Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 October 17

= October 17 =

Music genre rules qualifications origin place
My questions are complicated to understand but I want to know something:

In Bhangra music, is there a rule where it says you have to be an Indian, a Sikh and a Punjabi in order to be an artist of this genre and sing the songs in Punjabi only? In Raï music, is there a rule where it says you have to be an Algerian, from Oran only in order to be an artist of this genre and sing the songs in Arabic only? In Hip-hop music, is there a rule where it says you have to be an African-American only, from USA only and sing the songs in English only to be an artist in genre? In Qawwali music, is there a rule where it says you have to be a Pakistani only, from Pakistan only and sing the songs in Urdu only in order to be an artist? In Baul music (in Bangladesh), is there a rule where it says you have to be from Sylhet division only in order to be an artist? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.33.235 (talk) 01:19, 17 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Music is art. Art has no rules. —Nelson Ricardo (talk) 02:00, 17 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Re: Hip-hop music, for example, see Eminem. Of course there may always be some purist devotees of any ethnically oriented music genre who object to non-conformity with their own self-conceived "rules", but that doesn't mean anyone else has to take any notice, beyond practicalities. (If the audience comes towards you brandishing chairs, it's time to leave the venue.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 13:03, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

So, as a Bangladeshi, I can sing Bhangra songs, Raï songs, and Qawwali songs in Bengali and as a non-Sylheti, I can sing Baul songs in Bengali language, not in Sylheti? Awesome. Also, in Mizrahi music, is there a rule where it says I have to be a Mizrahi Jew and sing songs in Hebrew in order to be an artist? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.35.172 (talk) 15:14, 17 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Who do you think is going to stop you from doing so? -- Jayron  32  19:46, 17 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes, and I can sing Chinese folk songs, even though I am not part of that culture. Genres are always vague, and inclusion is always debatable. Some people love that, some people hate it. You get to make up your own genre rules, but nobody else has to respect them. There are certainly people who make French_hip_hop, though I'm also sure there's someone out there would claim it's not "real". Here's an analogous question: Can you get a real Dosa in New York City? I think most of us would agree that you can, but the writer of this article might disagree. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:17, 17 October 2014 (UTC)


 * ... and look at our sizable category hip hop by nationality. The answers to these questions also depend on how purist you wish to be and how important authenticity of expression is to you. In some critics' view, hip hop's authenticity was already diminished when it went mainstream, even when performed by African-American artists from the USA. ---Sluzzelin talk  16:36, 17 October 2014 (UTC)
 * According to certain cultural values, yes, you do have to have some connection to the music or culture for it to "count" although nothing is stopping outsiders to sing it or play it. Aboriginal music of Canada has a brief explanation.  Mingmingla (talk) 19:28, 17 October 2014 (UTC)