EbenGregory Non-Exclusive: Hip Hop’s Obsession With Light Skin Women
Saturday, July 4, 2009
First…watch the video from Joy Daily that delves into why, when it comes to Hip-Hop, light skinned women are usually casted in lead roles and put on a pedestal, while dark skin women are overlooked and usually casted as the stereotypical, over sexed, boodie shakers. And then…
EbenGregory was like…uh-oh.
1. Hip Hop vs. Rap is a completely different argument. If we are going to talk about hip hop videos over the last year and a half then we’d have to mention songs/videos that most people haven’t seen or heard because they aren’t featured on tv (they live on you tube). My examples include songs like Q-Tip’s “Gettin Upâ€, NYG’s “Ya Dayz are #’D†and more recently Royce da 5’9’s “Shake This.†Rap videos are typically exercises in played out stereotypes (fancy cars, scantily dressed or ‘wild’ women, nightclub scenes and ‘high rollin’ fantasies). Real Hip Hop videos tend to resemble 80’s and 90’s videos with concepts that revolve around the actual song. Sadly, these are ideas that most audiences find boring. The same way police and court type tv shows don’t really represent real life, neither do rap videos. Most people find real life a little boring and unsensational… so do rap fans. Hip Hop fans are more concerned with authenticity and pure good music.
2. Typically, rap videos with large casts of models DO IN FACT represent all shades of women. Whether or not the lead character is of lighter skin is a different matter. I do admit that more recent videos have more or all lighter skinned models (Drake’s “Best I Ever Hadâ€) in contrast to the older videos (Ludacris’ “Area Codesâ€). However, almost all photo shoots with rappers feature lighter skinned models.
3. Preference is a personal choice. The general standard of beauty for women has always been a debatable subject when it comes to height, weight, body type and skin color. We all come packaged different for a reason. The problem comes in when there is only one standard that everyone buys into. As a matter of fact, that is actually the bigger question here. Why are so many of us buying into the bullsh!t that is put out here. If we are tired of rap, why don’t we support real hip-hop??? Let’s go buy Mos Def, Q-Tip, Slaughterhouse, Tanya Morgan, Blu, etc. Even in a recession we have to support what we think is real because if we don’t then it will eventually go away. As far as putting ‘black is beautiful’ on the map again, websites like these are a good start. We can write our magazine editors, video stations, send constructive comments to the artists themselves (via Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, etc.) and keep the intelligent conversation going. If we scream long and hard (and their numbers suffer) they will take notice eventually. My two cents…sorry so long.
I agree with Lin. I remember back in the 80′s when Cameo had their hit “Candy” and people pointed out that there was only one or two black girls in the video. Larry Blackman responded to the critism in an interview by saying that no black girls showed up to the casting call. I didn’t belive him then and don’t belive it happens today, but I do think the modeling agencies only recruit a certain type of look. How many black folks run modeling agencies? Yet the agencies are part of the driving force behind what is considered beautiful. They tell us what to admire and we belive them…
Has anyone considered that the talent agencies that many of the artist use are the ones responsible for casting!? I’m not defending the fact that most of the models in the videos are light, mixed, or not Black but if the talent agencies or the artist want to go with a certain look, that is their right. I have a preference for darker women, for instance I always wanted to see Ki-Toy Johnson in more videos, but I’m sure some people would have an issue with me finding darker women more attractive! Come on people! Hip-hop has devolved anyway. We don’t have many true hip-hop artist now, but we do have plenty of rappers. They’re going to do whatever it takes to sell, which means if they have to rap about being pimps, brag about using money from their drug dealing days to start their label or make their demo, and shoot videos featuring 90% naked light-skinned women or even porno girls–they’re gonna do it! If you don’t like it, don’t watch. I, for the most part, DON’T!
2 words Self HATE! I can’t believe that theses fools have the nerve to say hip hop is multicutural, and that’s the reason for not having dark skinneded girls in the video! There are only two things happening here! The first is self hate! Mainstream blacks are nothing more then white people in black bodies! Yes a African face with a Eurpopean mind! Secondly the low lives in the black community has taken control of hiphop and has produced this nonsence of what we call hiphop now! Hiphop was never about this, until drug dealers and homosexuals got power in the game
Self hate mostly. If givin a choice folks will say they are cherokee or even sasquach before bein black. No surprises here…
There is a saying in the pimping game
“Dark Hoes Bring You Dark Days”
I like the light brites any way. Nothing against chocolate honeys. But i like em thick busty and peanut butter complected.