[...] Even though Macklemore arguably uses and abuses the white privilege he’s fully aware of having within hip-hop and popular music, he at least rhymes using the vocal dynamics derived from his lived reality. Iggy Azalea’s natural speaking voice is actually the sugary-sweet, rural Australian accent she grew up with—not the grungy, Southern “blaccent” she adopts for the sake of rapping.

[...] But fans should instead ask about and, eventually, acknowledge the conditions that allow white rappers like Iggy Azalea to reach such stratospheric levels of popularity. More specifically, Iggy Azalea’s public image merits examination as one that mainstream white American audiences consume voraciously at the expense and exclusion of her black counterparts. She makes money and breaks records, largely in part, because she’s a blonde, white, foreign woman who’s doing the new “hip” thing, even if her act may be a bit recycled.

Sure, she can. However, there’s a difference between appreciating an artform and adding to its richness and appropriating a minstrel-like caricature that’s composed of various tropes. [...]

T.I. deserves all the credit for mentoring Iggy, but that’s not where his culpability ends. [...]

The success and vitality of black-created genres doesn’t depend on white people performing the music, especially when it’s been pillaged and stolen for decades. As noted in in considerable detail over at Racialicious, various white icons and their hits—including Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”, Madonna’s “Vogue” and, yes, “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus, to name a few—all are culprits. Despite the history cultural theft, black artists like Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and Jay-Z have smashed Billboard records, sold out concert venues worldwide and influencing many white artists who acknowledge and truly appreciate the genres—artists like Adele, Duffy and Sam Smith.

If nothing else, at least their voices and lyrics are theirs.