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(CNN) -- An international war of words has broken out over a New Zealand pop star's chart-topping single, after an American blogger labeled the track racist.
"Royals," the debut single by Lorde, currently sits above hits from Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making the 16-year-old the youngest artist to top the U.S. chart in 26 years.
The singer, who sings about rejecting the trappings of consumerism in "Royals," and has admonished fellow pop star Selena Gomez for being insufficiently feminist, has won plaudits from critics as a refreshing presence in the charts. But not everyone is a fan.
Writer Veronica Bayetti Flores took issue with the song's lyrics, in which Yelich-O'Connor sings that "every song" is about gold teeth and Maybach luxury cars -- both fixtures of hip-hop music videos -- before concluding "we don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams."
"While I love a good critique of wealth accumulation and inequity, this song is not one; in fact, it is deeply racist," wrote Bayetti Flores. "Because we all know who she's thinking when we're talking gold teeth, Cristal (champagne) and Maybachs. So why shit on black folks? Why shit on rappers?"
She concluded her post with the observation that the singer "apparently calls herself a feminist." "Let's just hope her feminism gets a lot less racist as she develops as an artist," she wrote.
The post attracted a massive online backlash from Lorde's fans and compatriots as well as other writers, with many claiming that Bayetti Flores, by interpreting the song through the prism of American race relations, was guilty of the kind of cultural arrogance she was attributing to the singer.
"I realize not everything in this world is an instrument of oppression," wrote New Zealand journalist Lynda Brendish. "And not everything in this world should be viewed through the lens of Americans, particularly when it comes to race and cultures of other countries. To insist otherwise is ignorant at best and imperialistic at worst."
Bayette Flores did not respond to a request for comment, but said on her Twitter page that she stood by her post, scoffing "at the quality of critiques" she was receiving in response. Amid the deluge of dissenting opinions, she also received a number of supportive tweets.
"Don't expect a Kiwi teen to know American race history, but then maybe she should step back from hip hop culture," she tweeted.
A spokesman for Universal Music New Zealand, Lorde's label, said the singer had no comment in response to the criticism.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/showbiz/lorde-royals-racism-spat/
"Royals," the debut single by Lorde, currently sits above hits from Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making the 16-year-old the youngest artist to top the U.S. chart in 26 years.
The singer, who sings about rejecting the trappings of consumerism in "Royals," and has admonished fellow pop star Selena Gomez for being insufficiently feminist, has won plaudits from critics as a refreshing presence in the charts. But not everyone is a fan.
Writer Veronica Bayetti Flores took issue with the song's lyrics, in which Yelich-O'Connor sings that "every song" is about gold teeth and Maybach luxury cars -- both fixtures of hip-hop music videos -- before concluding "we don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams."
"While I love a good critique of wealth accumulation and inequity, this song is not one; in fact, it is deeply racist," wrote Bayetti Flores. "Because we all know who she's thinking when we're talking gold teeth, Cristal (champagne) and Maybachs. So why shit on black folks? Why shit on rappers?"
She concluded her post with the observation that the singer "apparently calls herself a feminist." "Let's just hope her feminism gets a lot less racist as she develops as an artist," she wrote.
The post attracted a massive online backlash from Lorde's fans and compatriots as well as other writers, with many claiming that Bayetti Flores, by interpreting the song through the prism of American race relations, was guilty of the kind of cultural arrogance she was attributing to the singer.
"I realize not everything in this world is an instrument of oppression," wrote New Zealand journalist Lynda Brendish. "And not everything in this world should be viewed through the lens of Americans, particularly when it comes to race and cultures of other countries. To insist otherwise is ignorant at best and imperialistic at worst."
Bayette Flores did not respond to a request for comment, but said on her Twitter page that she stood by her post, scoffing "at the quality of critiques" she was receiving in response. Amid the deluge of dissenting opinions, she also received a number of supportive tweets.
"Don't expect a Kiwi teen to know American race history, but then maybe she should step back from hip hop culture," she tweeted.
A spokesman for Universal Music New Zealand, Lorde's label, said the singer had no comment in response to the criticism.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/showbiz/lorde-royals-racism-spat/
