Will.i.am defends Bruno Mars after cultural appropriation debate storms the internet (Picture: Getty)

Will.i.am has weighed in on the debate that has divided music fans after Bruno Mars was accused of ‘cultural appropriation.’

Last week, a deep-dive analysis of Bruno’s music on The Grapevine claims that he is ‘profiting’ from ‘black music’ as a non-black artist of colour.

YouTuber Sensei Aishitemasu says that he ‘plays up his racial ambiguity to be able to do cross-genre and going into different places.’

But Black Eyes Peas star said that it is ‘awesome’ that other cultures mimic black culture as long as ‘they know where it came from’ because ‘the whole point is to get black culture to spread.’


Bruno Mars’ music has caused a lot of debates in the last week. (Picture: Invision/AP)

The comments created a huge debate online with many fans defending the Finesse hitmaker citing that he always pays homage to the black artists who inspire his Grammy award-winning music.



Speaking at the London premiere of music documentary Defiant Ones on 15 March, The Voice Judge told Metro.co.uk: ‘Everyone should be free to do what they want to do.’

When we asked him what he would say to offended fans he added: ‘The whole point is to get black culture to spread to the entire world to the point where we are not a minority and we have opportunities outside of music.

Will attended the Defiant Ones premiere last night (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Music is a tool to inspire and we are doing just that and creating jobs just outside dancing and singing.’

The 43-year-old, who celebrated his birthday alongside Dr. Dre and Apple Music exec Jimmy Iovine on the red carpet, also urged fans to have a wider perspective.

‘First, we have to understand the point and the bigger picture and it is awesome that we have other cultures that want to do and mimicking and be like our culture,’ he said on Thursday’s night event at Brixton’s Ritzy.

He concluded: ‘From that point of view we will be better off when people are celebrating our culture just as long as they know where it came from.’

Will, who appears in the four-part series about Dr. Dre’s and Iovine’s close friendship and business partnership, will be joined by Nas, Eminem, Bono, Diddy and Snoop Dogg when the HBO feature becomes available to UK fans.

Defiant Ones will be available to stream on Netflix on March 23rd.

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