This really is a nonissue because it's not about dark vs light. Lauryn Hill is a dark brown complexion young woman, who was rocking dreads, and the bohomian fashions, and she is naturally beautiful. And the men of all races were in love with her. Erykah Badu isn't light, she's carmel who rocks crazy hairstyles, and the men love her and both of these women are well-received. Although, I think that colorism plays important role in the music industry, it's not the only factor.

Now the whole Beyonce vs. Kelly saga. Now it's easy to say that Beyonce is light thus get the attention and poor Kelly is dark , so she was ignored and had to go overseas to get attention. That maybe true, but it's possible that Beyonce had better Public relations team than Kelly. People aren't just chosen to be on magazines hot lists, many times their publicists gets them on the list. And Beyonce is always putting herself out there, constantly putting out records and doing projects, more animated in public. Whereas Kelly Rowland, she's more reserved, quiet and for a long time didn't push herself to the front. Sorry to say this but if Kelly was more drama and out there, she would be noticed. Alot of men find Kelly Rowland attractive, it's just that Beyonce fans are more vocal and makes sure that when you go online, they make everythig about Beyonce, thus creating a buzz. For example, David Gest Michael Jackson bestfriend, did an interview in which he listed MJ's favorite artists, he lists Beyonce and Kelly Rowland as one of his favorites. But then add that Kelly Rowland was his crush. Now,if David Gest would have said Beyonce was MJ crush, there would have been Black blogs going crazy and running with it. But because it was Kelly Rowland , black blogs ignored it. But, when Puffy mentioned how MJ allegedly tried to holla at Beyonce and danced with her, than people believed it. Never mind the fact that MJ said in interviews that he didn't like to go to parties because people wanted him to dance. I've seen the pictures, and he's taking pics with all of Destiny Child. And his make up artist and friend, said that she asked MJ about Beyonce and he said that she was pretty and talented but he wasn't into the hips and thighs. Yet, somehow the whole internet is abuzz of MJ trying to like Beyonce. Although the fact of the matte rthat MJ was crushin on the skinny darkskin Kelly Rowland, yet that was ignored. So, it's not the whole media, it's rather the fanbases that pump up their fav celebrity over another.