Gwen Stefani scored one hit after another almost twenty years ago with songs from her album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., but over the years he has received increasing criticism for one of his great sources of inspiration at the time. The fact that she was inspired by the Japanese Harajuku clothing style leads to conversations about cultural appropriation. A recent interview has revived the discussion.
“I’m Japanese,” Stefani, 53, tells the American magazine several times Charm when asked about the hype. Not the singer: her father is Italian-American and her mother Irish-American. But the singer says she really looks a little Japanese.
LAMB will be released in 2004. It is the first solo album by Stefani, who was previously in the band No Doubt. The album contains such hits as What are you waiting for?, Rich girl in Hollaback Girl and the reviewers are quite positive about the pop disco. But the decoration of the clips, Stefani’s entourage and the emerging perfume line also raise eyebrows.
Stefani was heavily influenced by Harajuku culture or, critics argue, abused the culture for profit and thus appropriated the culture. Harajuku is a district of Tokyo and is known worldwide as one of the main places of fashion. Harajuku’s colorful street art and vibrant fashion scene also fascinated Stefani, who first met it on her father’s business trips and later went there herself.
“That’s how Japan influenced me. It’s a culture that’s so steeped in tradition and so futuristic at the same time. There’s room for art, detail and discipline – I found it fascinating,” says Stefani of the culture . “And when I went there, it became clear to me: I’m Japanese without knowing it.”
Is it inspiration or is it stealing?
In recent years, discussions about cultural appropriation have become increasingly frequent. On website Asian Raisins, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of racism and fighting prejudice, explains why cultural appropriation is problematic. “The stories and histories of these cultures are ignored and not told, which leads people to believe in the negative stereotypes created by white people.”
In the clips, during the tour and in her clothing style, Stefani tries to incorporate as much of the Harajuku culture as possible. In addition, she is always accompanied by four Japanese and American-Japanese dancers named after her from her album. The dancers don’t speak in interviews and can’t be heard in the music, but they are the inspiration for the perfume line Stefani later releases.
“If you are there What are you waiting for? listening between the lines, you notice that the song is about someone who is a fan of Japan. I sing that I have to do well (in my career, ed.), so I can go back to Japan” Stefani said in an interview with Paper magazine. Because of that interview, the discussion about the singer’s ‘inspiration’ is rekindled: is it inspiration or is it theft?
“If we hadn’t exchanged our cultures, we wouldn’t have known all the beauty we know now. We learn from each other, share things with each other and grow through each other. Making rules about it only leads to results in bigger differences,” Stefani says of comedian Margaret Cho’s scathing critique in 2006. According to Cho, the singer used her backup dancers as puppets.
The journalist would have misunderstood Stefani
Stefani has no regrets about her choices: according to the singer Love. Angel. Music. Baby, with Harajuku as a source of inspiration, an interesting experiment. “It was a great time, very creative. It seems to me a very creative project.”
According to a spokesperson for Stefani, the interviewer understood from Charm the singer was wrong when she said she was Japanese, even though she repeated it several times. The spokesperson would not say what was the point of hers. Stefani himself has not returned there and he does not appear to be aware of any damage. “It’s important to be inspired by other cultures, because if we don’t, the distance between people will only increase.”
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