Danielle Bregoli, a.k.a. Bhad Bhabie, is rising up the ranks among the young generation of rappers with her viral hits “These Heaux” and “Hi Bich.”
Atlantic Records signed her in September (a reported multi-million-dollar deal) and is readying her debut album with more singles. In the last few weeks, she’s released “I Got It” and “Mama Don’t Worry (Still Ain’t Dirty)” that have already racked a ton of views on YouTube.
There’s been one common criticism against Bhad Bhabie, and it is whether she is culturally appropriating or is actually coming from an authentic place with her music. She addressed her fandom of rap in an interview with HipHopDX, but openly admitted that she was exposed to country music at an early age.
“I’ve always been like really into music,” she said. “I’ve always loved music. I mean I’m not gonna lie, I started off listening to country music because my grandparents listened to it. My whole family is kind of like weird. My Aunt Donna listens to Bon Jovi and a lot of like rock and metal type music. And then my Aunt Nancy, she listens to country and then my grandma listens to country. But my mom and my cousins all listen to rap and obviously I’m my mom’s kid, so I’m with her more. So ever since I was younger, I’ve heard different types of music and explored different types of music.”
Will Bhad Bhabie get dragged for being a culture vulture like Post Malone and other white artists have in the past? Well, according to her, she thinks the idea of her appropriating black culture is ridiculous.
She tells Fader:
“I look at that cultural appropriation shit and I just ignore it because it’s ridiculous, it really is. You cannot act a color. Do not tell me I’m acting black because I’m not. I’m acting 'urban,' or whatever you want to call it. I don’t even have a name for it, I call it, 'me.' How I act is me. I get braids all the time, you can’t tell me I’m acting black because I braid my hair. That makes no sense whatsoever. One race does something more than another race.
Does she have a point? You can watch the rest of her interview with the publication above. She discusses her rap career, haters, and much more.
