"My thinking is that if we're going to take from a culture, let's take from a culture that has exemplified success for thousands of years"
About this Quote
Busta Rhymes is doing something slick here: turning the often-messy reality of cultural borrowing into a performance of pragmatism. He’s not trying to win an academic argument about appropriation; he’s trying to justify a creative choice in terms his audience already respects: results. The line frames culture like a toolkit, and “success for thousands of years” becomes a kind of brand guarantee. If you’re going to lift aesthetics, symbols, or philosophies, why not lift from a civilization with longevity, prestige, and recognizable iconography?
The subtext is a defense mechanism. Hip-hop has long been policed for sampling, remixing, and “taking” - even when those practices are core to its artistry. By saying, essentially, everyone borrows, Busta normalizes the act, then shifts the debate from permission to selection: not whether you take, but what you take from. That’s a clever pivot, because it recasts borrowing as aspiration rather than theft.
But the phrase “a culture that has exemplified success” also reveals a risk: it flattens a living, complicated set of people into a trophy case of “winning.” It treats culture as a ladder to climb, not a relationship to enter. The line works because it’s emotionally legible - who doesn’t want to align with greatness? - while quietly sidestepping the harder questions: Which parts are being taken, who benefits, and who gets turned into aesthetic scenery while others cash the check?
The subtext is a defense mechanism. Hip-hop has long been policed for sampling, remixing, and “taking” - even when those practices are core to its artistry. By saying, essentially, everyone borrows, Busta normalizes the act, then shifts the debate from permission to selection: not whether you take, but what you take from. That’s a clever pivot, because it recasts borrowing as aspiration rather than theft.
But the phrase “a culture that has exemplified success” also reveals a risk: it flattens a living, complicated set of people into a trophy case of “winning.” It treats culture as a ladder to climb, not a relationship to enter. The line works because it’s emotionally legible - who doesn’t want to align with greatness? - while quietly sidestepping the harder questions: Which parts are being taken, who benefits, and who gets turned into aesthetic scenery while others cash the check?
Quote Details
| Topic | African Proverbs |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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