Colorism is just as prominent in the music industry as it is in the film industry. Lighter skinned women are oftentimes given better opportunities within the music industry. An example is Destiny Child, one of the most popular R&B groups in the late '90s. Destiny Child has changed their group members a few times while they were together, however, one thing that never changed was Beyoncé as the lead singer. Beyoncé happened to be the lighter woman out of the group. Destiny Child's former manager (also Beyoncé's father) Mathew Knowles even said himself, after the group separated, that "Beyoncé's career was affected by her lighter skin and that the effect might have been the opposite for Destiny child's bandmate Kelly Rowland," (woman on the right) as stated on the article
''Mathew Rowland says Beyonce's Career Benefited, Kelly Rowland's suffered From Skin Tone Bias" on Variety.
Another example of colorism taking place in the music industry is with rapper Kash Doll. On June 16, 2019, she went to Twitter, telling everyone about her experience. Kash Doll said, "This guy doesn't even wanna clear this beat Bc of my skin tone or unless I get another woman on the hook that's a lighter complexion." A lighter-skinned woman had to be on her project in order for her to release her own music. There have been several cases similar to this, where dark skin women have been discriminated against. It's time for a change!
- Pier Hammonds
