Pop star Justin Bieber is once again being called out for cultural appropriation. This comes after the singer debuted a controversial new look over the weekend.
Justin Bieber took to Instagram to post a series of images alongside his wife Hailey on Sunday as the couple enjoyed a vacation. It wasn’t long before fans noticed that the singer was sporting a new look and began questioning what was up with the pop star’s hair. The singer then decided to give fans a closeup, posting a selfie showcasing his starter dreads hours later, on Monday morning.
As was the case in 2016 when he debuted a similar look, fans weren’t here for the hairstyle. Many called out the singer for appropriating black culture.
One Instagram user wrote, “This ain’t it but ily through it all.” Another was more direct, commenting, “this is cultural appropriation…I know you can do better.”
A third IG user wrote, “J, please educate yourself on cultural appropriation… You shouldn’t be wearing dreads. With love.”
Just as he did back in 2016, Justin has not directly addressed the comments calling him out but made his stance known about his choices. Back then, he addressed it with a video on Instagram captioning it, “Being weird is fun’ if ur not weird I don’t like you.”
In today’s instance, he posted a cryptic message to his Instagram page. The post said, “It’s power in acknowledging our insecurities, WE ALL GOT EM.”
He continued, “It’s okay to have insecurities, open up and talk about them it’s healthy.”
While several fans tried to defend the singer, many were adamant that Bieber’s white skin precluded him from wearing locs. In recent times, dreads have largely been worn by black people as a fashion statement, but for many, they have spiritual significance. Rastafarians, in particular, see them as spiritually significant and representative of their quest to let go of material possessions as well as a representation of their religious choices and beliefs.
Now while Justin has not indicated the reason for his hairstyle change, the singer has been on a spiritual journey of his own. Last year he posted images showing him and his wife getting baptized. He captioned the images, “The moment @haileybieber my wife and I got baptized together! This was one of most special moments of my life. Confessing our love and trust in Jesus publicly with our friends and family.”
Still, some folks may be reading too deeply into the hair change as it’s just a way for him to express his own “weird and fun” style, and as he calls it and he’s letting everyone know that he’s secure enough with himself to try just about anything.
Justin Bieber previously came under fire for cultural appropriation when he released his 2015 song, “Sorry”, which borrows a lot of its elements from reggae/dancehall music even the fashion and choreography in the music video. At the time, Bieber did not give credit to Jamaican music culture. However, in an interview with DJ Khaled last month, the Canadian heartthrob admitted that he was influenced by reggae/dancehall.
justin sweetheart you have to understand that to support black people and the anti racism movement you have to be coherent to what you preach and that means not doing cultural appropriation ever
dreadlocks do not look good on you @justinbieber
— livia | cr: lâmina da assassina ? (@nseidenadaoxe) April 26, 2021
Justin needs to look into why dreadlocks are considered to be cultural appropriation. If he educated himself on this topic, he wouldn't be doing it
— ? •*.?. ??????? out now (@Groovybiebz) April 26, 2021
