Complexion Obsession?
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
A good friend of mine over at Urban XL sent me the new video for their main artist Moonlight – entitled “Call Me”. Now I am not a fan of UK Hip Hop on the whole – the PS2 made beats and pseudo American dialect/ twang actually makes me cringe. I don’t live in a council estate, do any type of “skank”, wear Nike trainers and gold chains (apologies for the gross generalisation, but I am aware the majority of UK Hip hop is not targeted at my demographic, whether it be in terms of age, lifestyle or otherwise) so it’s safe to say I am not a fan and usually dread the endless mix tapes that come my way because a)I’m not interested and b) I am not an A&R so sending me these things really is pretty pointless.
However, I was pleasantly surprised by Moonlight’s efforts. The video (shot in Puerto Rico if you please, not Acton town) was incredibly polished and looked like money well spent. The production was really quite good and reminded me of the type of beats that American counterparts would use. Moonlight’s delivery was strong and had a distinct UK sound which I liked. All in all a good video, a good track and I’m grateful that when I told my friend that I thought it was dope I didn’t have to lie. Lol.
One thing that did stand out to me though was the choice of models featured. They are noticeably of better pedigree than what we are accustomed to here in the UK. But I was disappointed to note that once again there weren’t any darker ladies featured in the video.
Now I don’t want to take anything away from these ladies as they are all beautiful in their own right, particularly the lead. But it is a constant bone of contention within the industry that artists and directors prefer to use a light-skin long haired female as opposed to a brown/dark-skinned short hair one.
True or false?
I stumbled across this clip on Joy Daily TV entitled complexion obsession which is a documentary about what society deems beautiful in regards to black woman and how this is conveyed in the entertainmnent industry. You’ll recognise a lot of famous faces – rappers, models and producers alike who all give their take on the subject. Some excerpts are below:
"It’s pretty obvious that there is a preference to light skin women" – Melissa Ford
"From the beginning of time light skin girls get more respect than the black girls. That’s because light skin is closer to white and white holds the power in this country..."- Cassidy
"The Hip hop market is so multi-cultural – if you use a light skin girl she can go for Spanish, Dominican, latino, Italian... there’s so many multi racial markets you can hit just off of one girl..." - Dollicia Bryan
"Girls lie all the time about their breakdown and where their from because they now that will ensure them getting a job..." -Editor show mag
At first glance I’m inclined to agree with Dollicia – it seems that on the surface using a lighter model is nothing more than a savvy marketing tool. Yes, the ratio of darker female leads to light ones in largely disproportionate but it seems to make good business sense. Or does it? We all remember the uproar when Jeremiah cast a Caucasian lead for his debut smash “Birthday sex”. UK artist Taio Cruz has also received similar backlash. It begs the question; Are you more beautiful because your nose is a little smaller? Your hair a little softer, longer? Your complexion a little lighter? Do your exoctic features make you a more bankable asset? Do these genetic attributes give you an advantage over other females in both career and love?
Is this a reflection of the way society views us or simply a reflection of the way we view ourselves?
I’d be interested to know your thoughts....
Anyway, I’ve posted the Moonlight video below – I would be interested to know if you guys share my enthusiasm for this track. Although there are few UK artists that I listen to (mainly due to the type of music I like e.g. neo soul and revival) I will support those who I believe are truly good artists with potential. The music scene in the UK isn’t great so we must get behind those artists who bring good music to the fore.
Listening to “Fronting” by Pharrell Williams - a great track, a great video, and a stunning leading lady.
TB x x
22 comments:
Is this a reflection of the way society views us or simply a reflection of the way we view ourselves?
The answer is both.
I wrote my dissertation on a similar subject in relation to advertising. Since slavery black people with lighter complexions and more European features were favoured and privy to more opportunities. In later years some churches and schools wouldn’t allow you in unless you were lighter than a paper bag, our could comb your hair with a fine tooth comb hung from the door way.
What I’m saying is that this is a learnt behaviour that has been passed from European slave owners and has in turn infected our people and has been internalised and passed down to future generations. That’s why things like relaxers are a standard way of life for many and sadly bleaching creams are still prevalent on the shelves of many Afro-Caribbean beauty stores. Light skin = beauty and is more acceptable to our European counter parts (especially as they are the main buyers of Hip-hop music). Just look at what they did to Beyonce in the L’Oreal ads, it took light straight hair and even lighter skin for her to be “Worth It!”.
Its a shame really, he had 4 models of exactly the same skin shade, or pretty close. Why not a Caucasian, an Asian, a Mixed Race and a Brown Skin ? Slightly disappointing.
Those ladies look dark enough to me. I hate that type of singing though with the vocoder or whatever they use.
As soon as i saw the video i wasn't suprised by the models he had chosen because uk artist hardly ever have a dark skin girl in the video much less playing lead...and to make things worse ONLY the lead model had a touch of beauty to her, so is he saying thats the best he could find maybe? It's clear he chose complexion over beauty...and it's a SHAME that let down the video for me, atlest he could of had one darker shade model walking passed in the background or somthing omg
I think I will vouch for Moonlight on this one, there was indeed an opportunity for darker skinned girls to audition for the part of the leading lady or ladies in the music video. Indeed I saw a huge influx of interest from the dark skinned girls who were possibly invited to an auditon. Now what you have to bear in mind is that Moonlight's requirements were for a curvy model with clear skin and no bodily blemishes. In these requirements which were posted on facebook there was never a mention of colour. In fact he specified what he was looking for, which was a possible lookalike of two certain hip hop honeys whose names I cannot recall. Now this is possibly his preference or possibly his favourite hip hop models and he was driven to transfer this favouritism to his project.
Think about this:if he posted an ad on facebook and specified what he was looking for i.e. curvy girls with clear skin and he found respondees who were dark 'models' (everyone is a model now) but did not have clear skin and curves AND lacked the wow screen factor would we blame him if 1) his choice was limited and 2) he only had a short amount of time to get a model? (if memory serves me right he only had less than 2 days to get a model.
We are all victims of complexion obsession.
Some peeps are misguided...
LL cool J used super dark chicks in his videos...
Me personally, I don't mind what shade of colour the woman is as long as she's Gorgeous...
Matter of fact the majority of darkskin models actually look waay better than the light skin ones...
Less patchy skin and less photoshop needed. They can also rock shoots with zero makeup n look 10xTIMES More glam when they actually do rock the MAC/Bobbi Brown..
There's a lot of black guys in both this country and the US who've been brought up on the pre-beyonce beauty adverts so their idea of beauty is based on the European image of light skin light hair.
We're looking to represent women of all colours particularly black in our magazine and all future videos that make use of such models.
As for this track, I don't think it's all that at all. Nice effort but the flow's not up to par (weak) and call-me's been done 1000 times.
Professional criticism...
Love all my black women no matter how dark they may be.
Peace.
Chris
FWyine™ Magazine
fwyine.com
1
Im sorry i had to answer to the above so called blogger, you have a serious case of hater-ration, you havent said 1 good thing about the whole thing!!! Me and my 5 year old daughter both love and sing along to this song!!! + i think he has a killer bod too!! He is setting a new standard for good rnb/hip-hop uk music that can go mian stream without being bait pop!Give me examples of a UK artist with a good rnb-hiphop track that is doing it better...
Chanel B xxx
Thanks for all your comments guys!
Not sure if you checked out the link to the actual "complexion obsession" documentary that I was quoting from but if you didn't it's definitely worth the watch. Rappers such as Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Cassidy and the Clipse give their views as well as light AND dark skinned video vixens such as Melissa Ford, Dollicia Bryan and Bria Myles. Each person acknowledges that there is a clear divide - so it must exist. Whether or not it's an issue is down to the individual. It's not something that effects me personally - but if I was a shade or two darker and my hair thicker or shorter, maybe it would...
In the documentary one black girl said that she was made to feel ugly by constantly seeing an image of beauty that does not reflect her. That can't be a nice feeling. I think artists don't realise the effect that their artistry/ imagery can have.
I agree with JJblue22 that he issue is deep rooted in our history. Perhaps this is why entertainers opt for a more exotic looking female whose origin cannot be easily defined in an attempt to please the masses. Moonlight's video is typical of many in his genre so this post is not a direct attack at him, his management or the selection process.
For the record, I think that the lead girl was indeed beautiful and had great presence.
Congratulations to Moonlight on a great track and a great video. A definite thumbs up!
TB
p.s. How about the follow up single be shot in Ghana? lol x
This is Juice Black the director of Moonlights video.
Ok, a few things.. First of all I'd like to say that while it would be ignorant at best, and downright stupid at worst, to think that racism or a 'skin-shade favouritism' (so-to-speak) doesn't exist in the entertainment industry, that is not the case with this video.
In its simplest explanation, as the video was shot in Puerto Rico, we needed talent that could represent that region of the world. Simple. No grand conspiracy against any shade, race or region of people.
Secondly, as that person above (who are you by the way? lol) pointed out, the 2nd part of the shoot was indeed scheduled with 2 days notice to the models who wanted to cast. This meant that while some darker skinned models may have expressed great initial interest in the shoot, the reality was that with such short notice they simply couldn't get out of their already scheduled work commitments. The same with models of other colours and shades as well, by the way.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, as that same person above mentioned, there was NO RACE REQUIREMENT for the models who wished to cast for the shoot ONLY a requirement that they fit a certain body type.And body type is not determined by the shade of your skin.
Fourth... ALL the girls from the shoot are BEAUTIFUL, PROFESSIONAL and EXPERIENCED models. Now as any professional director/photographer/producer will tell you, to cast talent who possess ALL of those elements is what makes casting the hard process it is. And all of those girls possess the 'X factor', that deservedly got them the job.
Bottom line, casting-wise I would NOT CHANGE A THING and I stand absolutely by my work and by the performances and result of all involved in the production.
Now, beyond my statement above I don't want to be actively drawn into the debate about favouritism of light over dark skin or whatever. With that said I respect everybody's right to their own opinion. Even if they are wrong.
By the way I'll post a comment on my twitter (http://twitter.com/juiceblack)
to verify this is in fact me.
Damn Damn Damn! Amazing how a post could envoke such strong feelings
from people.
Before we all jump on Toya Berry's throat, remember the 'blogger' who also happens to be a journalist by the way, was asked to rate the video which she did and in turn commended the efforts of Juice Black and Moonlight in delivering a superb music video;
(Moonlight’s delivery was strong and had a distinct UK sound which I liked. All in all a good video, a good track and I’m grateful that when I told my friend that I thought it was dope I didn’t have to lie. Lol.)
In addition, in rating this video, she was actually trying to highlight and point out an issue that has plagued not only music videos but other forms of arts such as acting. These are purely her opinions and as such should stay that way, remember she has not slagged of the video or the music but simply pointed out an ongoing issue.
what we are also forgetting is that she mentioned that she would like to hear your thoughts, not on the video or music but on what your opinion is on the subject of complexion obsession. I would be interested to hear other people's opinion on this subject and not on the music or video, because as we all know it is an excellent video from an upcoming artist.
@JJblue22 24 February 2010 14:50 , great point.
@Toya Berry, good article
@Moonlight, not really a fan of UK Hip Hop (biased to ol skool my bad) well done and keep it up, the fact that your video is nearly on par with US videos is a testament to your hardwork and dedication to your work, next time you shooting a vid in a location in the states holla @ Morganchocolatedolly, (a dark skinned UK dimepiece with curves to probably rival Buffy - maybe)
@Juice Black, not much to say but hey superb video and excellent work in all your other videos,and in response to your curiosity (lol), I posted that anonymous post in vouching for Moonlight.
I would like to say the person who said only one model had a touch of beauty to them is a fool and a hater. At the end of the day beauty is in all forms shapes and colour people that make stupid comments like these are narrow minded negative loners who need to go back to school and learn a few life lesson.
A comment about darker skin girls, ladies, models they are beautiful so are ladies from all backgrounds. People come across issues like this every day with race, size, disabilities and more, best thing to do is deal with it the girls featured in the video may not be dark but they are still trying to do their thing, so stop hating, saying they not beautiful is just as bad as someone saying a darker skin lady isn't.
I think the video is great quality moonlight looks good sounds good the girls are All beautiful and I wish them all luck.
typical! These ladies in the video are pretty, they managed to get the part in the video and still people wanna make negative comments, one girl is black and two of the girls are mixed race obviously part black. What is your issue? I understand some people may favour the lighter skin over the darker ones, it doesn't mean the person who chose these girls did that. I can see why those particular ladies were picked, errr because they are hot. Maybe no really dark girls applied for the casting, maybe they did but didn't fit the criteria? Are you trying to say black is only dark black? Is the black girl in the video not dark enough? Stop being petty. If someone does not wanna cast someone cause they are to dark shame on them but don't make out like fairer skinned black or mixed race ladies are only there not cause of their beauty but purely cause they are light. These ladies defiantly have what it takes to be in a video.
Thanks for your comment Juice.
@Tigress Love, thanks also for your comment. I think the overall point was missed so I'm glad that both you and JJblue22 picked up on it. Fact is, I could've picked 101 music videos that show a lighter version of beauty aside from Moonlights, and probably about 5 that showed a darker version of beauty. The aim of this post was to identify what WE define black beauty to be. Are the images on the videos and in the magazines a true reflection of how we as a community define it?
If so then cool.
If not, then why is this image constantly being perpetuated? As one person said above - there are different shades of black just as there are different varities of beauty. I think it would be cool if the media took more time to reflect this variety...
Also, do you guys have any thoughts on Moonlight the artist and his new track? Did you guys feel it as much as I did?
TB x
Interestingly enough I've found this article to be quite funny. I say this only because I am usually the first person to complain about the lack of dark skinned women in (British) black music videos. But this was one of the rare occasions where I didn't feel the need to complain.
My facebook page is notorious for commentary cursing out "urban" artists, I'm even in a group that calls for "more dark skinned women in UK music videos." I have frequently withdrawn my support for artists that overlook us darker shades, I won't even bother to download their stuff for free, that's how much I take back my support!
But I actually found Moonlights video a surprise. I can't lie I expected a bevy of light skinned girls, white girls or Latinos. Latinos of course being the current favourite choice of "ethnic" woman as they have all the qualities of black girls that everyone loves without the pesky problem of actually being black.
But I was pleased to clearly see brown skinned women in this video. Sure there isn't a girl who is as black as night, but tell me the last time you saw a girl as dark as that pretty little looking one (in Moonlights video) with the red hair and distinctly black nose in a Taio Cruz video? N'Dubz? Chipmunk? Kano?? Exactly.
Personally I thought the video was a step in the right direction and for once didn't feel the need to cuss. Of course I noted that the main lead was not black, so I'll wait for the next video to make a final judgement, but honestly I wish more British artists would follow suit.
I understand what some of you are saying about history and how it changes the way people feel towards darker skinned people, but I honestly don't think its that deep most of the time. I'm sure if a beautiful dark skin Lady walked in for a part in a video they wouldn't turn them down unless they had serious race issues. I have never come across someone that shallow. I know its happened but think its unlikely these days. I certainly would pick a stunning dark skin girl over an average light skin girl.
I feel like these kinds of comments put a divide on black peopLe, its no longer "is it cause I's black" but now its "is its cause I's toooo black". I just think its silly. There are more dark skinned supermodels than light, they are loved for their smooth dark chocolate completion, if there are more light skinned girls getting work in videos so what, it may appeal to a larger market.
Noreen from big brother ( mixed race girl) was the first "black" as she called it, to be on front cover of uk nuts magazine, that was only last year. She said she was the first black cover girl even though she is mixed. The point I'm trying to make is, myself and a lot of other light, dark, mixed race people see black as your heritage not black cause your dark, we shouldn't hate but appreciate and progress. The ladies in the video where stunning, moonlight was great. Stop dividing dark from light, the girls where picked for being good looking
Ok i've read through the post & the comments, yet to watch the documentary. What i've concluded based from the opinion's commented here, is that we cannot discuss the subject, because if we agree that there is an underlying issue with the ideology of girls casted for videos, magazines etc. Then the person behind that agreement has an issue with lightskin women and vice versa. I have loads of lightskin friends who are beautiful, have beautiful features, beautiful skin tone etc and are very attractive. I have dark skinned, brown skinned, caramel skinned friends who are all of the above.
As youngers in our teens and early twenties, we would joke about who, would be the first to be sourced out by men or deemed more fly/pretty gal. We use to laugh at black dudes, because we would think that 'black men feel more cherished or acknowledged if they could get a light skin hotty'. We forget that this complexion issue targets the men also. Light skin men are usually adored more by all women of colour and white women & the black man is a replica of a slave man.
Who here can honestly say that lightskin or exotic looking women are not used as a marketing tool to increase figures. Who are the world's top models, which models faced the toughest challenges to get to where they are and why?
Something else to mention is that in the UK, the 'every girl is model' thing is ridiculous, so the poor pretty black girls who probably do look exquisite don't stand a chance because of the influx of poor quality.
Who remembers 'tyrese' signs of love making. They tried hard to cast everygirl of colour.
Who remembers a UK video with a fly looking black chick (I don't) someone please tell me.
My last honest opinion on this whole complexion thing and UK scene is that it is tacky. The quality of the girls whether black/white/asian or light skin isn't pass a 5 on the scale.
Skepta didn't do too bad with his main squeeze on the Lush video.
Ok i've read through the post & the comments, yet to watch the documentary. What i've concluded based from the opinion's commented here, is that we cannot discuss the subject, because if we agree that there is an underlying issue with the ideology of girls casted for videos, magazines etc. Then the person behind that agreement has an issue with lightskin women and vice versa. I have loads of lightskin friends who are beautiful, have beautiful features, beautiful skin tone etc and are very attractive. I have dark skinned, brown skinned, caramel skinned friends who are all of the above.
As youngers in our teens and early twenties, we would joke about who, would be the first to be sourced out by men or deemed more fly/pretty gal. We use to laugh at black dudes, because we would think that 'black men feel more cherished or acknowledged if they could get a light skin hotty'. We forget that this complexion issue targets the men also. Light skin men are usually adored more by all women of colour and white women & the black man is a replica of a slave man.
Who here can honestly say that lightskin or exotic looking women are not used as a marketing tool to increase figures. Who are the world's top models, which models faced the toughest challenges to get to where they are and why?
Something else to mention is that in the UK, the 'every girl is model' thing is ridiculous, so the poor pretty black girls who probably do look exquisite don't stand a chance because of the influx of poor quality.
Who remembers 'tyrese' signs of love making. They tried hard to cast everygirl of colour.
Who remembers a UK video with a fly looking black chick (I don't) someone please tell me.
My last honest opinion on this whole complexion thing and UK scene is that it is tacky. The quality of the girls whether black/white/asian or light skin isn't pass a 5 on the scale.
Skepta didn't do too bad with his main squeeze on the Lush video.
I agree there is complexion boundries.
Each market has a specified criteria and target.
High fashion steers more towards dark/brown skinned girls with a touch of awkwardness (exception tyra, chanel iman)
Video girls - Exotic, lightskinned girls. It's all sexual and about sex appeal (i am not saying dark/brown skinned girls are not sexy) but in the history of music videos, black girls have been made sluttish,hoeish etc
Lightskin girls have been made the wifey type/ lover type/ GF type.
Movies - It varies of the genre of film, if comedy black film - all colours of sizes.
If hollywood - black and super skinny, light skin/mixed race and super skinny. There's no room for curvy any form of black girl, whether they're light or dark
Guys while you are all discussing the shade of the models surely you would notice that the females are tottally sex objects in this video - cliche or what, right up to the flash of nipple.
They pretty well are all presented as slutty really.
No power roles, nothing just S E X O B J E C T S.
Shame you conscious sisters and brothers only focus on skin shade. It probably says more about you then the rapper perhaps.
What the thinking thinks the prover proves. You find what you look for in other words.
The single is ok, nothing special but prob better than average for UK rnb/rap.
To say these girls are used as sex objects is absurd.
So are you saying when darkskinned girls in the US videos ie 50cent, Snoop Dog etc are used they are also seen as "sex objects" those videos are much worse!
Speaking as darkskinned woman myself whilst yes I was dissapointed not to see any darker Ladies in this I think its a good video with a good balance between sexy yet classy NOT trashy which is important and a great song at that too.
Well done the artist Moonlight and ladies great job.
Nina
i'm sorry, and excuse my language but - am i in the fucking twilight zone? seriously, miss berry this is your step in the right direction? This is your improvement? the moonlight video. If that's the case then we as black brits must be in serious trouble.
This artist who you've given your seal of approval too, only serves to bring your ability to judge artists into question. The song is terrible, the rapping is extremely basic - and the video doesn't even have the slightest shred of an original thought or artistic imagination. I can not believe this. People are commenting on this video as if christopher Nolan directed it. You know in the UK there are so few true artists, steve mcqueen - roy williams - roots manuva - peeps like that are so few and far between. It saddens me how simple most of the black public are when it comes to art - and how easily they are swayed by simple and shiny things.
Some one please put me out of my fucking misery and tell me why this is the case? Because i'm telling you right now, anyone with a firm appreciation of music, film, art or lyrics can tell you that this moonlight song and video is just shit. Yet Toya is promoting it as the next best thing. Im not a hater , i'm a 25 year old man who's putting in work and going places - all i want is for the community i'm from to finally step up - and yes that is the black community. wake up people for fuck sake DEMAND MORE FROM YOUR ARTIST. Ladies i know you're hurting from this light/dark skin issue - but don't let that blind you to very very VERY basic work
What's funny is that this is my first blog ever - i just couldn't let this issue slide. I'm going to ask everyone here one question.
Name one thing from the moonlight music video and song that is 100% original and that you haven't seen or heard before - and i want everyone to really think about this. The future of your community depends on it.
regards
a real artist.
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