‘The Word’ Special – "The Light Skin / Dark Skin Debate"

Published: Thursday 11th Aug 2011 by TGJ

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For years, the debate surrounding light skin and dark skin has raged on in many a spectrum – not least Popular music.

While the musical landscape boasts a multi-ethnic presence, some maintain a stance that success in Pop is unevenly orientated towards acts with fairer complexions. Indeed, one look at the charts arguably lends compelling credence to such statements.  For, with every Fantasia, Kelly Rowland, Jennifer Hudson, there exists the more successful Beyonce’s, Rihanna’s, and Alicia Keys’ of the world; artist’s whose success is oft built on the ability to “sell” them.  Which begs the question: is the music industry bias towards light skin acts?

As such, in our quest to continually push the envelope, That Grape Juice took to the streets of Hollywood to hear what the masses had to say on the matter. This, ladies and gentleman, is…’The Word’.

Be sure to let us know what YOU think below…

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  1. Bobby Bulgaria August 11, 2011

    OK, if there is something true about that then I think it has always been kind of a technical issue… I myself sometimes (well, most times) have a hard time watching someone really too dark-skinned in a video or on the screen because obviously light doesn’t come back from their face… You know, black color absorbs light (pure physics) and when the face is a lot darker you have to have much more light to make it really visible…

    I even think that this has had a great impact on racism right from the start of it in the past and maybe is the main reason for it – if someone’s really that dark-skinned that you could not quite see their face you just feel threatened and scared by them… People are scared of the unknown and of the dark too, so when you combine both things it just works on a subconscious level I guess…

    • DASTARKIDD August 11, 2011

      WOW I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY BUT YOU ARE VERY RIGHT IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

    • King B August 11, 2011

      Are you f****** stupid or what?

    • U August 11, 2011

      Like seriously you right when I see a dark person I’m scared. I see gangsta ghetto and crazy. I don’t know why but i just do. When I see a light skin person it’s like seeing Beyonce or Nicki Minaj because in most cases light skin people are bubbly and peppy and dark skinned people are loud ghetto and reckless.

    • U (continued) August 11, 2011

      Darker people have such a hardcore exterior it’s like they are also angry at something or ready to fight. Light skinned seem approachable and nice. That’s why there more of them in this industry because the people running the show see that light skinned people are more approachable to a diverse audience.

    • Bobby Bulgaria August 11, 2011

      OK, people who don’t believe this just make this experiment:

      Get a pic of a black person, copy it and make the face on one of the pics really too dark, then on the other one make the SAME face a lot lighter and see the difference for yourselves… 🙂

      • King B August 11, 2011

        See my response to “U”.

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 12, 2011

        Well, what else could you say… Your small brain must be pretty incapable of thinking so you would rather put some short stupid comments instead…

        Does that response of mine satisfy your needs…?
        I guess it does…

      • King B August 12, 2011

        Should you really be the one to talk about people having small brains considering the incredibly dumb s*** you say?

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 12, 2011

        Oh, I see… Physics is dumb… And psychology is dumb…

        Hmm… Thanks a lot but… NO!

        GET BACK TO SCHOOL!

      • TIMMI August 12, 2011

        You really do have difficulties. No, physics and pyschology as subjects are not dumb.

        It’s your own creative but ludicrous theories that are shockingly dumb.

        Don’t bother getting back to school, you clearly don’t have the brain capacity to learn anything there.

    • Dre Eazy August 12, 2011

      No offense, because I don’t think you are unintelligent, just uninformed, but you need to seriously re-think and re-investigate some of your highly problematic theories.

      • Dre Eazy August 12, 2011

        I was referring to “Bobby Bulgaria.”

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 13, 2011

        It’s not a THEORY, it’s only REALITY… I made another explanation below if you care…

        And to the stupid CHILDREN talking about school – I already got A MASTER’S DEGREE FROM UNIVERSITY so… I’m just gonna LAUGH at that… 🙂

  2. ASAP (As Sincere As Possible) August 11, 2011

    I don’t think anyone pays attention to that anymore.The black community has decided to stick together after all and I don’t think there is any kind of discrimination between them.

  3. TIMMI August 11, 2011

    @BOBBY BULGARIA

    Your comment was really dumb, ignorant and unfounded. We are talking about skin here, not just colour in general. People being scared of the dark so subconsciously being scared of black people is the equivalent of saying “I have a phobia of cotton so pale people intimidate me”. Only a dunce would not be able to distinguish between someone’s skin tone and a lack of light.

    “I even think that this has had a great impact on racism right from the start of it in the past and maybe is the main reason for it – if someone’s really that dark-skinned that you could not quite see their face you just feel threatened and scared by them…”

    Yes, that would explain why the British and American colonies TOOK THEMSELVES to black countries, DRAGGED black people back to their HOME COUNTRY and had them LIVING in THEIR HOMES. Because they were threatened and scared of them. Makes perfect sense. *Rolls eyes*

    • Bobby Bulgaria August 11, 2011

      @ TIMMI:

      I will not argue with ignorant people like you (and I wonder how old you might be) but your stupid cotton comparison isn’t even equivalent with mine… I guess you would have to read my comment again (maybe several times) to get the reality…

      PS. Are you white btw? If you’re not I don’t really see you comprehending that…

      And can you really distinguish (modern) racism (fear from the unknown others, or simple hate towards them) from collonialism (common exploitation of the then known others, who were not even considered people then I guess)…?

      • TIMMI August 12, 2011

        @BOBBY BULGARIA

        After your ridiculous statement about people being subconsciously scared of black people because they are afraid of the dark, you are in no position to use the words “dumb”, “stupid” or “ignorant” unless talking about yourself. My comparison is very equivalent to your nonsense. Your argument was that people are scared of black people due to their fear of the dark and its connotations (“the unknown). I had to decide whether to even justify your silliness by responding, but since I wasn’t busy I thought I may as well spare the time to make you realise how foolish you are.

        Firstly, not all people are scared of the dark. Secondly and more importantly, darkness and black skin are two different things. People are scared of the dark because they are lunged into (in your own words) the unknown. They can not see what might be hiding around the corner or even standing right behind them. That is what the fear of darkness is all about. When you see a dark skinned person their features can still be distinguished, they do not blend in with the background and they do not lunge you into the unknown. We aren’t consumed by their skin, jeez. So to suggest that people are scared of dark-skinned people because they do not like the dark is not only ignorant, but plain ass dumb.

        And I was not referring to colonialism. I was referring to slavery and stating that if they were scared of black people they would not have brought them back to their countries and into their homes to work for them. And yes, they were considered people, but simply people of a lower standard who should be treat accordingly.

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 13, 2011

        Well, obviously you didn’t get my message at all so you ended stuck up with the “people are scared of the dark” thing… So that’s why you used that stupid unequivalent comparison, now I understand…

        I said: Too dark-skinned people have almost undistinguishable face features (for me, as a white person) cuz unless there is really much light then their features just blend in… And when people don’t recognize a person’s face they just don’t TRUST that person and try to AVOID them… It’s like avoiding THE UNKNOWN, this that you can’t see – like THE DARK, or muddy water… And that is NOT a theory, that’s only REALITY… 🙂

      • TIMMI August 14, 2011

        @BOBBY BULGARIA

        You know, you are so irritatingly DUMB that you make me want to ram my foot through the screen directly at your ugly eye.

        How did I “end stuck up with the “people are scared of the dark” thing”? That was your OWN stupid idea, directly quoted here:

        “People are scared of the unknown and of the dark too, so when you combine both things it just works on a subconscious level I guess…”

        Please don’t try to push off your embarrassing theories on to me. You will never catch me saying s*** as dumb as that.

        “Too dark-skinned people have almost undistinguishable face features (for me, as a white person)”.

        Really? Well then you need to get your eyes checked. And don’t even try going there with the “as a white person” as if to say white people’s eyes are less adapted to looking at dark-skinned faces than another race. See how dumb you are? How the HELL was the “as a white person” relevant?

        “And that is NOT a theory, that’s only REALITY…”

        Really? So where are all the top psychologist’s comments and theories, based on proven and valid studies that support the argument “people are scared of dark-skinned people due to it being like avoiding the unknown/dark”.

        No dear, this is not reality. This is another case of you jumping into a post and using your wild imagination to spout off a crock of s*** then hoping people will buy it. Those who have common sense and don’t, you try your hardest to convince and you continue to lie and make up facts and “realities” in your head so you don’t feel defeated.

        Do you want another example of how dumb you are?

        “And to the stupid CHILDREN talking about school – I already got A MASTER’S DEGREE FROM UNIVERSITY so… I’m just gonna LAUGH at that…”

        You post that as if your argument suddenly holds much more supremacy than anyone else’s in these comments. I might have a Master’s in Marine Biology, doesn’t mean I’m going to know much more about this situation than anyone else does it? Unless you are a Psychologist and can provide me with your studies on this subject and your stupid theory, take your masters somewhere else where someone gives a f***.

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 14, 2011

        Oh, you’re still here… Still trying HARD to prove me wrong…

        Well, you’re still giving stupid examples and comparisons, still changing my words, and still getting stuck on the wrong words, but not getting the meaning of THE WHOLE sentence, so I guess we have to end it here…

      • TIMMI August 15, 2011

        The end? The END??!

        You’re kidding me right. The END was when I responded to your post. The rest of it was you grasping at straws, what you do best.

        See ya.

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 15, 2011

        Well, you keep responding and still trying TOO HARD… 🙂

        So, the END is when I say it is…

        It is NOW…

      • TIMMI August 15, 2011

        B****, I will decide when the end is since you are clearly unable to make a firm decision.

        “I will not argue with ignorant people like you.” Wasn’t that what you said around 20 posts ago?

        THE END.

        __________________

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 16, 2011

        Well, obviously you keep coming back for more and, if you haven’t already noticed, I am not arguing with you anymore – I am just…
        F U C K I N G you now… 🙂

        It’s NEVER ENDING now and I like it a lot… Mmm…

      • TIMMI August 17, 2011

        Yes, obviously I keep coming back for more, but I am not the fool who repeatedly says I am not arguing with you then magically reappearing, contradicting myself and making myself look like the biggest living hypocrite.

        And yet you want people to take your dumb ideas seriously… LOL such a troll.

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 17, 2011

        Don’t really care what people (and you) think of my “ideas” as they are pure reality…

        Nobody can prove me wrong as nobody can prove universal cosmic truths wrong…

        And I can do whatever I want and be a hypocrite as much as I like and nobody can tell me anything… Especially an attention seeking fool like you… 🙂

  4. Giovanni Dayevid August 11, 2011

    Only Black People care about this nonsense. The reason dark artists don’t necessarily sell albums is because black people are the ones that have generated the hate themselves for dark skinned people, White people i the United States for the most part don’t care about your skin color; however they don’t necessarily purchase albums, etc from black artists. . . its generally Black people who buy music mainly from black artists, and since the stigma is so strong that “Dark Skinned” is unattractive. . . they wont buy the albums. . . and that is why people don’t buy albums from Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, or Kelly Rowland.

    • Anne August 11, 2011

      I agree that this is an issue that only black people care about but I don’t think black people or anyone else bases music purchasing on a light skin/dark skin preference. For those black people who have such a preference I think that only effects who they will date or be attracted to but as far as music goes all people purchase music that they like and that appeals to them no matter who made it or how that person’s skin tone looks. I agree with the people on the video who said it’s mainly about the MUSIC and about being willing to put in the work. Rihanna may not have a lot of vocal talent but she releases crossover songs designed to be radio hits. Jennifer Hudson and Fantasia don’t make crossover music so they will probably never have the type of success that Rihanna, Beyonce, or Alicia Keys has. Hudson & Fantasia’s record companies push urban material from them only and a lot of urban music purchasers (which is already in the minority among music buyers) download music for free. If you crossover you are pulling from a larger audience and bound to get more people who are willing to buy your music instead of downloading it for free. Kelly Rowland on the other hand has been all over the place genre wise but I think her main problem is she has always been compared to Beyonce and stuck in her shadow because although Kelly is talented, Beyonce tends to outshine her performance wise. Kelly does not really have the type of powerhouse vocals to be thrown in a R&B category with Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, and Beyonce. Kelly’s other problem is a lack of songs with mass appeal (with the exception of Motivation). For example, Kelly may be able to hang with someone like Alicia Keys vocally, but has Kelly ever released songs with the type of mass appeal like “Fallin,” “No One,” “Woman’s Worth” or “Diary” and so many other Alicia Keys hits? Some people want to underrate the talent and music of someone like Beyonce or Alicia Keys because they are light skinned but the bottom line is I think light/skin dark preferences have very little to with who will make and who will not make it in the music industry.

  5. jmoore August 11, 2011

    VYBE KARTEL! nuff said!

  6. Tim August 11, 2011

    It has to do with most light skinned people being half white. And also them having lighter colored eyes (like a white person), lighter skin (like a white person), and in most cases longer and lighter hair (like a white person). So it all comes back to race. People prefer light skinned people because they have all desirable features of a white person but with the body build of black people. Example: Beyonce Father black Mother Creole ( Creole Half French/ Half Black). Beyonce hazel eyes blonde hair light skin and longish hair. Those are the white features. The black features bigger rear-end bigger breast and who can forget the s*** curves. So it all has to do with having the best of both worlds white and black.

  7. T-Blaze August 11, 2011

    Of course the industry is bias…let stop asking repetitive questions and lets find out why. I am a darker sister who have very Eurpopean like features…and am often told “you are so pretty to be dark skinned” not just by men but by women as well. Cleary Fantasia, Jennifer hudson and Kelly Rowland can out sing Rihanna and Alicia Keyes but the latta are the bigger sellers. As a black woman when I turn on the tv or music I want to see and hear people that represent me and I can relate too. so with that being said the record buying community aka non african american teenage girls will buy the Beyonce , the rihannas and the Alicia keyes…have you ever walked into your friends (becky or Sarah) and saw a Jet, Ebony or Today black woman magazine , of course not and your not going too.

  8. TIGERLASHES August 11, 2011

    Smdh. Are you deliberately trying to get us into a ridiculous debate? I certainly do not see any racial barriers in music, enough said.

  9. Bobby Bulgaria August 11, 2011

    And then again, it’s obviously not a matter of the skin tone only but of the face features too…

  10. Robier August 11, 2011

    This was so great. I enjoyed immensely and this NEEDS to be discussed

  11. INCORRECT GRAMMAR August 11, 2011

    This irks me every time with thatgrapejuice ->”the more successful Beyonce’s, Rihanna’s,…’” should read the more successful BEYONCES, RIHANNAS. There is no POSSESSION there. You need to make the names plural.

  12. jennifer August 11, 2011

    i just want to give a shoutout to the cute guy who spoke his mind first

    omg he is adorb. i would love to hang out with him.

    i could be his h**!

    and why the fck we talkin about jason depoopeau

    f*** that frankenstein ass n****, his extra awful music and his ridiculous eyebrows need to get behind the scenes and stay the f*** there. period.

  13. bettyboopbbw69 August 11, 2011

    sigh at the first person’s inability to speak as if he doesn’t have to try so
    hard.

  14. Robier August 11, 2011

    Wow Enjoyed immensely. It needs to be discussed

  15. Fleur August 11, 2011

    There are legitimate reasons why the Beyonces, the Rihannas, and the Alicias are more successful than the Fantasias, Kelly Rowlands, and the Jennifer Hudsons. Sam, one of them is not skin tone.

    When I examine these entertainers’ successes, I look at the whole package versus the parts. These ladies don’t have the same background/life experiences. They don’t have uniform personalities. They don’t have an identical singing/delivery/performing style. The tone of their voices are not alike. They don’t use their voices similarly. They don’t have the same music catalogue. They don’t have carbon-copies media image/personna. They don’t portrait the exact-same characteristics/values on & off the stage. I can go on and on…

    Since these entertainers are not one of the same, Sam, how can they have the same level of success?

    Out of all the six ladies, I support King B the most. Does she have the overall top level of success? Is her physical appearance nearest to “whiteness?” I answered yes to both questions. However, is her so called white-appearance/characteristics the reason why she is the most successful? No. At the end of the day, I appreciate King B as a whole because she’s very passionate & exciting. She seems to be beautiful inside & out. She’s confident in herself and in her craft. She executes her job impressively. I’m sure others do, too.

    I don’t wish for Bey and some white folks to be the only ones able to top the success ladder. I support diversity. At the same time, I’m not here for people reducing King B’s success to her light skin and those blonde wigs that she likes to wear.

    I enjoyed viewing this discussion on TGJ.TV

  16. trucie August 11, 2011

    okay first time watching the splash. lol what the hell are these ppl saying. The main question is how deep do you want to go? This blog or any blog is not the place to really go for a discussion of this magnitude. LOL not one person made any kind of sense. And that girl that said all this and that about Beyonce, and the industry or what not… wtf was she saying. Was she even speaking English? Lol anywho just wanted to see what the Splash was about. You guys should just the name of this blog to Spoiled. LOL pure garbage! Waste of camera time on black ppl with no clue. We need to step our game up. This was just sad.

    • Dre Eazy August 12, 2011

      LOL Yeah, I’m going to have to agree with most of this. Perhaps, it might be better if Splash TV asks questions of this magnitude around college campuses or something…good colleges.

  17. mel August 12, 2011

    when will this debate ever end?? As black people, this needs to stop. We keep on nurturing this mentality of lighter skin people are more successful, they are prettier, they are more approachable blah blah blah. We keep nurturing a mentality that was put into out minds damn over 100 years ago. Of all the things we could advance in, its this foolery. I went to an all white school and to all my classmates, i was black. Just that, black. Even though i am 10 shades darker than beyonce, if i got a new weave, hell, i looked like beyonce to them. Only when i went to college where I met other black people was I made aware of my deep complexion. WE ARE THE PROBLEM! To be fair, alicia keys and beyonce are talented artists. Alicia can SANG and not everyone can SANG and dance at the same time like beyonce does.
    Get a life That Grape Juice. Stop tryna feed people silly thoughts. Its 2011. Grow up!

  18. Dre Eazy August 12, 2011

    Geez…some of these comments showcase the inadequacy of the American education system. ANYWAY..

    The Music Industry only represents a microcosm of an issue that extends far beyond its reach. Essentially, this whole skin color thing comes down to the fact that we live in Eurocentric society (and Eurocentric world). The United States was founded by white Europeans and for centuries, their cultural norms and standards have been impressed and oppressed onto the psyches of its inhabitants. In Iceland, where historically, most of its peoples have been tall, very fair skinned, fair haired with light eyes, pushing those traits as synonymous with beauty isn’t much of a problem. EVERYONE looks like that so it comes of as positive self image. However, in a country like the US where 30 percent of its population is non Caucasian/European, constantly pushing “blonde hair and blue eyes” as THE standard of beauty becomes problematic for those who don’t meet that criteria.

    Furthermore, because almost half of that 30 percent descends from enslaved black peoples who were systematically abused, dehumanized, disenfranchised and ingrained with feelings of self hatred, insecurity, and inferiority about their bodies, pigment, features and identity, the cultural “enforcement” of a white European aesthetic becomes DANGEROUSLY problematic for black self image. The end message is that only those who have European features are deemed beautiful and thus, worthy of of attention.

    We live in a country that overwhelmingly prefers whiteness and lightness. Now, some of that stems from natural human inclinations and behavioral patterns. The United States, in particular, has a white/light majority and people tend to be most drawn to those who share their image or at the very least, similarities to their image. That’s just human nature. And the white/light majority possesses the most power(particularly, social and financial) and therefore, dictate cultural “tastes.” They more readily “accept” and “relate” to the “Beyonces, Rihannas, and Alicia Keys” of the world because of their perceived shared similarities.

    Another reason this country prefers whiteness/lightness is because of old fashioned, hardcore RACISM. Historically, “blackness” has always been seen and derided as ugly, obscene and derogatory. That stigma is still ingrained within America’s subconscious. And because many of the “darkskinned,” non European minority admires and aspires to lightness (because of subtle and no so subtle ‘brain washing’), the “Beyonces, Rihannas and Alicia Keys” will always have the most appeal.

    And honestly, I don’t think it’s going to get much better anytime soon.

  19. shell517nj August 12, 2011

    so true….reference spike lee’s movie…SCHOOL DAZE!

  20. shell517nj August 12, 2011

    Don’t forget to see Chris Breezy in concert. Tour beginning in September..

  21. nice_gurl August 12, 2011

    I’m white and I don’t really care about skin colour….it’s all about the music. I like Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Usher, Kelly Rowland and white artists. I notice that there are a lot more lighter skinned singers, but I do not know why.

  22. Yaya August 12, 2011

    When it comes to skin color people of all races have issues. White people make fun of other white people if they are too pale. That is why they tan. Asian and Indian women don’t want to get too dark. Their races praise the lighter skin tones. Back in slavery, s**** owners planted the seed to devide black people. They had interracial children and put those people in the house as maids most of the time. The darker the skin tone the further out in the field they were.

    If you look at stars like Beyonce: These days she looks like a white woman. Her hair is blonde, she is doing her makeup so that her features appear different. Her foundation has gotten even paler instead of the golden bronze that she used to sport. She is trying to be more of what she thinks is more appealing. Why? I don’t know.

    Micheal Jackson once said that it wasn’t fair that black people are not given the same opportunity musically as white people. He then went on to change his appearance to have more appeal to white audiences as well.

    This is a problem for the females in the music industry. Men don’t have that problem much.

  23. KD August 12, 2011

    This debate is so old…for every dark skinned FLOP (in terms of sales) there is a light skinned FLOP i.e. Mya, Amerie etc. The real question should be:

    Will black artists ever achieve the same level of success as white artists? I love Adele but she really is not that special IMO.

    Side note: thank God for some intelligent answers…I was starting to think that our generation had lost the ability to communicate intelligently.

  24. RihannaNAVY August 12, 2011

    Sounds to me like more excuse to justify Kelly Rowland’s flop.
    U are comparing artist who’s music are sooo different.
    Whitney wasn’t light skin yet she is the best selling female artist in history.
    Lauryn Hill wasn t light skinned yet she broke records too.

    GO SIT DOWN BOO

  25. Stuart August 12, 2011

    What a stupid question, Blacks are treated exactly the same as whites in the world of Pop music. Michael Jackson, the worlds best selling artist was black. Shut the f*** up and stop bitching because your black.

  26. onyx August 12, 2011

    I’m white and i don’t care if you black, asian or native american, only black people care about, here in America nobody care anymore.

  27. antertain August 12, 2011

    People need to grow up and know the history of music.
    Light Skin/Dark Skin thing is more a social level issue rather than a music industry issue.

    Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Barry White, Luther Vandross, Aretha Frankling, Minnie Ripperton, Gladys Knight, Whitney Houston, Jackson 5, Janet Jackson, Bob Marley, Omar, R. Kelly, Usher, Ne-yo and the list goes on and on…. All well respected and awknowledge for MUSIC/Entertainment NOT colour.

    Alot of successful record breaking achievements have been by some of these artists and also some older ones still have long lasting recognition for great songs that have lasted the test of time with great longevity.

    On the point of Kelly Rowland, she is not a unsuccessful artist. The team strategies have been in terms of promo & selling albums in USA in particular. In europe Kelly has 4-5 singles in rotation that i hear quite regular like what a feeling, forever and a day, commander, motivation and when love takes over was huge outside USA. This just proves she more of an global artist. Look at Rihanna her albums dont sell like they should BUT her singles do GREAT on charts.

    • Dre Eazy August 12, 2011

      For one, it’s naive to believe that “social issues,” as you put them, are confined to separate, distinct parts of a culture and society that don’t bleed out and affect other aspects of culture and society. On the contrary, social issues often times branch out and find their way to EVERY aspect of society, the music industry included. For example, the creation and function of Hip Hop, in and of itself, is rooted in the explicit expression of “social” injustices.

      Secondly, the most popular and best selling of the musical acts you listed as “exceptions” to the light skin rule, are actually, not “indulgently” negro and dark skinned…Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and his family, particularly. And guess what, by the time Michael achieved Godhood, he was light skinned with European Features. And you know who put Aretha Franklin to bed as far as album sales and mass appeal? Light skinned Diana Ross and Tina Turner. And you know who curb stomped Whitney Houston? Almost white Mariah Carey. So, in actuality, the best selling and most recognizable artists of color, have indeed been light skinned.

      Lastly, women are oftentimes held to different standards then men are as far as image and marketability. To be a top selling FEMALE pop star, one MUST be beautiful with mass appeal. And when we start talking about beauty, we have to ask “what does the consumer believe to beautiful?” And in predominantly white/light America, that many times translates to those possessing more European features than not.

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 13, 2011

        Well, come on… I am not too much familiar with Aretha’s and Diana’s music, I’ve heard Tina’s, but I think it’s just different STYLES of music or different SINGING STYLES I guess… Wasn’t Aretha’s more like a bit ethnic, more than Diana’s and Tina’s, or am I wrong?

        And then – Mariah Carey… She’s not only lighter, but a lot more s*** and, at last but not least, she has an INCREDIBLE VOICE & TECHNIQUE… 🙂

      • Dre Eazy August 13, 2011

        I’m not saying that there aren’t other factors that have contributed to why certain acts have been more popular than others. Pop Artists generally sell better than more “niche” artists. But what makes a Pop Artist, POP, is that he/she has more mass appeal. And once again, it would be ridiculously naive to believe that in a country like the US where race has been a major issue for centuries, that skin color doesn’t factor into the bigger picture of one’s success.

      • Dre Eazy August 13, 2011

        PS. For one, Whitney’s voice is arguably as great as Mariah’s. Mariah may have more range, but Whitney has more power. And two, Whitney Houston was a model. She has very European facial features and a very European body: tall, lanky, no hips, no b****** and no ass. I think that she’s more beautiful than Mariah but Mariah has a better body.

      • Bobby Bulgaria August 14, 2011

        Well, it depends on what you call a European body…

        I don’t think being really that slim, almost to the point of being anorexic, is in any way European, nor her facial features are…

        Why not compare Mariah’s body to that of Marylin Monroe? Well, that is a European body, and then Mariah’s facial features are totally European too…

        As far as Mariah’s voice – it is just unmatched and so very characteristic of her… It’s not only range, but tembre, softness, densitiy, emotion and technique… 🙂

      • YouCouldNeverrr August 22, 2011

        Whitney’s voice is “arguably” as good as Mariah’s??? Whitney is and always has been referred to as “The Voice” since the very beginning of her career, Mariah’s voice, even in the 90’s, was never as amazing or powerful as Whitney’s was… if it was, don’t you think that Mariah would be referred to as “The Voice” instead of Whitney? Whitney had the more powerful voice while Mariah had the bigger vocal range, so in a conversation about Mariah and Whitney’s vocals and who the better technical singer out of the two of them was, it is nearly always about power vs. range. And how did Whitney get curb stomped? Whitney was the biggest female artist in modern music history in the 1990/94 period, and Mariah had been in the business for nearly half a decade then… Mariah Carey, curb stomping WHITNEY HOUSTON? Some people here are on M.E.D.I.C.A.T.I.O.N!

  28. aisha aguilera keys August 12, 2011

    I think it has more to do with talent and also the impact the song has on the public than skin tone. Sure, J Hud, F, and K Row have more talent than Riri, but Riri’s songs are more radio friendly and catchy. B and A are no doubt more talented than any of them, hence their success. But I disagree that this has anything to do w/ skin tone. Before I really didn’t give a damn until I read complaints about it in blogs, but I REALLY don’t want to think like that, I think talent counts more than anything.

    • Bobby Bulgaria August 13, 2011

      Yeah, Rihanna’s songs are just more pop and really radio friendly, I would say, HITs… especially in Europe…

      But so are Kelly Rowland’s, well, not to that extend, yet…

      J Hud, Fantasia… I am not really familiar with them and so are not most of the people… It’s maybe because of their style or type of music which I guess is less pop…

  29. aisha aguilera keys August 12, 2011

    Kelly’s album isn’t even available in France, that goes to show how little her promo is.

  30. small n- sasy August 14, 2011

    Dre Eazy, Preach, preach , preach! I don’t know why we as black people
    do not want to face reality. The music industry has been doing this
    for years. I am not saying that Beyonce and Alica are not talent, but
    lets face they wouldn’t be as popular if they weren’t light skin.
    In Kelley’s case she was well received in the European market,
    but in the U,S. that was another story.Black people were use
    to Kelly singing urban music and not pop that turn a lot
    of black people off. The Movie industry is the same way.
    They prefer light skin actresses over dark ones.

    the light skin actresses over the dark ones.

  31. small n- sasy August 14, 2011

    I am so sorry I type the last sentence twice.

  32. TIMMI August 17, 2011

    Yes, obviously I keep coming back for more, but I am not the fool who repeatedly says I am not arguing with you then magically reappearing, contradicting myself and making myself look like the biggest living hypocrite.

    And yet you want people to take your dumb ideas seriously… LOL such a troll.

  33. TIMMI August 18, 2011

    They are only reality in your thick as s*** brain. You have conducted ZERO amount of studies to provide evidence of your dumb ideas, so until then, learn to distinguish between your dumb ideas and what is reality (something there is EVIDENCE of).

    “Universal cosmic truths”? Obviously you’re just a Bulgarian fool that likes to pretend they know the English language by throwing random words together.

    Nobody can tell you anything? Erm.. PRETTY SURE I already done that. Obviously I can not enforce it because this is the internet, where no-life trolls like you find santuary in talking s*** online and hiding behind their computer screens.

    • Bobby Bulgaria August 19, 2011

      Wow! S.T.I.L.L. coming here, commenting on my comments, analysing me…

      Oh, I already feel like a celebrity now… 🙂 All that attention…
      I am completely flattered… Thank you so much… Really… 🙂

      Later today I’m gonna be leaving for the seaside for my summer vacation and I’m gonna be thinking of you all of the time… Maybe I will publish my facebook these days so my fans can enjoy me to the max, like they truly deserve to… 🙂

      • TIMMI August 20, 2011

        Wow! S.T.I.L.L. coming here, responding to my comments, failing at analysing me…

        Please don’t get eaten by a shark… 😀

      • YouCouldNeverrr August 22, 2011

        LOL at you trying to use science to explain the dark skin vs. light skin issues faced in race, while deliberately patronising black people with dark skin complexions in your comments. That’s just comical entertainment for me to read, in all honesty. Dark skin isn’t FEARED by people, it is sociologically looked down upon in Western society and, due to the obvious and undeniable influence that Western society has had/still has on the rest of the planet, a lot of other places, too; not because there is anything naturally threatening about dark skin (which in my opinion is the most beautiful human skin in physical existence) – it simply looks the least like stereotypically European skin, which at the darkest, is usually an olive tone. Human beings naturally fear the unknown, but people also tend to associate pale skin with death a lot of the time, and there are no historically recorded documents saying that scientific testing has proved your theory correct. I just feel like you’re abandoning all logic in your theories, I mean, I genuinely cannot understand them, and/or the lack of intellectual foundation in them??? I’ve never heard any individual of any racial background call dark skin “scary”.

      • YouCouldNeverrr August 22, 2011

        LOL at you trying to use science to explain the dark skin vs. light skin issues faced in race, while deliberately patronising black people with dark skin complexions in your comments. That’s just comical entertainment for me to read, all of it. Dark skin isn’t FEARED by people, it is looked down upon in Western society and, due to the obvious and undeniable influence that Western society has had/still has on the rest of the planet, a lot of other places, too; not because there is anything naturally threatening about dark skin (which in my opinion is the most beautiful human skin in physical existence) – it simply looks the least like stereotypically European skin, which at the darkest, is usually an olive tone. Human beings naturally fear the unknown, but people also tend to associate pale skin with death a lot of the time, and there are no historically recorded documents saying that scientific testing has proved your theory correct. I just feel like you’re abandoning all logic in your theories, I mean, I honestly cannot understand your theories, let alone the complete lack of intellectual foundation that has went into making them??? I’ve never heard anybody from any racial background calling dark skin “scary”, of all things.

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