Lorde, a 16-year-old singer from New Zealand, is bombarded with success on the charts with her song Royals, which is currently at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100. She’s also been bombarded with over-analytical blog posts and articles about the alleged racism in her music.
Feminist blogger Veronica Flores said, “While I love a good critique of wealth accumulation and inequity, this song is not one; in fact, it is deeply racist.”
“Because we all know who she’s thinking when we’re talking gold teeth, Cristal and Maybacks. So why shit on black folks? Why shit on rappers? Why aren’t we critiquing wealth by taking hits at golf or polo or Central Park East?”
The Civilian, New Zealand’s answer to the Onion, compiled a list of more “deep-seated racism towards black people, as well as a series of other crude and distasteful references that disempower the already disenfranchised” sprinkled throughout Lorde’s debut album. Flores may have set herself up for this one…
About “Tennis Court”
“Lorde opens her album with a song about tennis, a sport played primarily by rich, white people, with the exception of Serena and Venus Williams, who Lorde likely believes aren’t proper black people anyway.”
About “Ribs”
“Stereotypically, ribs are a popular dish amongst black people, particularly those from America’s Deep South. Lorde is subtly ridiculing African Americans by placing this song directly after the hyper-racist Royals.”
More here.
Keep in mind, Lorde is from New Zealand, not the United States. A commenter on Flores’s piece said, “I am pretty sure she didn’t diss Polo because it’s almost unheard of here… didn’t diss golf because here anyone and every one can play golf, it’s not an elite sport… and she probably has no idea why to disrespect Central Park East because like myself she probably had no idea what that was.”
The civilian is a nz-based satirical website. Not to be taken seriously.
I did wonder about that, actually. Thank you
Much like The Onion then.
some of the comments here
are priceless!
The situation is pure british comedy..
We have a white girl, defending black people, and doing it by attacking another white girl from another country..
I mean, I think there’s probably some truth to a little deep-seeded racism but it’s more the hip-hop culture in general, which happens to be predominently black. You can easily make fun of worthless “artists” like Kreayshawn and shit for that too.
Sounds like Veronica is the racist one…
Obviously her lyrics are a response to the content of international top 40 charts & tabloids, & the expectations that media & therefore fans have of pop stars. “We’ll never be royals” is clearly a dig at the very white British royal family.
I’m not sure if there even are black people in New Zealand.
If I were to hazard a guess, this blogger is just looking for stuff to be upset about & feminism is just her platform. I dunno why DMN is giving her any exposure. This isn’t a real story, & posting bits from a parody site as if it were a legitimate news outlet just makes DMN look all the worse.
Hoo boy. So a lyric stating that there’s a lot of rap on the charts and she’s not a fan makes her racist? That’s a bit of a stretch. The song’s basically this generation’s “Panic” (yes, the Smiths), to be honest.May as well call me racist and sexist because I’m not a fan of Top 40 either and listen to college radio instead. *rolls eyes*