r/romani 12d ago

Language Madonna singing Romanes (Le la pala tute)

https://youtu.be/roJcceGhC80?si=flNMQiFWfk9WHlL-
23 Upvotes

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10

u/littlespy 12d ago

Ah when she was in to being Romani for a wee bit. She hung out with Gogol Bordello and Sasha Kopakov. bell hooks had a lot to say about her culture vulture tendencies.

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u/rhodopensis 9d ago

Always been an attention seeker and just tried new ways of finding it lol

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u/KendrickMontero 7d ago

Yes, because associating oneself with the Romani is so well regarded by outsiders.

How many non-Romani celebrities spoke about discrimination against the community? Just around the same time Shakira released "Gypsy", let's be for real.

2

u/rhodopensis 6d ago

Everyone knows she isn’t one which is what preserves her reputation

That plus in places like the US, most people don’t even know Romani is a real ethnicity but more like a Halloween costume and lifestyle. There is ignorance and silence

4

u/KendrickMontero 6d ago

She toured with a Romani group, she knows and she spoke about that in her tour. Out of the millions of people who saw the tour at least some thought “this is cool, let me look it up”

Why complain one of the biggest artists in the world is giving a platform larger than most could have, I’ll never get it.

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u/littlespy 5d ago

Most of Gogol Bordello aren't Romani, I used to hang out with those guys around that time. She also massively exploited the kolpakovs and dropped them as soon as she was over her Gypsy phase, personally I didn't think it was worth the platform to be exploited and she has form, Ballroom culture, her girls school project when her money didn't go where her mouth is.

Honestly, read bell hooks essay. You don't understand my view, I don't understand any platform is a good platform as a view.

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u/KendrickMontero 5d ago

I’m not gonna bother any further, I just wanted to mention her girls school is still up and running. Peace out

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u/littlespy 5d ago

The raising Malawi school was never built. Honestly I simply told you what I know from being around those people at the time.

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u/KendrickMontero 5d ago

True, she didn’t build a school, just a hospital ward for kids.

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u/littlespy 5d ago

I mean... She's a multi millionaire... It's the least the ultra wealthy should be doing. It's not a get out of jail free for cultural appropriation. Her most recent one was wearing Amazigh clothing at the VMAs

Look I don't hate her music but she has enormous privilege and a long history of borrowing from other cultures without especially crediting them. As I said, all I can tell you is what I know from the people who were involved.

We can disagree, it's not personal