I do have some thoughts on it.

I have mixed feelings on the "appropriation" tag for him. I mean the definition literally fits, considering he was almost sued for jacking folks stuff... but then he paid up. What I do like about him is that he's gives credit to the originators of the sounds he's using. He's not afraid to do that. I don't know if I've ever heard of him addressing how his racially ambiguous or "exotic" looks contribute to his success, but I'd respect that. I can imagine that that's hard for him, because he actually is talented, and he might not want to imply that it was anything other than his hard work that opened doors for him or allows non-black folks to connect/relate to him, but... I'll just leave it at that.

As for my feelings on his music, I'll use something I saw in his Super Bowl performance in 2014. He did this paint-by-numbers James Brown imitation where he moved his feet, spun, and did a split. He did that whole sequence twice, but he did it exactly the same way both times. Like he was counting the steps to the move... as if he learned the sequence just for the performance... no feeling, no soul... just an obviously planned "improvisation." It amazed me that there were people who were impressed with that. It looked completely canned to me. But just the fact that he did it at all kinda got him a participation award in some ppl's eyes. That paint-by-numbers approach is how I see everything he does. He's found the keys to imitating people but not the soul. It's just someone going through the motions. He's like the JAY PHAROAH of music to me. He can imitate anyone and sound exactly like them. Jay can sound exactly like Denzel Washington, but he can't imitate his acting skill. Jay can imitate Eddie Murphy, but he can't be Eddie Murphy funny. Bruno can imitate MJ, Bobby Brown, James Brown, etc, but he can't be as soulful as them. Bruno goes as far as his talent can take him, and many of his songs are enjoyable... I mean, he's imitating the best. People talk about how he's got it honest because he grew up IMITATING Elvis. So lemme get this straight... he's true to Black soulfulness because he grew up imitating an imitator of Black soul? I swear people don't think their ideas through, lol. But here's the other thing that gives him away... he didn't come in the game doing this "Black soul" act he's doing now. He was a folksy pop guy at first. Then Uptown Funk hit and he stuck with it, because it hit. Consider this... James Brown came in the industry having to make the kinds of songs that were being recorded at the time. He eventually changed his sound, because his soul wouldn't let him keep doing something he didn't feel. When his own sound caught on, he changed music. Bruno changed his sound because of a song that was handed to him. He didn't revolutionize the game... he just kept getting his sound from elsewhere (as in imitating). He just sounds like exactly what he is... someone who doesn't have their own sound. Canned music, canned dance moves... paint-by-numbers. Other people innovated these things... he just imitates them. Yeah it's fun, enjoyable etc, b/c he's a good imitator who imitating fun and enjoyable artists... so when Meshell Ndegeocello says he's singing karaoke, that makes complete sense to me. He came up doing exactly that, right? If you wanna talk about just "who he is" it's an imitator at heart. He's trained for it since he was 6, correct? I don't see him having moved beyond that.