his-shining-tears:

https://www.instagram.com/audrey_sakura_kensha/

heathyr:

rebeccapollard97:

Elephant Rock, Iceland

This is an old god, sleeping

shitpostgenerator:

please do not disrespect the moon

lazyyogi:

Desire is not synonymous with enjoyment.

You can enjoy something without desiring it.

You can desire something without enjoying it.

Therefore inquire: What is it you are hoping to gain by means of desire?

A false feeling of control.
A weakened form of happiness.
An unreal identity.

And that’s exactly what you get. Along with suffering, confusion, and delusion.

garconniere:

lavenderlines:

ihatethismess:

I like Vampire Weekend but it wasn’t until an hour ago I thought their music might be considered as cultural appropriation. They’re influenced by African pop music. Anyways Ezra Koenig said this:

Koenig claims the right to cherry-pick across lines of culture, race, genre, and class because, as the descendent of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, he is himself an outsider of sorts. And having wrestled with issues of authenticity and cultural appropriation as a deracinated fourth-generation Ivy Leaguer, he’s concluded that he’s allowed to do whatever the hell he wants. It’s charming, but it’s also indicative of the sort of confidence that only exists in the very young, the very successful, or both. Because he cannot imagine any resistance or skepticism to what he’s doing, none seems to exist. At least not yet. “From thinking about it so much, you naturally know where the boundaries are,” he insists. “Every once in a while, we’ve seen some things where people try to bring colonialism or appropriation into [talking about our band] in a negative way — but that debate has already happened. We’re in a context that’s coming after instances of people actually stealing from each other.”

There is something so wrong with this statement, but I can’t put my finger on it. Does borrowing aspects from another culture and incorporating it into music count as cultural appropriation?

I can’t stop thinking about this for some reason. And I know people love Vampire Weekend, so I’m sure I’ll be stepping on someone’s toes, but everything about this passage defines hipster nastiness to me. A white man “claiming the right to cherry-pick across cultures” in order to incorporate them into his music, which is marketed to a very specific subset of white, privileged youth, is so blatantly gross. And this guy thinks colonialism or cultural appropriation is beyond him? That he’s thought about it for so long that of course! His white, non-biased, ivy educated male brain has just made all the connections. Please. And don’t give me that line about him being an outsider because he’s the descendant (at least fourth generation) of Eastern European Jews. I don’t know how he identifies, but he’s white in this society, and clearly he’s reaping the benefits — ivy league education; the refusal to accept or even listen to criticism from people who, I don’t know, might know better (like the people who live within the cultures he’s so “knowledgeable” about); to completely disregard race and class as having an impact on his work, or who listens to his work. Because we’re sooo beyond all this shit, amiright? So beyond it, in fact, that this white guy thinks he can just pick and choose what he wants to experience and then offer up to his audience. Of course you can dude, because society says you’re allowed to do those things unhindered, but that doesn’t make it any less offensive. His refusal to even entertain the thought that his work could be deemed appropriative or colonialistic is what privilege is all about. And the only thing I have to say about that is fuck you.

i really wanted to be a part of this conversation but haven’t really had time to write so here are some quickly jotted down thoughts:

(bolded emphasis mine) i always felt a bit off in regards to this question of cultural appropriation in music. in the past, i’ve largely limited my input about cultural appropriation to fashion, mainly because things are largely complicated by music (its universality, its accessibility, its power, the list goes on and on)… but the more i think of this, the more i realize that it is almost always musicians and singers who are to blame for popular cultural appropriation fashion trends (see: gwen stefani in her no doubt days, with the bindi) due largely to the fact that they are seen as purveyors of all things hip and trendy… so, with a day or two’s worth of thoughts percolating in my head, and not wanting to miss the boat on this conversation, here are some of my opinions:

to answer ihatethismess’s original question in regards to Vampire Weekend, “Does borrowing aspects from another culture and incorporating it into music count as cultural appropriation?” i would state the following: as i have stated before, it depends on who is doing the appropriating and how they respond to questions and criticisms. i think what is clearly stated in Ezra Koenig’s and lavenderlines’ quotes is that Vampire Weekend has, in fact, been questioned about four upper crust white boys making “African inspired” music as potentially problematic (not inherently, but potentially) and responded to dismissively. that is what the real problem is here. and that, to me, raises the red flags.

the fact that all of the examples of cultural appropriation in music i can think of off the top of my head (vampire weekend, beirut, and of course elvis) are songs “written” and performed by young white privileged men seems to be a large part of the problem. but the argument cannot simply end there. it’s not so much the music itself, its melodies or lyrics, that seems to bother us, but rather the idea that a white person (holding social and embodied privilege) can simply “cherry pick” and borrow from other cultures and explicitly creatively and financially profit from this act, and present it as a commodity for mainstream consumer culture. who stands to gain from this cultural appropriation? who stands to stay in exactly the same spot? are all of the actors even aware in the role they are playing in this complicated place? are they clueless (and what if they geuniely are?)

but even so! even if you think they are engaging in cultural appropriation, does this mean you just turn off the radio when their songs come on, throw out their records, and don’t go to their shows? i don’t think that even begins to address the problem. if you like the music vampire weekend makes, but confused about their role in cultural appropriation, then look into their influences. sure, check out the paul simon, but check out the african pop music. instead of shelling out money to pay for vampire weekend tickets, buy a fela kuti record. go see king sunny adé and his african beats (seriously, do it, you will not be disappointed). support the music they are “inspired by” or “paying homage” to, that unfortunately probably won’t get mainstream radio play, and won’t get hollywood actors in their music videos.

i could go on and on about how a lot of african pop music is really politically charged, powerful, and amazing, whereas vampire weekend steals some of the melodies and general ideas, but loses out on the content side of things… but that’s an entire argument unto itself. i guess i’ll leave it at that, seeing as the question of theft, borrowing and sampling is far more complex (and often explicitly literal) in the case of music making as opposed to fashion, which complicates these questions.

(also, slightly off-topic note, but it is important not to get trapped up in this mess of “does this count as?” whether it be in conversations about racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, cultural appropriation, or any other form of oppression. it is important to question why certain things strike you as odd, or oppressive, or fucked up. i often feel that we get too trapped up in attempting to ensure we can classify things as concretely entirely good or entirely bad, racist or not racist, cultural appropriation or not cultural appropriation, and this takes away from the actual learning experience of deconstructing the ways that privilege plays a huge part in these questions. it is more helpful to frame things as “playing a part in” rather than “counting as,” or at least it has been in my experience )

avpdqueen:

me? constantly afraid of being abandoned and replaced? hell yes

pinkguts:

i wish i was a strawberry and not a person goodnight

tellyjpg:

sleeping is nice until u wake up and realize ur still sad lol

captainiheart:

stunningpicture:

I took a panoramic photo at a concert and lights changed in the middle of it. This is the result

this literally looks like heaven and hell colliding

shacklesburst:

you, a doctor: *handing me my new born baby* I’m sorry but your wife didn’t make it

me, an intellectual: *handing baby back to him* bring me the one my wife made