MUSIC: How to Plunder Cultures Responsibly

Recently Salon posted an in depth interview with Daryl Hall (of Hall and Oates). The crux of the piece was how he’s expanding his collaborative live music web series into a touring show and live(which is commendable because in the mid aughts when it started artists were still running scared from the internet). The interview takes a turn halfway through when they broach the topic of cultural appropriation...

Are you trying to say that I don’t own the style of music that I grew up with and sing? I grew up with this music. It is not about being black or white. That is the most naïve attitude I’ve ever heard in my life. That is so far in the past, I hope, for everyone’s sake. It isn’t even an issue to discuss. The music that you listened to when you grew up is your music. It has nothing to do with “cultural appropriation.”

I agree with you entirely, because…
I’m glad that you do, because anyone who says that should shut the fuck up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxG9jeZBafs
Considering there's been a sharp rise in right-wing politics in America and abroad it's no surprise people are more sensitive to issues involving race and culture (because more often then not the two are intertwined). There is a long history of America pillaging the cultural norms while mistreating the cultures it came from. You can see it in Westerns where white actors portrayed Native Americans as evil savages. You saw it in live performances where white performers African-American standards while wearing exaggerated makeup mocking them. Racism even affected how products were even marketed; African-American music was pushed specifically as Race Music while covers of those same songs done by white artists were normally marketed; even vinyl records were imbued with a racial identity.
While things have changed there's still a long way to go when EDM festival organizers feel forced to tell their attendees not to be assholes and rock tribal headdresses during their molly fueled weekend. And of course we've got Diplo's entire career:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqeW9_5kURI
It's not wrong to embrace a culture that's not yours as long as it's done with respect and reverence. It’s a why a bunch of Kung-Fu movie aficionados from Staten Island can base their whole rap group around the Asian movies(RIP Old Dirty Bastard). Cultures shift and influence each other; it's why we have Canadian Jewish Drake (with roots in Memphis Tennessee) sounding like a lost cast member of Cool Runnings here:
https://vimeo.com/119416353
In his case growing up in multicultural Toronto (and collaborations with Reggae stars like Popcaan) makes his code switch seem genuine. You also get the feeling that in case anyone would be misguided enough to give him too much props...

He would be the first to credit the artists that gave him those sounds (in between raps about how hard it is to be a heart broken millionaire).
"There is two kinds of music, the good, and the bad. I play the good kind” – Louis Armstrong
If done earnestly borrowing from cultures more often then not creates a piece of art that honors the artist and their influences. Hall & Oates didn't look like the typical soul artists (that 80's hair!) but the music they created is almost mandatory in any 80's R&B mix. Hall grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and honed his musical talent singing soul music in vocal groups during high school. For him it was the music of his youth and the fact that he would apply it to his own art was a given. If it's a cheap cash in, it sounds cheap, if it's from the heart it sounds like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccenFp_3kq8