creatives, we'll embark on a conversation about cultural appreciation and the global impact of Black culture. It's time to address the importance of giving credit where it's due and the harm of cultural appropriation. From the mislabeling of cornrows to the significance of silk presses, we'll highlight the need for authentic representation and education in arts. Let's push for intentional cultural trends and ensure that the originators are celebrated and given opportunities to thrive. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on harnessing cultural trends to foster genuine growth and appreciation.
Style & Vibes: Website | Newsletter | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Produced by Breadfruit Media
We set the trend. Welcome to the Style Vibes podcast. With me, makayla. I'll be giving you the inside scoop on music, fashion, culture and more from Caribbean celebrities and tastemakers across the globe, pushing our culture with authenticity and, of course, style Vibes. This episode of the Style Vibes podcast is sponsored by our online shop. Make sure you guys visit styleandvibescom slash shop and it'll direct you directly to the e-commerce shop and you can get 20% off your purchase by using the discount code PODCAST. So use that code and if you get something really great and you want to tag me on Instagram, make sure you guys use the hashtag Style and Vibes and I'll definitely reshare it. Thank you guys, so much for your support. Hello, hello, my peoples. How are you doing? Okay, I'm not talking no more. It's Mikayla of the Style and Vibes podcast. Welcome to episode 13.
Speaker 1:Today it's just me and I'm talking about cultural currency. I'll get into why I chose this topic and how I got inspired by it in a second, but I wanted to introduce a little segment in the beginning of the podcast just to share what I'm styling on, what I'm vibing to and just give you guys kind of an overview of, you know, just things that are on my mind as I'm recording in. You know the time that I'm recording, so right now I'm really styling. I have I have such a huge crush on Tracy Ellis Ross. She recently hosted the American Music Awards and she wore all black designers including Pyre, who is of Haitian descent, and Kushni, who is of Brit Jamaican descent and I loved the idea of her really just wanting to be mindful about sharing the talent from, you know, the black community, and not just reaching for the same ones that we know, and I think it is an amazing example. And I think a lot more celebrities are doing this because they see how much of a talent pool that is there that is kind of not always supported consciously. So I think it was a great initiative and I commend her for it. So she is my style uh, style crush for this podcast. Um, she's doing amazing things, she has great taste and style and and I just love everything about her. But kudos to tracy ellis ross for rocking all black designers, including a few from the caribbean.
Speaker 1:So right now, I've been vibing to a lot. If you check out stylingvibescom, we do a vibes of the week almost every week, so I've been listening to a lot of new music. We've been, just, you know, hearing a lot of great music come out of, you know, the Caribbean and Africa and Europe. So we're just kind of, you know, putting that all in a pot and kind of sharing. Hopefully I'll get some playlists up pretty soon with some of those and share that with you.
Speaker 1:But there have been a lot of great albums that have dropped recently. Estelle's Lovers Rock has kind of been in rotation. I like a few of the songs I especially like better and I also like the one with luke james. Oh, luke james sounds her and luke james sounds so great on that record. And what I love about that record is, you know, sometimes when artists kind of cross genres, it doesn't sound authentic but it really sounds like them. It sounds like an R&B reggae, a true blend of R&B and reggae, and I think it it really just sounds very, so well like the two of them complement each other so much and it sounds amazing.
Speaker 1:Um, of course, also listening to, uh, the legend, barris Hammond. I actually, you know, saw an interview where he said he doesn't like to be referred to as a legend. I think he's so humble and it's amazing that he can be in this business and be so humble. I think a lot of artists could probably take notes Because it's actually the first time I've seen him do so much promo around an album. He travels all the time and he performs constantly. Like Barris' catalog is whew, he can perform, perform and you know the crowd will always continuously go crazy and I think he'll be performing until he can't anymore and we all love it. But for this album he's actually doing a lot more interviews and just sharing his thoughts and you know he looks very excited in a great space. So big up to the big man Barris. Hammond Never Ending is out now so you guys can listen to it on any platform.
Speaker 1:Single-wise, I'm really feeling Jada Kingdom. I love her sound. I love just her vibe. Essentially, it sounds very different than a lot of the artists that I've been hearing. So it's not typical. A lot of the women in reggae and dance are really doing things and they don't sound the same. So I'm really getting into. That podcast was talking about one woman. So you know the fact that there are so many women doing great music and jada kingdom is one of them. So may I tune into, may I listen to? We are smart. She had it's actually not just her on the song. There's another girl on the song and the name completely escapes me, but I'm gonna leave it in the notes. Um, but yeah, that's what I'm I'm kind of vibing to right now. So, I guess, because it's kind of cold, I'm kind of like, you know, I dip into the reggae and and the lovers rock on me. I slow it down because it's getting cold in this area, um, so that's probably why you know, that's just what I'm vibing to right now.
Speaker 1:I just love, um music and and film documentaries about people in their lives. So I've been watching, you know, a bunch on netflix that I started the quincy jones one, um, but there is a episode on a documentary program called remastered, about bob, the assassination attempt of bob marley called who shot the sheriff who shot the sheriff is the name of the episode, um, and it's really kind of diving into the theories and talking to people that were close to him about, you know, and even having some interviews of him pre-diving into the assassination attempt. So it doesn't really cover the breadth of his entire musical history. It really just focuses on who shot him, why or the theories around why. Focuses on who shot him why or the theories around, why it doesn't really give a distinct answer. But you know you can kind of take clues and extract what you want. So I highly recommend watching it. It's actually on netflix so you can watch it at your leisure, you know, just, um, and I think it's something that a lot of people will enjoy, whether you you're of Jamaican descent or you're just interested in Bob Marley and his story. I think it's a significant piece of who he is as an artist and part of his history and the legacy that he leaves behind.
Speaker 1:So on to cultural currency. Cultural currency when I really think about that word, it's like how can culture really have currency? But it's essentially just you know valuing culture and you know, essentially, you know being able to monetize off of it. In essence, I know people when people think about culture it's not something that you know should be commoditized, um, but to be completely honest, that's kind of how cultural appropriation happens anyway, um. So if we are not the ones to kind of claim the value of our own culture, then it will become culture, then it will become commoditized by other people that just see and want to enjoy. You know, we see it all the time in pop culture, you know, quote unquote, borrowing or being inspired by, you know so many things that come out of the black community and you know it's almost like we've been doing this forever. Like where did this come from?
Speaker 1:So the idea of just talking about cultural currency really came out of um me attending this event called culture con. So it's a a conference that is really centered around black creatives in various spaces whether it be tech, media, television, film just coming together in a space and having a bunch of different discussions around culture and how we use our culture to kind of. For some of these people, they kind of use their culture to kind of create businesses and how it has impacted them and their careers over time. They also had workshops, which I didn't attend. So I really just went to just listen, really just soak up some of the energy, hear what people were talking about. There were a lot of different great people there, from actors, people from HBO, netflix creators, film makers Nick Cannon was there, remy Ma was there, so they were kind of just sharing some of their insights and on particular topics, and it was just very inspiring to see so many you know, people who look like you in the same room.
Speaker 1:Inspiring to see? Definitely true, because you know, we kind of we kind of say you know we set the trend, so you know, it's kind of just like that. You know we set trends but we don't always monopolize on them, and I think it's very important for us to understand that it's important to represent your culture and being able to be passionate about something and, if you love it that much, to be able to kind of dictate where it's going. You know, and a lot of times what happened is, you know we set the trend but don't actually, you know, see, see it follow through. I think now it's becoming more prevalent because people are actually recognizing that it's just like wait a minute, why is it? You know, it's the whole boxer braid scenario, where cornrows were called boxer braids by you know a media outlet, or you know even like a silk press was called glass hair. We were like going crazy. Every time something like that kind of happens, it kind of triggers us to say like wait a minute, we've been doing this for how long? So why is it all of a sudden? Now it's a trend. It's been a trend in our community, but you know, once it kind of spans out or it gets into the hands of you know people outside of our culture directly. It becomes this big phenomenon of a trend and I think that it's important one.
Speaker 1:You know that we check you know those people who you know, like you know they try to call you know Rihanna doing the guada, guada, the stanky leg, and you know, ok, africa corrected people. So it's great to correct people on. You know those types of things and calling them out when those things happen, because it's definitely accurate, like, call it what it is, don't try to change the name because it isn't up to your liking or, from a marketing perspective, you want to make it more appealing to your own audience. It's like. It's like calling someone by a completely different name just because you can't pronounce their name. We're just going to call it something different. For us, it's totally inappropriate and I really commend everyone that kind of goes in and corrects people. You know we do it all the time Like, no, this is not Tropical House, it is Dantel, it is Soka. Like, call it what it is.
Speaker 1:There's nothing wrong with creating new genres or creating new names, but let the people that came up with the come up with those, or come from that, that that particular trend. Let them create the new name, don't like force it on to people, because I think that also plays a part in how trends get commoditized in the first place. And you know, it's okay to be inspired by a lot of things and there are definitely ways to be inspired by, and then there are just ways to kind of, you know, just take it and pretend and you know, if you get called out on it, acknowledge it. At the same time, it's up to us to really understand how much value we bring to the table, our ability to create trends or change trends. It really comes from the people. It comes from the people who are. It comes from the dancers and dance hall. You know, I one thing I always, you know, I love to see it. Now, I mean, imagine if Bogle was around right now to see you know how much dance hall dance has progressed.
Speaker 1:I, I mean people are really like taking classes and giving masterclasses and I love some of the movements that are coming out of Jamaica, specifically when it comes to dance, because you know you can't trademark a dance because you know it happens so quickly and there are so many people who create dances that but don't give credit Big up. You know of the dancer. He's always giving credit to the dancers in jamaica who create those dances and he'll say it, you know, continuously. And when he teaches and he goes and he does his workshops, he, he always makes it a point to educate people like this is where it comes from and this is. You know what it is and you know he takes dances back to Jamaica so that they can have that full experience.
Speaker 1:And that's really what appreciation is about is having, you know, those catalysts in between to kind of say, okay, this is how we do it and this is what it's supposed to be, and so you know, and really taking the people who actually started that, giving them credit, giving them opportunities to either dance or to I'm just using dance as an example, because it's a great one that I have on my mind right now but it's being able to take people who created those trends and give them the opportunity to progress and really see the movement get bigger. You know, we say you know this, this, that to the world and this the only way it gets to the world. One is if we push it with intention and two, you have to expect some of that. You know appreciation versus appropriation conversation, because you know you're going into any Zumba class, you're bound to hear a Michelle song, a Soka song, a bungee you know you're going to hear those those sounds as well. But that's kind of how, what happens when you know, cultural trends become a global phenomenon and we have to be a part of the players that are actually pushing all of it If we want to, you know, really put value to our culture and not see it and say, you know, but what about this and what about this and why aren't we sitting at the table?
Speaker 1:A lot of that stuff happens behind the scenes. So, you know, a lot of the people who work at these corporate places are kind of of Caribbean descent. You know those people play an important part because they are kind of the catalyst to bringing the culture to the next level. Behind the scenes there's a lot of things that happen, you know, from a musical standpoint. You know people have to be ready to deliver, but there also has to be people, our stories from our perspective, with authenticity and, of course, style and vibes. I fit plug and look at tagline, but essentially that's what it's about understanding how much our culture brings to the table, understanding our own values so that we can push it to the next level and have people appreciate our culture respectfully.
Speaker 1:I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. What do you think, as a Caribbean person living yad arabrod minna business? As a Caribbean, what do you think our cultural currency is? Do we value it and how do we continue to make sure that we are pushing the needle, to be at the table and to be a part of the conversations and to be a part of the business deals that are happening globally surrounding our culture but not really involving us? What are your thoughts? That's it for me today.
Speaker 1:Everyone, thank you so much for listening. Today is a short episode, but I hope it was very impactful. Let me know what you think. Also, please be sure to leave a review, a rating and review in iTunes. I really appreciate all the feedback that I have been getting. Tell a friend to tell a friend and make sure you guys log on to styleandvibescom for all the things that I can't get to in this podcast. Until next time, live tummy peeps. Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the Style and Vibes podcast. If you like what you hear and I know you do share it with your friends and family. If you want more, make sure you visit stylingvibescom and follow us on our social channels, twitter and instagram. At styling vibes. Until next time, lea tummy peeps.
