Beyonce is famous because light skin

[Lextyr97 19,958]

 Gotta get that promo

OT: I mean I kinda agree but idk. She has extreme talent lol I think that has more to do with it

[Borislshere 53,080]

Mess at y’all listing dark skin artist from the early 2000s. How many of those artists are as big as Beyoncé, Rihanna or nicki TODAY? Matthews worked in the industry for the longest time. He wouldn’t be saying it just to say it.

[littleFandor 204]

 

[aaronyoji 2,054]

beyonce's massive popularity is in part due to white guilt, she can do no wrong because she's in that category of acceptably black. for the longest time she's been non provocative, agreeable, up until maybe the beyonce era, but more so when formation dropped. it works in her favor, she goes from being likable to even more likable for being controversial. not many black female performers have that. well, none. 

jennifer hudson for example, i find, is a much much better singer. but she's darker. kalela, a new artist, has had probably the best debut album I've heard, its amazing, but she is rather dark skinned. 

[StrawberryBlond 14,872]

On 2/7/2018 at 6:39 PM, River said:

But he has a point but not in the US, but in Europe.

Beyonce is almost gone from the radio there.. but her song with Coldplay, a band of a white man, was one of the most successful that year.. so you clearly see that racism still exist in the "liberal" Europe..

Beyonce isn't getting chart success anymore because she doesn't promote in the UK and hasn't done so for quite some time. I believe Glastonbury 2011 was her last proper promo spot here. She thinks she's too good for us. She thinks promoting in the US is all she needs. Her international sales will tell you that this is proving to be a very bad business plan indeed. It's the same for any artist who neglects large portions of their fans (this is precisely the reason why Gaga's UK success has nosedived). She got a hit with Coldplay because Coldplay are British and there's a sense of national pride, as there is with all countries. And Coldplay are male and there's always a sense of trust within male artists to provide quality. So, national support and male support are the answers here. Any female who featured on that song would've got a hit with it, let's be real. Coldplay were selling it, not who was featured on it. The UK loves black artists, by the way. They're currently some of the most successful. And Beyonce sold out her European stadium tour which played to 867k and made $87 million, so yeah.

On 2/8/2018 at 1:58 PM, T3ARS said:

I'm so glad we're having a discussion about colorism in the world. He's completely right about the impact of lighter skin tones in the industry and the world. If Beyonce was Jennifer Hudson's skin complexion she would not be where she is today. Her lightening her skin definitely helped her appeal to a wider audience. 

And for everyone listing other black artists, there are many shades of brown: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XC7f7cXTsts/U2kd_-6KYgI/AAAAAAAAALI/bVekiLNGbXU/s1600/all+beaut.jpg

Light skin people, like Beyonce, Rhianna, and Nicki benefit from their complexion because people view lighter skin as being "better". Medium brown people, like SZA, Whitney, Brandy, etc. are the what some would call "safe brown", they're black but not too black, then you have Dark skinned people like, Kelly Rowland, Fantasia, Normani that don't get as much attention as the lighter counterparts, and it would be extremely naive to think that their complexion has nothing to do with it. 

Beyonce father is absolutely right, how many of you can name a FEMALE SINGER with DARK SKIN that is on the level of Beyonce and Rihanna? Sure, there have been a few but not many; not enough to discredit the truth about the industry standard. 

It's part of the reason why Cardi B is so hot right now, even though she encompasses every negative stereotype about Latino people. Cardi B isn't too different from Cupcakke, even though Cardi B isn't black she does benefit from being light skin. If Cardi B was Amara La Negra's complexion and acts the way she does now, she would not be where she is now. It would not be seen as being "real and refreshing" and "unapologetically unfiltered" she would be seen as "ghetto" and "rachet". 

https://wearyourvoicemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Screen-Shot-2016-11-28-at-11.07.15-PM.png

https://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/tumblr_ncui30jhx31tfq7vjo1_500.jpg?w=500&h=500

The industry has it's standard but it is dictated by what the people want. 

http://www.vh1.com/video-clips/r8v14k/love-and-hip-hop-miami-amara-la-negra-walks-out-of-her-session-with-young-hollywood  skip to 1:22

Once we change what we want to see then we'll see a diverse group of artist and hopefully more quality artist.  

I listed artists who were very dark to make the point that it is possible. We don't truly know if lighter artists would have failed to succeed had they been darker. So often, the biggest obstacle is promotion and marketing. Those things are your golden ticket to success whoever you are. We've seen Kendrick have mega success with very political, pro-black albums that overtly send their message. Why? Because he put those albums out at the right time and got the best, most positive marketing. His last albums have outsold Gaga's last few albums in US sales. He got a #1 single last year with a very pro-black song when Gaga couldn't. He won Grammys this year that Gaga couldn't. His new song with The Weeknd will probably debut in the top ten on Billboard next week. So, it disproves the point that white artists always win, that they're always automatically marketable. Being black is in right now, just like it was back in the mid 00's, when white pop artists were struggling and black artists were slaying.

Just like any other artist, luck is the biggest factor. Sometimes, it's the right place, the right time. Look into the previous argument I made about lower population = lower representation as well. It's all relative. And it's not unusual for a white artist to make it in a majority white country, the same way no one bats an eyelid when a black artist makes it in a majority black country and an Asian artist makes it in a majority Asian country. It's just when it's whites that there seems to be a problem.

Cardi B is more successful than Cupcakke because she's isn't as explicit. Cupcakke is one of the most explicit rappers I've ever heard. She deliberately sets out to get a reaction by being as OTT provocative as possible. Her music is far too explicit to be played on the radio or promoted on tv. It would be the same story no matter what her race is. In case you haven't noticed, there are laws in place about what is acceptable to transmit through media at certain times of day and transmit in general. I mean, some of her work is borderline p*rnographic. You can't show that, end of.

The industry is already changing its standards because of what people want. We've seen an abundance of black artists making "woke" albums recently and having huge success with them. Black artists are performing as well as they should as regards their 13% US population. They might be exceeding it, actually. You can hardly expect to see an industry consisting of 50% black artists when they're less than a quarter of the country's population. I say this because I'd like to know exactly what you're expecting to see in the future because if the population stays the same, it's going to be the same level of representation. It's just basic maths.

On 2/8/2018 at 2:04 PM, Borislshere said:

Mess at y’all listing dark skin artist from the early 2000s. How many of those artists are as big as Beyoncé, Rihanna or nicki TODAY? Matthews worked in the industry for the longest time. He wouldn’t be saying it just to say it.

Most artists burn out after about a decade. Most don't even get that lucky to even hang around that long. It's the same across all racial groups. I've seen countless black artists still achieving success to this day and having comebacks while their white peers fell by the wayside early and can't get restarted. Fame is fleeting and you can't expect everyone on the planet to buy every good album they ever hear, it's too expensive and streaming is taking over for good reason. To just blame it all on racism is so short-sighted. There's usually multiple reasons for something and in the music industry, there are always numerous reasons.

7 hours ago, aaronyoji said:

beyonce's massive popularity is in part due to white guilt, she can do no wrong because she's in that category of acceptably black. for the longest time she's been non provocative, agreeable, up until maybe the beyonce era, but more so when formation dropped. it works in her favor, she goes from being likable to even more likable for being controversial. not many black female performers have that. well, none. 

jennifer hudson for example, i find, is a much much better singer. but she's darker. kalela, a new artist, has had probably the best debut album I've heard, its amazing, but she is rather dark skinned. 

Just to clarify, white people don't have this culture of "acceptably black." Black people just think we do. It's borne out of racism in their own community that tells falsehoods like "white people don't like natural black hair," "white people don't like black music," and suchlike. Statistics have shown that white people have always responded well to black music and accept it more now than ever before. In fact, it's part of our culture to think that black artists are so much cooler and more vocally gifted than us, it's part of our conditioning. The likes of Jennifer and Kalela aren't getting success because they're not promoted, it's that simple. It's the same across all racial groups. Promotion is the name of the game and if you don't get it when you're a new artist, you usually don't gain a fanbase later on either. Did you know that part of the reason why so many British acts (yes, white ones included) are never launched in America is because they're considered too far into their careers, too old and/or not American enough to make it there? Culture and music snobbery has a lot to answer for when it comes to who get acceptance, far more than race.

[PopMonstre 628]

On 2/7/2018 at 11:05 AM, Lord Temptation said:

Colourism >>> racism. I feel like racism was invented by universities, whereas colourism is as old as time. 

Because even white people have prejudice against very pale or pasty skin (seen as an indicator of poor health maybe?) 

Similarly brown skin people have prejudice against very dark skin (associated with poverty)

Sis what do you mean by this, racism isn’t a made up concept nor is it a new one

[NCgaga 4,324]

2 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Beyonce isn't getting chart success anymore because she doesn't promote in the UK and hasn't done so for quite some time. I believe Glastonbury 2011 was her last proper promo spot here. She thinks she's too good for us. She thinks promoting in the US is all she needs. Her international sales will tell you that this is proving to be a very bad business plan indeed. It's the same for any artist who neglects large portions of their fans (this is precisely the reason why Gaga's UK success has nosedived). She got a hit with Coldplay because Coldplay are British and there's a sense of national pride, as there is with all countries. And Coldplay are male and there's always a sense of trust within male artists to provide quality. So, national support and male support are the answers here. Any female who featured on that song would've got a hit with it, let's be real. Coldplay were selling it, not who was featured on it. The UK loves black artists, by the way. They're currently some of the most successful. And Beyonce sold out her European stadium tour which played to 867k and made $87 million, so yeah.

I listed artists who were very dark to make the point that it is possible. We don't truly know if lighter artists would have failed to succeed had they been darker. So often, the biggest obstacle is promotion and marketing. Those things are your golden ticket to success whoever you are. We've seen Kendrick have mega success with very political, pro-black albums that overtly send their message. Why? Because he put those albums out at the right time and got the best, most positive marketing. His last albums have outsold Gaga's last few albums in US sales. He got a #1 single last year with a very pro-black song when Gaga couldn't. He won Grammys this year that Gaga couldn't. His new song with The Weeknd will probably debut in the top ten on Billboard next week. So, it disproves the point that white artists always win, that they're always automatically marketable. Being black is in right now, just like it was back in the mid 00's, when white pop artists were struggling and black artists were slaying.

Just like any other artist, luck is the biggest factor. Sometimes, it's the right place, the right time. Look into the previous argument I made about lower population = lower representation as well. It's all relative. And it's not unusual for a white artist to make it in a majority white country, the same way no one bats an eyelid when a black artist makes it in a majority black country and an Asian artist makes it in a majority Asian country. It's just when it's whites that there seems to be a problem.

Cardi B is more successful than Cupcakke because she's isn't as explicit. Cupcakke is one of the most explicit rappers I've ever heard. She deliberately sets out to get a reaction by being as OTT provocative as possible. Her music is far too explicit to be played on the radio or promoted on tv. It would be the same story no matter what her race is. In case you haven't noticed, there are laws in place about what is acceptable to transmit through media at certain times of day and transmit in general. I mean, some of her work is borderline p*rnographic. You can't show that, end of.

The industry is already changing its standards because of what people want. We've seen an abundance of black artists making "woke" albums recently and having huge success with them. Black artists are performing as well as they should as regards their 13% US population. They might be exceeding it, actually. You can hardly expect to see an industry consisting of 50% black artists when they're less than a quarter of the country's population. I say this because I'd like to know exactly what you're expecting to see in the future because if the population stays the same, it's going to be the same level of representation. It's just basic maths.

Most artists burn out after about a decade. Most don't even get that lucky to even hang around that long. It's the same across all racial groups. I've seen countless black artists still achieving success to this day and having comebacks while their white peers fell by the wayside early and can't get restarted. Fame is fleeting and you can't expect everyone on the planet to buy every good album they ever hear, it's too expensive and streaming is taking over for good reason. To just blame it all on racism is so short-sighted. There's usually multiple reasons for something and in the music industry, there are always numerous reasons.

Just to clarify, white people don't have this culture of "acceptably black." Black people just think we do. It's borne out of racism in their own community that tells falsehoods like "white people don't like natural black hair," "white people don't like black music," and suchlike. Statistics have shown that white people have always responded well to black music and accept it more now than ever before. In fact, it's part of our culture to think that black artists are so much cooler and more vocally gifted than us, it's part of our conditioning. The likes of Jennifer and Kalela aren't getting success because they're not promoted, it's that simple. It's the same across all racial groups. Promotion is the name of the game and if you don't get it when you're a new artist, you usually don't gain a fanbase later on either. Did you know that part of the reason why so many British acts (yes, white ones included) are never launched in America is because they're considered too far into their careers, too old and/or not American enough to make it there? Culture and music snobbery has a lot to answer for when it comes to who get acceptance, far more than race.

This. Again. You are on a roll. To be honest, at only 13 percent of USA’s population, black people do much better in the industry than the Hispanic population(which is now larger than the black). Mathematically, black people actually have an advantage in the Induatry, and when compared to Latin artist, they actually have a privilege in the industry. 

[StrawberryBlond 14,872]

17 minutes ago, NCgaga said:

This. Again. You are on a roll. To be honest, at only 13 percent of USA’s population, black people do much better in the industry than the Hispanic population(which is now larger than the black). Mathematically, black people actually have an advantage in the Induatry, and when compared to Latin artist, they actually have a privilege in the industry. 

Very good point. I consider Hispanics as white (just the white ones, obviously) as Hispanic is actually listed as an ethnicity, not a race. But they certainly get held down enough in American society to make them have the same problems as any other racial minority. Latin artists have their niche in America but it's still not on the same level as it is with black artists. Even Shakira can't sell millions or do loads of tour dates in America and she's the biggest Latin name. You're right, black artists perform above the expectations for their population size. I don't know why anyone else would want to deny the information right in front of them. It fascinates me that no matter how well black artists do, it's never seen as good enough, constant cries of "there should be more in the charts!"  "they should be selling more!" and "they should be winning more awards!" Exactly how much more do you expect them to humanely do with their limited population? You don't see Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans being this demanding with their entertainment representation. It's controversial to say, but so many black Americans are raised to be so entitled. I've seen it manifest itself in so many ways. If white people ever made the demands they do, they'd be told to shut up and stop whining, which is why I'm astounded that these demands are taken seriously. I once saw an interview with Larry Elder, a black Republican, who once said that it was proved with studies that black youth have more self esteem than white youth. He didn't provide any links but I'd be willing to accept that claim. For all we're told that black people have such low self esteem, their words and actions seem to point to the exact opposite. Those with low self esteem never make demands because they think it's not their place to ask for better. Take it from someone who's been conditioned into silence my entire life. And I'm white.

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

19 hours ago, PopMonstre said:

Sis what do you mean by this, racism isn’t a made up concept nor is it a new one

I think of racism as a label but colourism is what’s underneath the label, to use an analogy.

Racism is an action or behaviour. It’s an effect (or perhaps side effect). Colourism, on the other hand, is the cause of that action or behaviour. To a large extent, colourism is inherited from your parents, society or peers. But racism is a choice.

[T3ARS 4,132]

On 2/9/2018 at 11:09 AM, StrawberryBlond said:

I listed artists who were very dark to make the point that it is possible. We don't truly know if lighter artists would have failed to succeed had they been darker. So often, the biggest obstacle is promotion and marketing. Those things are your golden ticket to success whoever you are. We've seen Kendrick have mega success with very political, pro-black albums that overtly send their message. Why? Because he put those albums out at the right time and got the best, most positive marketing. His last albums have outsold Gaga's last few albums in US sales. He got a #1 single last year with a very pro-black song when Gaga couldn't. He won Grammys this year that Gaga couldn't. His new song with The Weeknd will probably debut in the top ten on Billboard next week. So, it disproves the point that white artists always win, that they're always automatically marketable. Being black is in right now, just like it was back in the mid 00's, when white pop artists were struggling and black artists were slaying.

1

My comment is mainly discussing dark skin, black women. Dark skin black men have no issue when it comes to representation in the media. Like I said, What dark skin woman is currently out here on the level of Beyonce and Rihanna? none. Of course, being light skin does not automatically guarantee success (Keri Hilson, Tinashe, Ciara, Ashanti) but it certainly does help when marketing an artist. 

Quote

Just like any other artist, luck is the biggest factor. Sometimes, it's the right place, the right time. Look into the previous argument I made about lower population = lower representation as well. It's all relative. And it's not unusual for a white artist to make it in a majority white country, the same way no one bats an eyelid when a black artist makes it in a majority black country and an Asian artist makes it in a majority Asian country. It's just when it's whites that there seems to be a problem.

 

I agree. Not everyone is going to make it even if they hit all the qualifications of being a successful entertainer. 

Quote

Cardi B is more successful than Cupcakke because she's isn't as explicit. Cupcakke is one of the most explicit rappers I've ever heard. She deliberately sets out to get a reaction by being as OTT provocative as possible. Her music is far too explicit to be played on the radio or promoted on tv. It would be the same story no matter what her race is. In case you haven't noticed, there are laws in place about what is acceptable to transmit through media at certain times of day and transmit in general. I mean, some of her work is borderline p*rnographic. You can't show that, end of.

2

The comparison was a stretch, I'll admit but Cardi has crossed the lined into explicit territory, i.g, "Ride the **** like a BMX", "I love when he go on tour/'Cause he cums more, when I see him less", "Man, we should sell that ****". I completely understand that Cupcakke has WAY more explicit material and I don't believe if she was lighter or white she would get a pass but it's funny that Cardi gets a pass to go on interviews and talk about having sex raw, how her vagina burns, and having Offset cum in her.

http://www.vulture.com/2017/10/cardi-b-is-that-one-friend-whos-tmi-about-her-sex-life.html

She gets a pass because of her star power, influence, and persona, not because of her skin tone, which I acknowledge. 

Quote

The industry is already changing its standards because of what people want. We've seen an abundance of black artists making "woke" albums recently and having huge success with them. Black artists are performing as well as they should as regards their 13% US population. They might be exceeding it, actually. You can hardly expect to see an industry consisting of 50% black artists when they're less than a quarter of the country's population. I say this because I'd like to know exactly what you're expecting to see in the future because if the population stays the same, it's going to be the same level of representation. It's just basic maths.

 

 

The topic of colorism that Matthew Knowles is talking about is not asking for more black people in entertainment but addressing the need for more variety among black female artists. Why does every music video love interest have to be light skin? why are the majority of black female artist light skin and have loose hair texture? Why are dark skin black women portrayed as being "bitter", "ugly", and "masculine"? 

SZA is one of the few major artists that are new to the scene that doesn't look like the other popular black artist. Her blackness is unquestionable and unapologetic. It's refreshing to see someone like her because the black community is always shown light skin as being the standard of blackness when it comes to women. 

The reason that this is so important is similar to your analysis

 "Black artists are performing as well as they should as regards their 13% US population. They might be exceeding it, actually. You can hardly expect to see an industry consisting of 50% black artists when they're less than a quarter of the country's population."

Mixed race and racially ambiguous women do not make the majority of black women in America, nor the world, however, we are constantly bombarded with their imagery Isn't that weird? It's become so bad that people who aren't even black are being called black just because they're a little darker, like Cardi B (MGM) Amber Rose (MGM, but mostly white) Rita Ora (White) (**MGM = Multigenerational mixed). It's insane that it's so hard to find dark skin black women in the current music industry (there are some like Remy Ma and Normani). Mixed women are being shown as the standard of blackness when they don't even make up the majority and possibly have less the 40% African DNA in them. 

Black women should have the same variation in skin tone as there males counterparts. Of course, this falls on the black community and, thankfully, we're seeing a trend to create our own platforms, celebrate our blackness, and love of black features. Hopefully, as more black people "wake up" we'll see more dark skin woman in the music industry that aren't just a flash in the pan. (I will say, that I don't think it will happen anytime soon and with the music industry, the way it tosses its artist out it might never happen but it would be great to have a modern dark skin singer get the same recognition as light skin artists)

 

I fail to see the downsides of black people coming together to uplift themselves and having pride in their natural features. We're always told to pull ourselves up but the bootstraps and be a better citizen and when we do it, we're attacked. I agree that blackness is "in" right now and many artists are using it to sell (Solange, Beyonce, Kendrick). We're not fools and it so obvious that blackness is being sold, but I don't see it as being divisive, just different. Black people are exploring different avenues of blackness 

 

I'm keeping my views mainly on the music industry but television and films are guilty of the same crime. It a shame that a mixed race woman can play the role of a black woman and no one sees a problem with it. 

 

 

[StrawberryBlond 14,872]

4 hours ago, T3ARS said:

My comment is mainly discussing dark skin, black women. Dark skin black men have no issue when it comes to representation in the media. Like I said, What dark skin woman is currently out here on the level of Beyonce and Rihanna? none. Of course, being light skin does not automatically guarantee success (Keri Hilson, Tinashe, Ciara, Ashanti) but it certainly does help when marketing an artist. 

I agree. Not everyone is going to make it even if they hit all the qualifications of being a successful entertainer. 

The comparison was a stretch, I'll admit but Cardi has crossed the lined into explicit territory, i.g, "Ride the **** like a BMX", "I love when he go on tour/'Cause he cums more, when I see him less", "Man, we should sell that ****". I completely understand that Cupcakke has WAY more explicit material and I don't believe if she was lighter or white she would get a pass but it's funny that Cardi gets a pass to go on interviews and talk about having sex raw, how her vagina burns, and having Offset cum in her.

http://www.vulture.com/2017/10/cardi-b-is-that-one-friend-whos-tmi-about-her-sex-life.html

She gets a pass because of her star power, influence, and persona, not because of her skin tone, which I acknowledge. 

The topic of colorism that Matthew Knowles is talking about is not asking for more black people in entertainment but addressing the need for more variety among black female artists. Why does every music video love interest have to be light skin? why are the majority of black female artist light skin and have loose hair texture? Why are dark skin black women portrayed as being "bitter", "ugly", and "masculine"? 

SZA is one of the few major artists that are new to the scene that doesn't look like the other popular black artist. Her blackness is unquestionable and unapologetic. It's refreshing to see someone like her because the black community is always shown light skin as being the standard of blackness when it comes to women. 

The reason that this is so important is similar to your analysis

 "Black artists are performing as well as they should as regards their 13% US population. They might be exceeding it, actually. You can hardly expect to see an industry consisting of 50% black artists when they're less than a quarter of the country's population."

Mixed race and racially ambiguous women do not make the majority of black women in America, nor the world, however, we are constantly bombarded with their imagery Isn't that weird? It's become so bad that people who aren't even black are being called black just because they're a little darker, like Cardi B (MGM) Amber Rose (MGM, but mostly white) Rita Ora (White) (**MGM = Multigenerational mixed). It's insane that it's so hard to find dark skin black women in the current music industry (there are some like Remy Ma and Normani). Mixed women are being shown as the standard of blackness when they don't even make up the majority and possibly have less the 40% African DNA in them. 

Black women should have the same variation in skin tone as there males counterparts. Of course, this falls on the black community and, thankfully, we're seeing a trend to create our own platforms, celebrate our blackness, and love of black features. Hopefully, as more black people "wake up" we'll see more dark skin woman in the music industry that aren't just a flash in the pan. (I will say, that I don't think it will happen anytime soon and with the music industry, the way it tosses its artist out it might never happen but it would be great to have a modern dark skin singer get the same recognition as light skin artists)

 

I fail to see the downsides of black people coming together to uplift themselves and having pride in their natural features. We're always told to pull ourselves up but the bootstraps and be a better citizen and when we do it, we're attacked. I agree that blackness is "in" right now and many artists are using it to sell (Solange, Beyonce, Kendrick). We're not fools and it so obvious that blackness is being sold, but I don't see it as being divisive, just different. Black people are exploring different avenues of blackness 

 

I'm keeping my views mainly on the music industry but television and films are guilty of the same crime. It a shame that a mixed race woman can play the role of a black woman and no one sees a problem with it. 

Why does it have to be right now? And why do they have to be on a super high level of success? It's this impossibly high standards game again, the idea that if something isn't up to the highest degree, it's racist. Truly racist people don't want any black people around at all, the exact tone is irrelevant to them, so the fact that there's any shade of black making it is already defiant. I don't get this perception that it's just the really dark tones that racists don't like, it's any tone. It would be refreshing if these artists musical outputs were considered before all else, honestly. Perhaps the lighter tones just so happen to be making better music? When you think race is behind everything, it means there's no personal responsibility. I personally believe that you have to make good music to get famous and successful (or at least, that should be the case). I hold everyone to the same standard. I don't want to see a woman get success just because she's a woman. She has to be good for her success to have worth. Likewise, I just want to see better artists on the charts, regardless of their colour. When colour seems to be more important than musical output, there's a problem.

I still don't think Cardi's lines are as explicit. That's just standard female rap boasts. And while, yes, she can get away with saying explicit stuff in interviews, her star power is just one factor. Textual interviews on independent media sites are different from music videos, certain publications and televised interviews on primetime. There's more freedom on these alternative media content sites, people do tend to let loose in such interviews because they can't do it on more mainstream, family friendly media. She also is more explicit on rap-generated media, which also allows a more explicit nature. But you don't see her being this outrageous when she was interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel.

You make good points regarding the portrayal of black women and all of it is reasonable to want to change. I'm just pointing out that a common argument is that there needs to be more black singers around. If you're asking for more variety, you're asking for more overall. And I'm just saying that unless the population grows, that's not going to happen. I don't know how many more there has to be before it's deemed acceptable. I guess it's hard to get the focus on providing a representation of darker skin when I don't have a heirarchy of white skin. I don't look at other white people and think: "they're darker/lighter than me, so they're a bit different to me." No, they're all just white to me. And of course, that's not the only difference. Not only is their whiteness not the same, their hair colour and eye colour are different too. But they're still a white person to me. So, likewise, I don't see any true difference between a light skin black and a dark skin black. Sure, some people see a difference and treat them accordingly, but I don't think the majority of us do.

See, I find phrases like "her blackness is unquestionable and unapologetic" to be a bit...a feeling I can't articulate. The same feeling I get when Matthew said Tina was "very in tune with her blackness." It puts race on a pedestal, it give supremacy vibes. And I don't like it. I know you mean nothing malicious by it but I'm just saying that when I hear that stuff, it gives me the shivers the same way get when I hear subtle white power messages. Racial identity politics are a murky business. Unless we're talking about KKK members, white people don't have such a powerful feeling behind their racial identity like we're made to believe we do. We don't go around saying things like: "they're so proud to be white" or "their whiteness is a force to be reckoned with or anything like that." When white people keep their natural looks and engage in their white culture, we're not showing off our whiteness or making a racial statement, we're just being ourselves and doing what we enjoy. To respond to this with "aggressive blackness" and wearing blackness as an identity is unnecessary. For many whites, our cultures, backgrounds and personal experiences shape our identities, not our race. I'd like to think everyone else was the same.

Yes, there are an abundance of very dark people in the world, hundreds of millions. But the reason why they don't all become global superstars is because the culture that their music is based off of doesn't appeal to all. Even black Americans might not respond well to actual African culture, not to mention slang and dialect. You don't see music from black Britons make it in America either, because black Britons have their own subsection of culture that speaks to a British mentality, that outsiders just won't understand. You tend to have to speak the culture of America if you want to make it there, no matter what colour you are. It's that simple.

I thought Cardi and Amber were completely black because I've seen completely black people who are thier exact shade and whoa, since when was Rita Ora ever referred to as black? She's white, originally from Albania. I don't think she has anything other than white heritage. Sure, Europeans headingout towards the east will have different complexions and Rita takes a tan that gives her a similar appearance to Rihanna but she's still white, everyone knows that.

Again, it depends how many dark people want to become singers out of the already small American population. There's not much more to say. And it's luck if you're a flash in the pan or not, all races can equally be flashes in the pan. It's hard to find any big stars these days, white ones included. One hit wonders are constant, but it's rare to find one to stick. Ariana, The Weeknd and Ed seem to be the last big stars we'll get in a while.

I don't think there's anything wrong with black people coming together to uplift themselves and taking pride in themselves. I'm only disagreeing with the way that some of them have to push racial identity politics while doing it, push black supremacy, shutting white people out, make white people feel unnecessarily guilty and less than when they haven't personally done anything wrong. The pulling up by your bootstraps, while I wouldn't use that expression, doesn't mean adopting those policies. It means "take personal responsibility, try hard and reap the rewards, stop blaming everything that goes wrong on your race, stop seeing life through a racialised lens." For example, white people struggle to get jobs too and we know there's many reasons why we can't get them, and we can't blame our race, obviously. So why can't black people also think they've been refused a job for the same non-racial reasons? I'm white and I've never been employed my entire life and I have a university degree, always appear respectable and am polite. The world of work is harsh and most people don't get the job. That's life.

Sure, you could ask why a dark woman isn't playing the role of a dark woman, but its happened in reverse too. The reasonably dark Taraji P Henson played the real life role of Katherine Johnson, despite the fact that in the book, Katherine is described as being very light black, so light that she was often mistaken for white and when she got wheeled on at the Oscars, if I didn't know any different, I'd think she was a white woman. So, most likely, a darker black woman was asked to play her role for a more racialised effect. And then, well, what do you have to say about the theatre adaption of the new Harry Potter spin-off featuring a dark black woman with an afro playing the white character of Hermione? And what do you think of Zendaya being the first half black Mary Jane in the new Spiderman movie? For the record, the last 2 have something in common. In the Harry Potter one, the man who played Ron looked nothing like the character either, he was most noticeably missing his red hair, which was one of his signature defining features. And Zendaya also doesn't look anything like Mary Jane, whose defining feature was also her red hair. As a red haired person myself, how do you think this makes me feel that my already rare hair colour, which is still mocked to this day and is so rarely portrayed as attractive...is being erased from established fictional characters when they get portrayed by actors? I'm glad that I was also not the only one to feel the same way. I saw a comment from a white girl saying that when she was younger, seeing a redhaired girl like Mary Jane be considered pretty made her feel better about herself and now redhaired girls can't see that with the new live action version. Even when redhaired girls do finally get a rare redhead role model, she usually dyes it. I had Ginger Spice for a while but then she dyed hers blonde. Then I had Lindsay Lohan, who also went blonde. It just makes you feel like your hair isn't good enough and it took me a long time to love my natural hair. Most redhaired women in the media dye their natural hair and a lot of regular citizens too so we have similar parallels to black women in that regard. I even saw this issue briefly get addressed in a "history of black hair" video by a black woman, which I found very refreshing. Just saying that there's more to this issue than a first glance will give you and there's so many groups struggling to get representation. I just think black characters should be played by blacks and white characters should be played by whites (unless it's a community theatre situation). The solution is obviously to create new characters consisting of an array of different races, not change existing ones. In the same way that I don't want a female James Bond, I want to see a new female spy character created who's original and not based on anyone else. Isn't that far more empowering than essentially being a gender spin-off?