A Culture Cannot Own a Musical Genre

The history of music shows the art form is about fusion, not hierarchy

There is a popular meme circulating on social media feeds claiming all music stems from one singular culture. At first glance, it seems innocent enough—a meme giving credit where it’s due. But the conversation surrounding this meme reveals its true purpose, and it’s about propaganda, not art.

The meme reinforces beliefs that have been taking hold and metastasizing in the arts for some time. The consequences of this meme, and the beliefs it reinforces, deal with the concept of ownership of genre, and suggests any culture who cannot claim a genre as their ancestral right but still engages in the playing of or listening to the genre is committing an egregious violation, cultural appropriation.

Really, the wording of the meme isn’t even about culture, it’s about race. And it’s another tool being used for the end game of identity politics, to divide and reduce humanity to characteristics people have no control over, and group people into labels of oppressor and oppressed.

This devolution is happening all around us, especially in the arts.

But the reality is this. Genres of music can’t be owned, neither by an individual nor a collective of any kind. And the reality is also this, genres generally represent a fusion of cultures, not a hierarchy.

The only thing that can be owned when it comes to music and the arts in general is the individual works a creator makes; a song, a film, a book, a collection of original poetry.

Music, at its core, is not about power dynamics, like this meme suggests. Music, since the dawn of civilization, has been about connecting with one another through storytelling. Music of the ages offers timeless wisdom, stories about love, loss, and big emotions. These works of art hold up a mirror to our lives. When they do this we feel seen and heard. And in those precious moments of needed visibility, the last thing we think about is the color of the musician’s skin. Hopefully, if we are thinking properly, we don’t think about this at all.

One Must Earn What They Own

But today, regardless of color, or any other surface trait that should bear no meaning to the capability of one’s mind, many seek ownership over things that can’t truly be owned. They do this because they don’t want to put the work in themselves to actually accomplish something, to earn something, which would enable them to properly state ownership over it.

Celebratory days dot our calendars, signifying holidays for every heritage under the sun. While I understand being proud of one’s family, of one’s ancestors (I’m certainly proud of my Celtic background full of various cultures, from Scotch-Irish and Germanic to Swiss, and of my Native American background), we are seeing the results of generations who’ve been taught that the thing they must be most proud of is the thing they had no control over being associated with in the first place.

As people celebrate sexual orientation, gender, religion, and heritage, we often don’t even extend a simple nod to those who’ve opened their own businesses, released works of art, bought a home, earned scholarships, put their own children through college, or accomplished a non-conventional dream.

These days, it’s not about jealousy. People are no longer jealous of those who have more than them. Or, better put, envy is not their preferred gear. The preferred gear these days for many is palpable hatred. People don’t want what others have, they simply don’t want them to have it either.

My European lineage contributed heavily to the genres I work in every day, from country and folk to bluegrass and gospel. But I don’t go around tooting my own horn because of the accomplishments of my ancestors. I wait until I’ve accomplished something myself, with my own two hands and my limitless brain, before giving myself a nod of approval.

I do this because it’s a core part of my personal philosophy. And, I do this because of the unique tradition of the philosophical canon I grew up studying that supercedes any individual culture. Everyday, I strive through my work, thoughts, words, and actions, to uphold the legacy of the Western tradition.

Traditions of the Mind

Western culture is unlike any other, and that’s why it’s so vilified. Its history speaks to traditions of the mind, not the body. Its works are full of every race, creed, both sexes, age, and corner of the world.

The Western tradition, the tradition every modern genre of music falls under, teaches both artists and art lovers, just as it teaches any one else who studies its principles, this important lesson:

We are here to break free from the tribe, not chain ourselves to it because of fear, idleness, or idolatry.

Imagine telling Sister Rosetta Tharpe, one of rock n’ roll’s pioneers, she couldn’t record the gospel standard “Ain’t No Grave Hold My Body Down” because a white Appalachian preacher and bluegrass player wrote it.

Imagine telling young Brits like Eric Burdon and The Animals they couldn’t cover “House of The Rising Sun” because the blues-folk artist Lead Belly popularized it first.

Here’s what blues legend Howlin’ Wolf indeed did say to those who thought Brits covering the blues was inappropriate:

While appearing on the radio show Music in America in 1967, he said, “Well I’ll tell you, there’s nothing wrong with that. I want all of them to make my records, because I gets money out of it, see,” Wolf explained. “It doesn’t matter no different who sang your song. They sang because of the way they feel. Don’t never take and try to change a musician when he does something. Let him play the chords the way he feel.”

Howlin’ Wolf performing in 1972 / Image by Doug Fulton

“The Westerner”

When I sit down to write a song, I pay no mind to those who would tell me there are only certain pre-approved genres I can pull from. Judging from the meme, that would be none.

As I strum my guitar and wield my pen, I pay no mind to any other artist before me, by me, or in front of me. The creation of art is the single most individualistic, rationally selfish thing a person can do. The creation of art is a radical display of freedom.

My mind and artistic vision is concerned with the ownership of one thing, my principles. And those principles are accessible to all, if one accepts a life of passionate commitment to an ideal, rather than an idol.

There is a poem that I think encompasses the noble work of artists, and art lovers, throughout the history of the world. Unlike the context-dropping meme, it speaks to the grandeur, individuality, talents, skills, and camaraderie of the artistic Western canon.

I’ll share with you the first verse of “The Westerner” by Badger Clark. You can read the full poem here. It stands for what any artist worth a damn plans to do with their artistic journey.

There is a small minority of us artists who understand art is rooted in connection, fusion, harmony, and the universal human condition, not power dynamics. Hopefully, as we continue creating art that speaks to this fundamental reality, this poem will soon become more popular than some meme.

Should that day come, we’ll know we’re on the right track.

My fathers sleep on the sunrise plains,
  And each one sleeps alone.
Their trails may dim to the grass and rains,
  For I choose to make my own.
I lay proud claim to their blood and name,
  But I lean on no dead kin;
My name is mine, for the praise or scorn,
And the world began when I was born
  And the world is mine to win.

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