A lot of the early ska-punk crossover acts in Britain had people of west Indian origin in them, so if anything it was a victory for multiculturalism rather than cultural appropriation. I’ve never heard a west Indian moan about white ska acts either.
Comment on Ska is the "pineapple on pizza" of music genres
megane_kun@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I admittedly know nothing about Ska, and music genres more generally, and whatever little searching I did upon reading this post have given me nothing that I can digest.
However, I’ve read a discussion about hate for ska coming from cultural appropriation and being liked by teenage boys. Can someone walk me through this?
NuPNuA@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Knoxvomica@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
If we want to get technical, all rock and roll, rap, ska, punk, etc are cultural appropriation. Most modern music comes from black cultural music genres first.
evranch@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
Ska is simple, fun music that cares little for anything other than being fun, and is often gleefully immature. As such, teenage boys like it and pretentious music snobs love to look down their noses at it. Ska bands are aware of this fact and tend to lean into it, creating a self-aware and often self-parodying genre. It can be argued that it’s not “good” music. But it is, without a doubt, fun and high energy music and a live ska show is a blast.
As far as cultural appropriation goes, nobody who matters cares, as all music is a collaborative effort that builds off of previous works. Music belongs to the world, and gatekeeping it as belonging to any particular culture is ridiculous. Ska in particular is a genre that loves to do covers, and often the sillier the better.
sadbehr@lemmy.nz 1 year ago
As a testament to the ‘having fun’ part, one of the most well known ska bands in recent time, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, have a member who is a dancer. He’s been with them since their inception and tours with them. You’ll see him on most live performances. His name is Ben Carr.
TawdryPorker@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Ska, as youngsters know it today, was reinvented by the 2-Tone movement in the UK (specifically Coventry) in the late 70s. The scene was overtly political and as @NuPNuA has stated was a deliberately multicultural movement, hence the name.
If you want to hear some original ska from Jamaica then have a look for songs by Prince Buster but beware you will find some historical attitudes.