Justin Bieber’s “Twerk (Ft. Miley Cyrus)” single cover

Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus have earned reputations for being the most notorious symbols of cultural appropriation since Christina Aguilera pretended to be “down” with the streets in 2002. However, upon further inspection, the duo appear to be mocking what they think is black culture as heard in their new song, “Twerk”.

Those of us with any understanding of the southern US know that twerking has been done for years but headlines sweeping the nation during the last week introduced the dance to the wider world as a “hot new dance,” largely as a result of Cyrus’ behaviour on social media. In fact, the word ‘twerk’ has been added to the Oxford dictionary because of its newfound massive popularity.

On the song “Twerk”, the socially privileged Chris Brown Bieber and Cyrus boast about partying and twerking at the club. Now, this may seem innocent but think of the implications in a broader sense: Cyrus assumes being “black” is all about shaking her nonexistent backside and behaving like a wild animal onstage. Bieber, on the other hand, thinks getting tattoos and sagging his pants makes him one of the brothers.

Do you see the core problem here? Bieber and Cyrus have exploited the most crude forms of what they think is “black” culture without paying any attention to better representations of the minority collective. So, they must think very little of those people if they think that is all they do every time they step out the house.

Perhaps, I’m just overreaching but this is the type of issue that demands out attention. Give it deeper though as you listen to Bieber and Cyrus’ “Twerk”, which is actually a catchy song, below:

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