Its an interesting thing this...its got me thinking
There are now white reggae vocalists like YT, Alborosie and Gentlemen who sing in patois and are largely accepted. But that's because they aren't doing it as a pisstake or a misguided tribute.
and perhaps DJ Derek can be included in that list? Not just adopting an accent, but part of the scene full stop. The same with David Rodigan. Or even Westwood - he may sound ridiculous at times but his commitment to the music goes back to day 1 in terms of the UK, and he is an authentically integrated part of rap culture. Thats just integration, same as adopting Spanish if you live in Spain, and is a natural process I guess.
So why not Scally's Small Faces and Donovan example (which im not familiar with - any chance of a post?)? Maybe because it was just a flirt with the scenes? Not immersed enough?
The vast majority of UK vocalists have long been trying to sound like their US counterparts, but because the US accent is more subtle a difference between English it doesn't come over as cringe-worthy - but it must be the same process of imitation as sincerest form of flattery. Of course pisstaking is another thing all together.
In terms of the acceptability of pisstake patois etc, then 2 tone is a biggie as
ska invita says.
2 Tone was explicitly multi-racial, held mutual respect for both musical heritages (punk and ska), but I think the interesting thing was that white vocalists didnt try and imitate accents, in fact maybe went the other way to emphasise their own UK accents. Theres something about that that feels mature - the mutual respect is there but lets just be ourselves. Perhaps to fetishise a difference of an Other, whether out of respect or mocking, comes from the novelty of the difference - 2 Tone feels like they've gotten over it. It makes contemporaries who are still fetishising that difference seem outdated and naive.
I think a melding like that of MLE (multi ethnic london english) is inevitable as communities integrate deeper...its a loaded subject though, very complex, lots of power relations going on there. Pretty amazing to think about really
