As Michael Bertrand puts it

For some, that makes Elvis the king of appropriation. Helen Kalowole's Guardian article He Wasn't my King, argues that Presley's whiteness enabled him to get famous and rich by singing songs that went unheard when emanating from the black people who originated them.As Michael Bertrand puts it: "The appropriation thing will be an argument that follows [Elvis]. The music industry was extremely discriminatory. They understood that there were white and black teenagers listening to rhythm and blues, and they were looking for a white face to appeal to a wider audience and that was Presley. I think the industry is into appropriation and Elvis is into appreciation. When Elvis went into a recording studio, he didn’t write his own songs, he basically wanted to record everything on the radio that he liked."