Ask McFartnuggets: “Why is Iggy Azalea Allowed To Sound Black?”

Pretending to be Black for
entertainment tends to be
frowned upon.

Dear McFartnuggets: 

Iggy Azalea is a White Australian rapper who talks in an Australian accent, but raps in an American Southern Black voice. Why is she allowed to do this, but when I, a White man, do stand-up comedy in a Black voice like Bernie Mac people boo and yell at me for being “racist.” Bernie Mac is the biggest influence I have, I’m not using the accent to disrespect anyone, it’s just how I learned to do comedy. So how come Iggy Azalea can use a “Black voice” to rap and that’s okay, but I can’t perform my act with the same thing? -- Lucas from Encino, California

Dear Lucas:

Rap and comedy are two completely different things and for what it’s worth, Iggy Azalea has been called a racist by some people. The key is she’s a young White woman and her name is “Iggy” so people are going to let a lot of shit from her slide. The other thing is, rap is music so it’s mostly an auditory experience so if it sounds like something people normally listen to then they’ll like it. The hip hop culture is very infused with African American culture so to be a part of it you have to act somewhat Black whether it’s an act or who you really are. When you’re on stage doing comedy people will not expect to hear a White guy sounding Black. If it was a rap show then they would because rapping in a “White voice” would sound ridiculous. If Iggy Azalea was doing her rapping voice in normal everyday life people would probably stop her immediately, but because it’s part of her music it’s considered okay.

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