“You should support her because she’s dark-skinned.”
I got into a heated argument with a YouTuber yesterday. She did a live stream about Normani and why she’s not as successful as she should be.
If you don’t know, Normani is an up-and-coming dark-skinned black recording artist. She started her career in a group called Fifth Harmony. They were a group for about 6 years until they broke up in 2018. Normani came out as a solo artist a couple of months after they split.
Normani has been a solo artist since 2018 and as of right now, we’ve gotten 2 solo singles and 5 songs where she’s featured. It’s 2022 and we still haven’t gotten an album from her yet.
And most black women, including that Youtuber, are blaming it ALL on colorism when that’s not true.
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We all know colorism runs rampant in the music industry.
A few examples of this are Saweetie and Cardi B. They’re both biracial/racially ambiguous and one could argue that both of them are not nearly as talented as Normani, but they get a stronger push.
Heck, I’m the first one to say that Saweetie and Cardi are where they are because of colorism, but does that mean they don’t work hard to promote their brand, despite having minimal talent?
I’m a fan of Normani, but my main problem with her is that she isn’t consistent. There hasn’t been enough music for her audience to connect with. How on earth can an artist gain more attention and become an icon when there’s no music? But most of Normani’s fans believe that she should be on top of the world despite having no consistency or marketing.
Everyone’s quick to jump on colorism, but I don’t see that much colorism at play in her career. Here are a few of the opportunities/accolades I’ve seen Normani get since she’s come out as a solo artist:
She’s been co-signed on social media by big names such as Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Janet Jackson, and Ariana Grande
- She did a tribute to Janet Jackson while Janet was in the front row
- She’s performed at the VMAs as a solo artist twice
- She’s an ambassador for Rihanna’s Fenty brand
- She’s opened for Ariana Grande on the Sweetener tour
- She’s done collaborations with Sam Smith, Megan Thee Stallion, Khalid, Calvin Harris, etc
Does that look like colorism to you? It’s not like Normani just got these opportunities/accolades now. This all happened over the 4-year span she’s been solo.
Colorism is when a darker-skinned girl doesn’t even get one of these opportunities and they are struggling to make a name for themselves with no connections in the industry. But based on the extravagant parties I see Normani attend (I follow her on Instagram), that’s not her.
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I love Normani and I want her to succeed, but I need to hold her accountable in some regard.
People act as if there’s nothing more she can do to promote her music or get her name out there when she has millions of social media followers.
However, people like that YouTuber will make a case that we shouldn’t hold Normani accountable for anything because she’s dark-skinned. I died when she said that we should all support Normani because of how she looks and nothing else.
This YouTuber also said that we’re “self-hating black women” if we don’t support Normani for her inconsistency. That doesn’t add up.
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Here’s the thing about representation. As a dark-skinned black girl myself, I’m happy to see Normani get opportunities. But I can’t make an obvious critique of her because she’s “representing me?”
That’s bullshit.
And if we don’t kiss Normani’s ass, we must be colorists who support Saweetie, Cardi, and other light-skinned girls.
I want representation, but I also want hard work and talent.
Being represented by one dark-skinned black girl doesn’t mean I can’t critique her because she’s representation. I want GREAT representation, not mediocrity because she’s a minority.
This is what people are saying without saying:
“The light-skinned girls can be mediocre, so why not let the dark-skinned girls do it?”
And that’s not a good argument at all. I don’t want mediocrity out of Normani. I know she can do better. I’ve criticized her while also respecting the fact that she’s affected by colorism.
But I won’t give her passes because the writing is on the wall — she’s inconsistent.
Why can’t darker-skinned black women want more out of themselves? Why is everything about colorism?
Why are we fighting for the right to be mediocre?
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Main Takeaway
Colorism exists, but sometimes colorism doesn’t play the huge role we expect it to.
Normani has been doing well for herself despite being inconsistent. Her hardcore fans want us to coddle her and support everything she does because she’s dark-skinned, and that doesn’t make sense. Representation is great but that doesn’t mean I can’t critique the person that’s representing me.
I wish Normani and every other dark-skinned black girl the best, but we can’t blame everything on colorism.
We need to take some accountability instead of fighting to be mediocre because the light-skinned girls can do it.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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