YouTube-turned television personality Lilly Singh is facing accusations of cultural appropriation with her remake of the classic “Badman Forward.”
She tweeted out the video of her singing with a fake West Indian accent.
“A classic dancehall tune,” Singh wrote. “Badman Forward remake and this time it’s for the ladies. No matter your size, shape, colour, orientation, preferences or style, this one is for you sister. Tag every badgyal you know! #GirlLove.”
Singh’s use of the West Indian dialect, which is very different from her own speaking voice, has raised a few eyebrows online.
“Why does the only desi representation we get come in the form of Mindy Kaling being a white man’s whore or Lilly Singh appropriating culture, or Priyanka Chopra just being straight up problematic I’m tired of this,” Twitter user @mnlfrhn wrote.
Some have expressed a sense of second-hand embarrassment from Singh’s appropriative actions.
“To be brown and exist in the same timeline as Lily Singh is to live in a perpetual state of embarrassment,” Twitter user @yaynova wrote.
Another user pointed out a glaring difference between the South Asian Indian and West Indian dialects.
“Ma’am, are you West Indian or Indian from the subcontinent?” Twitter user @timethief420 wrote. “You have to ask yourself if this is your culture to ‘remake.’”
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H/T Meaww
