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https://insidethemagic.net/2021/12/ariana-grande-cultural-appropriation-rwb1/

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Ariana Grande Accused of Cultural Appropriation, “Asian-Fishing” - Inside the Magic

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Popstar and ‘The Voice’ judge Ariana Grande has been accused of “Asian-fishing” and cultural appropriation in a viral video. Full story here.

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. To demonstrate that non black artists, such as Grande, often appropriate black aesthetics to boost their profile and present themselves as “authentic” because blackness is seen as marketable and cool.

. To what extent did this work for Grande (was she referred to her as black woman) and why does it matter?

. What is black fishing and why it is essentially exploiting blackness. How it relates to blackface and racial fetishism.

. Explore cultural appreciation as a counter appreciation.

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In my essay, using Ariana Grande as a case study, I will argue that non-white artists are employing Black aesthetics to further their success.

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Manufactured Authenticity: To What Extent Do Non-White Artist's Cosplay Blackness?

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Ariana being mistaken for being partially black because of her black fishing

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Ariana being mistaken for being partially black because of her black fishing

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https://news.amomama.com/123173-patti-labelle-sparks-outrage-calling-ari.html

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Patti LaBelle sparks outrage after calling Ariana Grande 'a little white Black girl'

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Patti LaBelle is a music legend that has won the hearts of fans all over the world, but her recent remarks are generating criticism on the internet.

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Ariana being put in black spaces because people have assumed she is mixed because of her black fishing

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Ariana being put in black spaces because people have assumed she is mixed because of her black fishing

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Most recent pictures of Ariana she appears to be significantly lighter 

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Most recent pictures of Ariana she appears to be significantly lighter 

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https://www.popbuzz.com/music/artists/ariana-grande/news/ariana-grande-billboard-interview-blaccent/

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According to Urban Dictionary, "a blaccent is a distinctive manner of speech, pitch or tone particular to African American urban inner city youth".

Ariana Grande's accent has been put under the spotlight after a video circulated of her supposedly speaking with a "blaccent".

Ari was named Billboard's 'Woman Of The Year' after dropping her masterpiece of a video, " thank u, next" and as part of her interview with the magazine, she took a look back at her adorable baby pics, sharing advice to her younger self.

"I'm like bitch that's my cookie," she said, holding up one photo. "That's my juice, okay. Carry on. Thank you, next. That's what this baby picture says." People soon noticed that Ari sounded a little different than usual and had particularly emphasised her pronunciation of the word "juice".

People are accusing Ariana Grande of putting on a "blaccent". Picture: Getty/Pinterest

Someone then posted a comparison between the way Ariana used to speak, compared to her accent now.

People thought she was deliberately trying to sound like a Black woman - some even compared it to "blackfishing".

Nonetheless, others defended Ari and insisted she had always spoken like that.

This hasn't been the first time people have accused Ari of milking the culture. Ariana - who is of Italian descent - has been accused of blackface before because of her love of a deep tan, most recently in her Breathin' video.

What do you think? Tweet us @popbuzz and let us know!

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People are accusing Ariana Grande of putting on a "blaccent"

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Ariana Grande's Billboard interview video has put her accent under the spotlight after people accused her of "blackfishing" and speaking with a "blaccent". The God is a Woman singer was named Billboard's Woman Of The Year after dropping her masterpiece of a video, "thank u, next".

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https://jeremyhelligar.medium.com/ariana-grande-and-the-art-of-faux-blackness-dd028bff1acf

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Minority talent thrives in white packaging. Welcome to America.

Ariana Grande in the "7 Rings" video (Photo: Republic Records)

https://play.ht/articles/5a022e5a-e218-4269-808a-c74e4ab2fdd4
Ever since social media became the stock market of celebrity currency, trending has been the new black. Nothing screams "You made it, girl!" like being the center of one hot topic (How you doin'?)...

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Ariana Grande and the Art of Faux-Blackness

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https://play.ht/articles/5a022e5a-e218-4269-808a-c74e4ab2fdd4 Ever since social media became the stock market of celebrity currency, trending has been the new black. Nothing screams "You made it, girl!" like being the center of one hot topic (How you doin'?)...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WolA-5HocYk

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Ariana Grande‘s speaking Voice evolution 2010-2017

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Ariana is selective when she darkens her skin

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Ariana is selective when she darkens her skin

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https://popculture.com/music/news/ariana-grande-accused-ripping-off-2-chainz-pink-trap-house-7-rings-video/

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Ariana Grande's music video for " 7 Rings" includes pink everywhere, which led a few 2 Chainz fans to accuse her of ripping off his Pink Trap House in Newnan, Georgia. 2 Chainz himself even noticed the similarities.

The video, directed by Hannah Lux Davis, shows Grande hosting a party at a house completely covered in pink, down to the appliances in the kitchen. The beginning of the video even shows pink-painted cars outside the home.

After Grande released the video on Thursday, a handful of 2 Chainz fans accused Grande of copying the rapper's Pink Trap House, although the exterior for the house in Grande's video is very different from the Georgia landmark.

Yeeerrrrr @2chainz your alarm going off? They tryna take the swag again. pic.twitter.com/Hnkxk6PjIO
- Denzyl Amankwah (@MoBetterEats) January 18, 2019

"Yeeerrrrr [2 Chainz] your alarm going off? They tryna take the swag again," one fan wrote.

"Justice for 2chainz," another wrote, adding a photo of 2 Chainz outside the house.

On Friday, 2 Chainz posted a clip from the video, acknowledging the similar aesthetics. "Tryna figure out if I should Big Draco [Ariana Grande]... y'all tell me in the comments," the Atlanta rapper wrote.

justice for 2chainz pic.twitter.com/zGABTTE7BW
- amaru? (@kencric) January 18, 2019

The Pink Trap House is a haunted house 2 Chainz saved from demolition last year, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He collaborated with haunted house company 13 Stories to revive the home as a haunted house again. It previously became a social media sensation in 2017, when 2 Chainz rented the building to promote his album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music.

Aside from the pink house look, rap fans have accused Grande of copying others in "7 Rings" itself. One Billboard editor suggested the song lifted elements of Soulja Boy's "Pretty Boy Swag." Rapper Princess Nokia claimed the song is similar to her 2017 track "Mine."

Ariana Grande's #7Rings rides Soulja Boy's "Pretty Boy Swag" wave while the video is plucked straight out of 2 Chainz's pink trap house. I just...idk 😐 pic.twitter.com/x357S8d9of
- Pusha Bi. (@BiancaEnRogue) January 18, 2019

"Ain't that the little song I made about brown women and their hair?" Princess Nokia said in a video. "Hmm. Sounds about white."

Grande has not commented on the controversies surrounding the video. She hinted at a possible social media break by writing " bye for now" in an Instagram post on Friday. She did tweet "Miss U" on Saturday, which appears to be a tribute to her late ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, on his birthday.

"7 Rings" is Grande's first release of 2019, following what was a difficult year for the singer. Aside from her breakup with Miller and his death in September, she also had a whirlwind romance with Pete Davidson that ended with them calling off their engagement in October.
Photo credit: Getty Images

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Ariana Grande Accused of Ripping off 2 Chainz's Pink Trap House in '7 Rings' Music Video

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Ariana Grande's music video for " 7 Rings" includes pink everywhere, which led a few 2 Chainz fans to accuse her of ripping off his Pink Trap House in Newnan, Georgia. 2 Chainz himself even noticed the similarities.

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Ariana being compared to notorious blackfishes Emma Halberg who inspired the original black fishing twitter thread

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Ariana being compared to notorious blackfishes Emma Halberg who inspired the original black fishing twitter thread

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Ariana Appropriating Black Culture (using trap house/urban culture as an aesthetic for a video about her bragging about her wealth)

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Ariana Appropriating Black Culture (using trap house/urban culture as an aesthetic for a video about her bragging about her wealth)

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjch__hw9z0AhXEYMAKHf9mDY0QtwJ6BAgIEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQYh6mYIJG2Y&usg=AOvVaw2GaUzZPNLE8pvrXH-tVmfa

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https://krxs100.tumblr.com/post/181167787633

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https://medium.com/@abbs664/ariana-grande-blackfishing-d42a8cb726ea

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Disclaimer: I am a white woman. Please correct me if anything I say is inaccurate, offensive, or misunderstood.
We all know Ariana Grande. The girl gets headlines after headlines written about her, but there should be some that stand out. I don't mean the Ariana Makes Relationship Officials, I mean the ones that call her out for her blatant disrespect to other cultures and label her as a blackfish. Blackfishing is a recently-coined term which describes people who pretend to be black by using makeup, hair products, and surgery.

Most recently, the star appeared on a Black Lives Matter and Black History Month playlist and made no comment to Spotify on their inclusion of her to the playlist. To listeners, Ariana's name stood out like a sore thumb because Ariana is not black. She's not hispanic either. She is an Italian American.

Ariana appeared on these playlists surrounded by talented black artists and in doing so Ariana permitted for a white woman to steal the spotlight from people of color, while also gaining more clout. I'm not saying that Ariana controls Spotify, but I do think her silence is a vital, current example of Ariana profiting off the racial ambiguity that she has created.

You might be thinking "created" seems like a harsh word, but Ariana culturally appropriates in the majority of her aesthetic. Cultural appropriation or when members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systemically oppressed by that dominant group is just the beginning of untangling blackfishing. Ariana crosses the line into blackfishing because she's not just taking elements from others culture, she is also fronting as a member of this culture.

Awareness of the blackfishing phenomenon began in November of 2018, when a Twitter thread was posted showing white girls cosplaying as black women. It went viral gaining more than 23,000 retweets. We are saying NO thank u, next to this behavior.

The truth of the matter is that most people think that Ariana is Latina, a belief, which I think Ariana promotes, or, at the very least, doesn't deny. For example, upon accepting Billboard's 2018 Woman of the Year award, Ariana made a "joke" about inviting everyone to her Quinceñera, instead of something relevant to her own background. Personally, with her relationship background, I think wedding would've gotten more laughs.

If you are sitting there yelling at me through your computer, then chances are you are complaining that Ariana's never claimed her racial background is black, and you're right. The problem is that she didn't have to because blackfishing is gradual, often happening right under our noses. Ariana has slowly tanned darker, while also accentuating her features to appear racially ambiguous. Today, she maintains a tan that is several shades darker than Nicki Minaj, an actual black woman.

White individuals, are capitalizing on black or mixed aesthetics in order to gain more revenue, sponsorship deals, and follower count. This also means that these individuals are gaining even more opportunities based on their skin color or their newly adopted - stolen - skin color. People that can pass as different races other than white are securing jobs that people of color could get.
http://journal.arganee.world/2019/327/
Another thing that struck me was to see Ariana on the cover of Vogue with blindingly pale skin, blonde hair, and freckles is shocking. According to Condenast, 76% of Vogue readers have a high income and publishers are accused of providing information to advertisers of their desired audience, which often focuses on white individuals. This shows her choosing when she wants to profit from racial ambiguity since in music she wants to seem black, but when featured on the cover of Vogue, she's white.

Blackfishes also don't just change their appearance, they often adopt hairstyles, clothing, and use a "black voice." As mentioned previously, Ariana has been accused of all of these, but the change in her voice and her use of African American Vernacular English is audibly shocking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WolA-5HocYk

Perhaps one of her most controversial music videos she has released was for "7 Rings" in which Ariana appropriates multiple cultures. The trap house setting and imagery was an initial red flag. She goes on to have a kawaii aesthetic and exploit Japanese and Asian culture as well. Ariana picks aspects of various cultures depending on which will boost her image and profits the most.

Let's not forget that Ariana's career began with her white appearance. She didn't start choosing to appear culturally ambiguous until she already secured stardom. Her claim to fame was done white, when she appears in Vogue she is white, and basically anytime she knows being a woman of color would be difficult. This is the epitome of white privilege. She picks and chooses what race she wants to appear and when.

To me, blackfishing takes cultural appropriation to the next level. When a person blackfishes, they are able to get away with appropriation because people literally don't realize they're not a person of color. I cannot imagine how it must feel to see an artist gain through blackfishing. Allowing Ariana to continue this behavior impacts the self-esteem and mental health of black individuals struggling with the already minimal and stereotypical representation of people of color in media.

From here, I hope that people can understand the fine line between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Being a woman of color means bearing all things that come with it. These racist actions often go unaccounted for and that is unacceptable. The change starts with awareness and I hope this will move more people to support actual members of communities such as Black, Latinx, and Arab.

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Disclaimer: I am a white woman. Please correct me if anything I say is inaccurate, offensive, or misunderstood. We all know Ariana Grande. The girl gets headlines after headlines written about her...

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https://thetab.com/uk/2019/02/08/ariana-grande-is-a-blackfish-and-these-are-the-receipts-91714

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Ariana Grande is a blackfish and these are the receipts

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She’s making a profit out of ‘racial ambiguity’

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https://vocal.media/theSwamp/ariana-grande-and-blackfishing

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Ariana Grande recently came under fire for using a "blaccent" in a promotional video for her newest single, "thank u, next." Grande, who is Italian-American, spoke with an over-the-top ghetto accent in describing a childhood photo. Several Twitter users compared this clip to a clip of her speaking about ten years ago. Her look was quite different then as well.

An act of cultural appropriation, an insulting minstrel show, or a simple use of slang? Grande would hardly be the first non-black celebrity to incorporate elements of black culture in their persona; Justin Timberlake and Kim Kardashian come to mind. Grande's also not the first Italian to hit the tanning bed. Is her "blaccent" a moment of poor taste, or part of something more widespread and sinister?

This criticism arose shortly after the term "blackfishing" began to surface in the media, appearing in articles on BBC News, Slate, Teen Vogue, and the Independent. The term "blackfishing" refers to a woman, usually white or European, who uses makeup, tanning, hairstyling, and fashion to look black, racially ambiguous, or exotic.

Emma Hallberg, pictured above, is the most often cited example of a blackfish. Hallberg is Swedish, but her tanned skin, long dark (often curly) hair, makeup, and fashion choices, reference American black culture and fashion.

This term broke into the mainstream after a Twitter thread by @WannasWorld, detailing white women on Instagram who appeared black or mixed race, went viral. These threads compared current photos from Instagram with younger photos where these women looked significantly "whiter," both physically and culturally. At first glance, they look like pictures of two different women.

As far as I can tell, none of these women have come out and admitted to blackfishing. These denials have fanned the flames and led to more criticism, controversy, and press coverage.

Criticisms of these women tend to follow several different lines of argument:

Women who pretend to be another race can stop pretending at any time. This isn't an option for the people they're imitating. "Everyone wants our rhythm, no one wants our blues."

They're a long way from John Howard Griffin. These women are not blackfishing to bring attention to issues like racial profiling or unequal treatment. Have any done undercover videos of applying for a loan as a white vs. black woman, for example? Not to my knowledge.

Blackfishes (blackfishers?) might attract media attention, endorsements, and sponsorships that would otherwise go to a person who's authentically from that culture.

These women don't know what it's really like to come from the culture or ethnicity they're pretending to be, so they're in a poor position to help people who actually have that experience.

Their looks are based on stereotyped images of how women from different racial groups look, dress, speak, and act.

So far, most media outlets have focused on blackfishing by not-so-famous Instagram models. However, celebrities such as Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner, and Gwen Stefani have faced criticism for similar issues.

Is Ariana Grande blackfishing?

Ariana Grande is Italian, Greek, and North African. She's never claimed to be anything else, regardless of her skin color or speaking style. Her style is her own, even if it borrows elements from other cultures and subcultures: ponytails, skater/A-line dresses, crop tops, plaid miniskirts, cat ears, cat eyeliner, oversized sweatshirts, etc.

However, Grande's deep tan, her use of AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) on social media, and her "blaccent" in recent videos has led to accusations of using black/brownface. Grande's supporters say this is overblown, that Grande tans easily, and that she isn't imitating or mocking any other culture with her style or speech. What do you think?

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Ariana Grande recently came under fire for using a "blaccent" in a promotional video for her newest single, "thank u, next." Grande, who is Italian-American, spoke with an over-the-top ghetto accent in describing a childhood photo. Several Twitter users compared this clip to a clip of her speaking about ten years ago.

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https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/08/13/what-is-blackfishing-ariana-grande-rita-ora/

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What is blackfishing? The most recent celebrity to come under fire in this debate is Rita Ora. Could Ariana Grande be next?

After finding out that Rita Ora's parents are Albanian, and thus ethnically white, fans accused Rita of blackfishing and cultural appropriation.

Another celebrity who has faced criticism regarding blackfishing is Ariana Grande, who has been at the heart of the debate for several years.

Read on to find out more.

What is blackfishing?

Blackfishing is a recently termed coin, and refers to people who pretend to be black or mixed-race by using fake tan, adopting certain hairstyles, or changing their accent.

While people who do it may not have bad intentions, blackfishing is part of a much bigger issue that sees non-black people benefitting from appropriating black culture. The hairstyles and black features used in blackfishing are often the same things that actual black people continue to be criticised for.

Million Dollar Listing LA | Season 13 | Preview Trailer

Rita Ora has come under fire for blackfishing, after people on Twitter found out that both her parents, are in fact, white. Rita has worn traditionally black hairstyles such as afros and box braids, so fans are shocked to find out she is ethnically white.

Rita is aware that she benefits from presenting herself in this way and has said on the Breakfast Club radio show: 'A lot of people think that [I have Black heritage] but I like that,' adding: 'It gets me places.'

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finding out rita ora isn't black at all and both of her parents are white albanians is so trippy. the girls BEEN blackfishing pic.twitter.com/rGDLUh1obe
- ❂ (@slitmyclitt) August 9, 2020

Why has Ariana Grande been accused of blackfishing?

Ariana Grande has also faced criticism for blackfishing throughout the years.

People often focus on the colour of her skin, and compare it to her skin tone from when she was younger and played Cat Valentine on Victorious. During this time, she appeared to be much paler compared to now. This prompted people to accuse her of trying to blackfish by darkening her skin.

Ariana has also been pictured next to black women, such as Nicki Minaj, and it appears that she has the same skin tone as them, despite not being black.

She has also been criticised for her use of AAVE (African American Vernacular English). White people using AAVE can be a problematic topic, as they are often celebrated for using AAVE slang terms, and use it to appear 'cool' despite actual black people being called 'ghetto' for the very same language.

Fans defend Ariana Grande

Hundreds of loyal Ariana Grande fans have defended her throughout the years, claiming her tan is due to her Italian heritage.

They have pointed out that comparison pictures of Ariana's skin have been edited to make it look as though the change in her skin tone over the years appears more contrasting than it actually is.

Fans have also dug up an old tweet from Ariana from 2011, where she said that make up was put on her that was "three shades lighter" than her normal skin colour.

In other news, Kamala Harris' 'boujee' Le Creuset dish isn't what you think

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What is blackfishing? Is Ariana Grande next as Rita Ora debate continues?

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What is blackfishing? The most recent celebrity to come under fire in this debate is Rita Ora. Could Ariana Grande be next? After finding out that Rita Ora's parents are Albanian, and thus ethnically white, fans accused Rita of blackfishing and cultural appropriation.

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Ariana (white) match Nicki Minaj's skin tone (a black woman)

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Ariana (white) match Nicki Minaj's skin tone (a black woman)

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https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a28337288/fans-accuse-vogue-ariana-grande-darken-skin-color-black-august-cover-instagram/

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Ariana is on the cover of Vogue's August issue.

People are accusing her and Vogue of darkening her skin so much that she looks black.

Ariana Grande just graced the background of her dog Toulouse's first Vogue cover, and while many are praising her for being so open and honest in the accompanying interview, a bunch of others are also upset about her skin color on the cover.

If you take a look at the August cover the magazine dropped on Instagram this morning, you'll see Ariana lounging on the beach with her pup while wearing a black dress and a HUGE black hat. And if you scroll down through the comments, you'll see people going off about how they think Vogue and Ariana, who is Italian, darkened her skin to make her look black.

Fashion critic and YouTuber Luke Meagher (better known as @HauteLeMode) commented, "Are you all okay?" to which other followers responded with statements like, "She don't know if she black or white."

Elsewhere in the comments section, people wrote, "Is she black now," "Who is this woman of color 💀," "Why is this white woman performing as a tan/black girl," "Culture vulture," and "Noooo, sorry, this is not okay. Ari does not look like this at all."

It's all very uncomfy and messed up if true, especially considering she's been accused of doing brownface/blackface before.

For the record, here's a pic of Ari at the premiere of Shrek Forever After in 2010:

Here she is at the Billboard Women in Music event in 2018:

And here she is on Vogue' s cover:

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Meanwhile, others jumped to Ari's defense and said it's just a simple case of a girl loving to spray tan and the fact that it's summer.

And another person who seems to have seen Ariana's childhood photos added, "No, there's a wealth of childhood photos of her where she is this approximate depth. Also, the darkest possible? You've clearly never been to New Jersey, this is minimal by comparison."

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Ariana and V ogue haven't commented on any of the backlash, but Ari often takes to social media to address controversies involving her, so she miiight end up saying something.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

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Eek: Fans Are Accusing 'Vogue' and Ariana Grande of Darkening Her Skin Color

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Ariana is on the cover of Vogue's August issue. People are accusing her and Vogue of darkening her skin so much that she looks black. Ariana Grande just graced the background of her dog Toulouse's first Vogue cover, and while many are praising her for being so open and honest in the accompanying interview, a bunch of others are also upset about her skin color on the cover.

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https://www.teenvogue.com/story/ariana-grande-nicki-minaj-2016-vmas-performance

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Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj just brought the ultimate workout class to the stage at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Watching them dominate together of their collab "Side to Side," off Ariana's album Dangerous Woman, will make you literally want to sign up for a spin class ASAP (especially with adorable workout gear like theirs, where can we get those weights?!). Their backup dancers would be pretty amazing workout buddies, too.

Ari also made an ode to the Olympics as she danced on a pommel horse. The skill may have only been an event for male gymnasts at the Rio games, but the Final Five could have totally busted out some moves if they had hit the stage with Ari and Nicki. This performance was basically the best way to close out the summer and give everyone the motivation they need for breaking a sweat this fall.

Related: 23 Important Things to Know About Ariana Grande
Check this out:

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Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj Transformed the VMAs Stage Into a Literal Spin Class

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Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj just brought the ultimate workout class to the stage at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Watching them dominate together of their collab "Side to Side," off Ariana's album Dangerous Woman, will make you literally want to sign up for a spin class ASAP (especially with adorable workout gear like theirs, where can we get those weights?!).

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvVm7G4S8X4&t=10s

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ARIANA GRANDE? | HOLLYWOOD FETISHIZING DARK SKIN

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmt_s_dRtBQ&t=466s

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Ariana Grande really, really wants to be mixed

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We know Ariana Grande’s white… but does she? | Revisiting blackfishing in the entertainment industry

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https://screenshot-media.com/the-future/trends/end-of-bbl-blackfish/

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What is blackfishing?

Blackfishing is used to define when a person modifies their appearance by using makeup or tanning methods , appropriating cultural clothes or hairstyles and even having fillers or cosmetic surgery in order to present themselves as black or racially ambiguous. It is thought of as the modern blackface. Although any gender is capable of blackfishing (and it has been done), the most common culprit is-you guessed it- the white woman .

It's not a harmless tan or some innocent plastic surgery; it's the aestheticisation of the features of women of colour. It's that these white women are able to fetishise the characteristics of women of colour but yet still reap the benefits of their whiteness . They get to dance this line and not have to experience the racism and mysogynoir Black women face daily. It's pretty much a win-win situation for them.

Svetlana Onye , a musician, policy researcher and activist, told Screen Shot how hurtful blackfishing is to black people and black women especially. She states that "seeing a new era of celebrity whereby beauty is surgery and surgery is manipulating features on the body to be in likeness to blackness is disgusting. This is because it is hurtful to see what you were ridiculed for, being sexy when adorned by white people-who will never experience the racist connotations of those features they have bought."

So, let's have a look at some blackfishing celebrities.

1. Iggy Azalea (duh)

Rather than learning from this initial valid criticism of her, Azalea has continued to adopt African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and appropriate the styles, aesthetics and cultures of black Americans throughout her career. Reminder: she was born and raised in While Azalea makes money out of this 'trendy' costume, black Americans are shunned, stereotyped and mocked for the exact same things.

2. Kylie Jenner (another obvious one)

Kylie Jenner is no stranger to blackfishing either, embroiled in scandal after scandal, it's been common throughout her career. Who can forget when she told Marie Claire : "I started wigs, and now everyone is wearing wigs." No. Just no. Jenner, who looks nothing like her former self, denied for over a year that she'd had a lip augmentation. It was these lips that started her empire-the lips that Onye was bullied for made Jenner a billionaire.

"It came out in different ways such as searching on YouTube how black women with lips like mine should apply lipstick, if they even should. Thinking that my lips were too big to be desirable or kissable and feeling ugly for the things that I now realise, made me black," she says.

Jenner has been accused of having even more to create this racially ambiguous image ; she has continuously built and profited off of the aesthetics of black women-all while doing very little to help the community. She's a billionaire, I'm sure she's got a few bob lying around.

3. Kim Kardashian

Jenner most probably learned from her older sister Kim Kardashian . Jasmine Wallis writing in Fashion Journal states, " The Kardashian-Jenners have inadvertently become the face of blackfishing because, over the years, they have been quick to appropriate Black culture but have often failed to use their White privilege to actively help in the fight against the oppression of the very race they're emulating."

Kardashian, much like her sister, has been called out for darkening her skin, appropriating black hairstyles and using that to make money.

Onye further explained why this is a problem, " It makes me see clearly how racism works in beauty and how profitable it is to mimic black beauty but distance yourself from black suffering. Black women finding beauty within themselves through recognising the beauty of other black women makes me feel self-love, lip fillers on a celebrity do not."

Although Ora has never claimed to be black and continuously spoken about her pride for her Albanian background, it shows how natural it is for white celebrities to appropriate these features with no thought. Funmi Lijadu writes for that " even if she didn't know better, ignorance doesn't absolve her of wearing an afro, braids, and banking off her racial ambiguity."

In a 2016 interview , Wendy Williams told Ora she thought she was half-black to which Ora replied, "everybody usually does. I might as well be. But no, I'm Albanian."

5. Bhad Bhabie

Ora wasn't the only celebrity who got into hot water last year, Bhad Bhabie -real name Danielle Bregoli-was also called out for blackfishing.

Also known as the cash me outside girl, Bregoli comes from a completely white background, and is constantly seen darkening her skin and adopting black hairstyles. Much like Azalea, she has used this to build her career in hip hop. She doesn't hide it or even pretend she's not doing it.

While on an Instagram live, Bregoli, in an attempt to defend herself , said an incredibly racist statement: "Y'all say that I try to be black, because I-maybe a reason for me trying to be black is that I grew up in the hood. Tarzan, right, he-the story of Tarzan." Bregoli is comparing Tarzan behaving like a gorilla because he was raised by them to her "acting black" because she was raised "in the hood." Yeah, she said that. To make matters even worse she backtracked by saying "who wants to be black? I don't understand that. I can't comprehend it."

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Is the era of the BBL blackfish on its last legs?

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From BBLs to aggressive tans, blackfishing felt like an inescapable phenomenon. Now, there seems to be a shift in the air, as eagle-eyed TikTok users noted a possible scaling back of what we know as the modern-day blackface. The days of the BBL appear to be numbered.

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https://time.com/6072750/kardashians-blackfishing-appropriation/

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The Kardashians' Legacy of Blackfishing and Appropriation

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'It's no secret that they've adopted many styles that Black women have created and made them more palatable'

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1cGZjyUZxA

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THE GRAPEVINE | BLACKFISHING | GV Quarantine Edition

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The first tweet that sparked the black fishing outrage

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The first tweet that sparked the black fishing outrage

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https://rtfgenderandmediaculture.wordpress.com/2019/06/29/blackfishing-the-commodification-of-black-femininity-through-modern-day-blackface/

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-46427180

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"I've had no surgery, so I can't take off these lips. I can't remove my 'fake bum implants'."

Over the past month Aga Brzostowska has been labelled a "blackfish".

It's a term used for someone accused of pretending to be black or mixed-race on social media.

The suggestion Aga has been faking her race is news to her.

The 20-year-old University of Birmingham student told Radio 1 Newsbeat her skin is naturally "not pale". But she does admit to making it darker.

"With things like tanning, I don't think I've done anything in a malicious way.

"So I don't feel like I need to stop doing something because... why would I stop doing something that's benefitting me or that I enjoy doing?" Aga, who asked to be referred to as Alicja, says.

She says she's not suggesting "white privilege is not a thing" - but wants to tell her critics "the assumptions you're making are wrong".

Alicja is just one of a number of white Instagram influencers who've been accused of changing their features to make themselves look more like black women.

People have pointed in their pictures they have darker skin, fuller lips, bigger thighs and bums, and hairstyles that include curls and braids.

Sweden's Emma Hallberg, who has more than 260,000 Instagram followers, is the most infamous.

She had to defend herself after two photos of her went viral on social media.

"I do not see myself as anything else than white," Emma told Buzzfeed. "I get a deep tan naturally from the sun."

Emma's defence is similar to the two women accused of blackfishing spoken to by Newsbeat.

Alicja admits that two pictures of her which were doing the rounds on Twitter - one from when she was 13 and one taken recently - don't look good for her.

"I understand why the Twitter thread was made. And it makes sense to use my pictures, because without looking at anything or knowing me, it makes sense to put those two pictures together because obviously you can see a mad difference - a crazy difference.

"So I'm not really upset at the fact that someone used the pictures without knowing me. It makes sense of what they were trying to get across."

Alicja claims the differences in her appearance shown in the two pictures is completely natural - the result of hard work in the gym, and being fresh back from holiday - braids included.

And she thinks part of the reason people are surprised when they find out she's white is down to "stereotypes" about what Polish people look like.

"I'm proud to be Polish but I don't know why I look like this - my features are just there. I can't help that I have big lips and not the stereotypical Polish features," she says.

As for the braids, Alicja says her friend's little sister had started a hair company and wanted to use her head for pictures.

"I didn't really think much of it. I really appreciate the culture and I really just love the look - that was literally it."

Why is this a big deal?

Blackfishing has been talked about a lot ever since writer Wanna Thompson's Twitter thread - which highlighted women accused of blackfishing - went viral last month.

Some people have been questioning why it's an issue.

Dara Thurmond, a nurse from New York who's been vocal about blackfishing, told Radio 1 Newsbeat that black people "just being ourselves" has "always been frowned upon".

She says her frustration comes when white women who appear to be posing as black don't know "the struggle that black women go through just to be accepted as who they are".

"Even now in certain work spaces, black women can't wear their natural hair out. They have to wear weave.

"They have to press their hair so that it's straight, because to wear an afro or to wear braids or to wear locks is seen as unclean or untidy - it's not professional."

She says women accused of blackfishing are being "unfair" to black women who are trying to make it as influencers and get product endorsements of their own.

"You take away from them," Dara says.

Jaiden Gumbayan is 19, from Jacksonville, Florida, and has also been accused of blackfishing.

Like Alicja, she says she understands some of the backlash against her, but denies pretending to be a different race to her own.

She believes there's a "fine line between appreciation and appropriation".

"It could be looked at as the biggest form of flattery to some black women or people of colour, and to others it's mimicking and taking their culture without knowing the history behind it," she says.

"I know that there are other influencers on Instagram, and other celebrities... that is their intention."

A name that's been mentioned in almost everything written online about blackfishing is Kardashian.

It's because Kim, in particular, has been accused of appropriating black culture on several occasions down the years.

The " Kardashian effect" has also been blamed for an apparent rise in young people seeking cosmetic surgeries.

Dara says she wasn't entirely surprised when she heard about the phenomenon of blackfishing.

"We're coming into a time where you see a lot of black women really expressing themselves and stepping into their blackness, and owning it, and not being ashamed of it anymore.

"So it makes sense why it's happening - because I guess some people who are white-presenting feel like they're not the standard anymore. So now they're trying to do things to stay relevant and keep their popularity."

"It's perfectly fine to appreciate the mixed variety of people that you grew up around," she adds.

"But if it gets to a point where you are now trying to pass as someone of mixed race and you're not... that's when it becomes an issue."

Jaiden says that the backlash against her has taught her that there are "other ways of showing appreciation".

"We can appreciate their culture without having to do or wear their hairstyles, or trying to act or be a certain way that we're not."

Alicja says she's had people telling her to kill herself after posting pictures online.

She says the claims that she's been blackfishing mean she'll be more "cautious" with looks like braids in future.

"I'm obviously learning about what they're trying to say and taking it on board, honestly I am.

"But there's only so much I can do when I don't feel like I've harmed or done anything in a malicious way."

Will she change her pictures?

"I don't know what I can change, because it's just me."

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.

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"I've had no surgery, so I can't take off these lips. I can't remove my 'fake bum implants'." Over the past month Aga Brzostowska has been labelled a "blackfish". It's a term used for someone accused of pretending to be black or mixed-race on social media.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXT3lCcFYc8

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What's the Real Problem Here? Blackfishing? or Black Women's Jealousy?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgKI4QNGlU&t=646s

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The "Blaccent": Nonblack Creators' Key to Fame

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Jesy (white) match Nicki Minaj's skin tone (a black woman)

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Jesy (white) match Nicki Minaj's skin tone (a black woman)

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwik9pfTs9z0AhXDoFwKHao_BsQQ3yx6BAgGEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Du884fEIPY3g&usg=AOvVaw0M20mP_zlA4EoEKVS4oSo5

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https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/what-is-blackfishing-why-problematic_uk_6166ba94e4b0fcd00f97fa5c

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Former Little Mix bandmate Jesy Nelson 's new song, 'Boyz', has been doing the rounds this week, but arguably not for the right reasons.Since releasing the video for the track - her first solo single since leaving the girl group - Nelson, 30, has been accused of being a Blackfish.

The term might be relatively new to some, but as a week of discussion on social media has shown, it's at the centre of pop culture discourse right now - and not just what it means, but whether the word itself is even the right one to use.

Coined by Canadian journalist Wanna Thompson, Blackfishing is when a white woman trying to emulate the appearance of a Black or mixed-race woman. She might do this by adopting an extreme fake tan, lip fillers, curly hair, even a BBL (Brazillian butt lift). But being a Blackfish is about more than just appearance.

It denotes a form of cultural appropriation, especially where there is a chance of making financial gain. The way you speak and the music you make all can all add up to the impression that a white woman is trying to play at being Black.

In 'Boyz', Nelson samples P-Diddy's 'Bad Boy 4 Life', a popular hip hop song. The video is also heavily influenced by Black culture, from the clothes she is wearing to the choreography. This borrowing of Black culture feels questionable - while Little Mix make some RnB-inspired songs, they're a pop band.

Of course, Nelson is not the only musician to have been criticised for dabbling in Black music when she feels like it - others like Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande have also been accused of appropriating Black music, while contrasts have been drawn with the likes of Amy Winehouse and Adele who more openly and easily acknowledged its influence on their work from the get go.

After watching Nelson's new video this week, author Natasha Mulenga, writing for Teen Vogue, pondered what left her feeling uncomfortable.

"Was it the white guys in poorly done cornrows? Was it the concept - the mostly white neighbourhood of "Perfectville" being disrupted by people dressed as if there was a B2K reunion with a white woman from Dagenham, Essex, leading the charge?" she asked. "Or was it that the same white woman who I had seen win X-Factor in 2011 as one-quarter of Little Mix, was now the same complexion as her featured artist Nicki Minaj?"

As Mulenga reflected: "It's not just a tan." And when Minaj joined Nelson for an Instagram Live on to promote their track, things got even more complicated.

When asked about the Blackfishing accusations in an interview, Nelson told Vulture: "The whole time I was in Little Mix I never got any of that. And then I came out of [the band] and people all of a sudden were saying it." She wasn't on social media at the time, she said, so she let her team deal with it.

"But I mean, like, I love Black culture. I love Black music," she added. "That's all I know; it's what I grew up on. I'm very aware that I'm a white British woman; I've never said that I wasn't."

Wanna Thompson first created the term Blackfishing in 2018 after starting a Twitter thread of white women whom she considered to be cosplaying as Black women. That original tweet received more than 46,000 likes and around 6,300 quote tweets, with people sharing further examples of white women they deemed to have appropriated from Black women. The list included Jesy Nelson, but also major names in US culture, including Grande and Kim Kardashian.

"Black women are constantly bombarded with the promotion of European beauty standards in the media," Thompson wrote for Paper Mag, "so when our likeness is then embraced on women who have the privilege to fit traditional standards yet freely co-opt Blackness to their liking, it reaffirms the belief that people desire Blackness, just not on Black women."

The problem, Thompson pinpointed, is that "these women have the luxury of selecting which aspects they want to emulate without fully dealing with the consequences of Blackness", linking to a tweet by artist Vince Staples.

You think if I whitefish at the courthouse they'll expunge my record ? Asking for a friend.
- VINCE STAPLES (@vincestaples) November 8, 2018

Interviewed by BBC Women's Hour the same year, Thompson observed that some white women adopt hair, clothing and slang associated with Black women "just enough to hang on to racial ambiguity without fully dealing with the consequences of Blackness."

This is especially a problem, she added, when Black influencers are being "overlooked all the time" by brands and - as HuffPost UK has reported - shortchanged in comparison to their white equivalents.

So, what do Black British women make of the term Blackfishing - and the set of behaviours it describes?

Zuva Seven, a 25-year-old student from Leeds and editor-in-chief of the online magazine, An Injustice!, considers Blackfishing to be disrespectful behaviour, because it often comes from women who have done nothing to support the Black community.

"Though it's now gaining mainstream appeal, you can tell that these individuals do this because they know they can get away with it, which leaves a very bad taste in my mouth," she tells HuffPost UK.

"You can't tell me that after spending hours of getting your skin tanned and heat damaging your hair that you don't know what you're doing."

But Seven goes further, saying that Blackfishing is actively harmful, because it pushes unwelcome stereotypes of Black women and colourist preferences.

"Blackfishing sidelines genuine Black and mixed-race talent in preference to white women (who already dominate so much). It also reinforces unrealistic beauty standards," she says.

That said, increasing numbers of Black women are questioning if Blackfishing is actually the most useful term to level at white women. While anyone trying to look Black for financial gain - as Thompson set out in her theory - would be difficult to defend, are these women really trying to look Black?

In the case of Nelson, some have levelled the charge of "mixed-fishing" instead. As Natalie Morris, author of Mixed/Other: Explorations of Multiraciality in Modern Britain, reported in Metro this week: "From the shade of her tan, to the plumpness of her lips and the volume of her curls, some say the popstar appears to be tapping in to the 'trend' of racial ambiguity that is often associated with people of mixed heritage."

And when Christiana Mbakwe-Medina, a US-based Brit who writes for the Trevor Noah show, used the phrase "ethnic smudging" to describe white women appropriating a hard-to-place mix of Black, Latin and Middle Eastern aesthetics, there were choruses of recognition on Twitter.

"She's absolutely right," one writer responded. "Blackfishing' as a term definitely captured a moment and isn't invalid but ultimately none of these women *look* like Black women nor do they want to be *us* because there is very little economic gain in actually being *us*."

Leonie Mills, a 26-year-old academic based between London and Accra, agrees that while cultural appropriation of Black culture, especially Black American culture, has been around for years, the trend for Blackfishing - especially from those in the public eye - is more insidious that what has come before, as these women are taking from a wider range of trending "looks."

"It's an amalgamation of different ethnicities and cultures," Mills reflects. "Black popular culture comes through in the music, but the aesthetic is racially ambiguous. These women don't want to look Black. They want to look "exotic" and on-trend: a Mediterranean skin colour, with Middle Eastern/Asian eyes and glass skin, a "European" nose with fuller lips typically found in Black people."

Although she doesn't agree with Blackfishing as a term, Mills acknowledges that it does pinpoint a problem. "It's problematic because once again, the ethnicities and cultures where these things stem from are continually penalised. Our aesthetics are not a trend we can decide to change."

Meanwhile, social media creates its own 'sub-cultures', she says, and the roots get lost. "Younger people will attribute these aesthetics to the white people who appropriated them and not know the origins were Black," she says. "We know the difference between a white woman tanning and a white woman aligning herself with Black culture and Black aesthetics for profit and fame."

Seven echos this, expressing a belief that some white women find it more lucrative to blur the lines. "By trying to look racially ambiguous, it's harder to level critique towards them. Also, it is deemed the more 'mainstream' appealing look."

Think "Instagram face", she adds - "distinctly white but ambiguously ethnic" as the New Yorker describes it, "a National Geographic composite illustrating what Americans will look like in 2050, if every American of the future were to be a direct descendant of Kim Kardashian West, Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, and Kendall Jenner (who looks exactly like Emily Ratajkowski)."

Ultimately, we can debate the terms we use, but please let's acknowledge the behaviour they describe. White women appropriating the aesthetic of Black women and other women of colour is problematic. Looking like us is easy but having our experiences is not. And it's not something you can choose to have one day and remove the next.

HuffPost UK approached representatives of Jesy Nelson for comment.

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'Blackfishing' Is More Than A Fake Tan and Curly Hair. Here's Why

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Former Little Mix bandmate Jesy Nelson 's new song, 'Boyz', has been doing the rounds this week, but arguably not for the right reasons.Since releasing the video for the track - her first solo single since leaving the girl group - Nelson, 30, has been accused of being a Blackfish.

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https://slate.com/culture/2018/11/blackfishing-instagram-models-emma-hallberg-appropriation.html

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1. I'm Turning in My Miranda Card

2. Two Critics Debate Power of the Dog's Surprising, Sneaky Ending

3. Here's What Happened to Get Back's Non-Beatle Characters

4. The Formula 1 Championship Is a Dramatic, Hateful Spectacle

Every Instagram influencer is only as good as her brand, and Emma Hallberg's trademark is her glow. Though the looks change and seldom, if ever, repeat, every photo spotlights a certain shine found on Hallberg's cheeks, nose, chin, and brow. That glow, or "highlight" as it's known to the makeup world, is one of Hallberg's specialties, garnering features at Allure and Teen Vogue as well as a product collaboration with the cosmetics company Make Up Store. Hallberg has leaned into it, training her audience to expect to see her deep tan catching the light with such carefully placed dustings of gold.

That same tan now makes Hallberg and others like her conspicuous. By "others like her," I don't mean influencers at large, but a much-but not too much-narrower coterie of online personalities who've recently been collected under the term niggerfishing (a play on catfishing). Earlier this month on Twitter, Toronto writer Wanna Thompson initiated a crowdsourced list of " the white girls cosplaying as black women on Instagram." Contributors to the thread posted compilations of newer and older photos of various Instagram users with high (sometimes 100,000-plus) follower counts, letting the contrasts speak for themselves: In the "before," a pale, mousy brunette; in the "after," brown skin, 3c curls (or dreadlocks or box braids or Bantu knots or a wet and wavy wig), and hood fashions to match. Though Hallberg was far from the only user named, she has become the face of what the media has more palatably called "blackfishing." Hallberg's " before" image shows her smiling at the camera in a white top and black jacket, tan but not bronze, her face slightly ruddy in the sun. In the " after " photo, she appears tanner, with large gold hoop earrings, wavier hair, and a thick coat of gloss accentuating her lips.

The juxtaposition recalls another viral sensation who was similarly exposed by a photo from her past: Rachel Dolezal. But unlike Dolezal, whose fumbled response (not her wig) paved her path to infamy, Hallberg does not deny her whiteness when asked. Though she hasn't seemed to care much about clearing up assumptions in the past-even when accounts dedicated to black beauty have reposted her images-she now states herself clearly. " I do not see myself as anything else than white," she told BuzzFeed earlier this month. "I get a deep tan naturally from the sun." Wednesday, on Good Morning America, she reiterated the message, saying, "I haven't done anything to make myself look darker." Her Instagram page features an Insta Story called " LET ME EXPLAIN," a more elaborate defense of her online appearance. In one image, Hallberg annotates the viral "before & after" diptych. The left, she writes, "was taken 2 years ago right before summer with barely any makeup and my hair straightened," while the right was captured "in July right after I came home from a vacation, with makeup." Another diptych shows photos of her father and brother who "as you can see," says Hallberg, "also tan very easily." Their smiling faces, indeed, look tan, but only in the way that many white people look tan.

Like Hallberg herself, her defenders tend to focus on her skin and hair. How can someone's natural complexion and hair be a costume? They aren't listening, of course. It doesn't matter, alone, if Hallberg's follicles sprout from her head like that or are derived from another source. Hallberg does wear wigs: She's been known to plug straight and wavy wigs sold by the vendor @Msherehair, whose Instagram page otherwise mostly displays photos of black people. But so do a lot of influencers these days, a byproduct of the industry's combined cannibalization of drag and blackness that has so many beauty influencers " beating " their face "to the gawds" with a ready "yas kween."

Unlike Rachel Dolezal, whose fumbled response paved her path to infamy, Hallberg does not deny whiteness whenasked.

The tan and curls are not the point nor beside the point but rather a small part of a head-to-toe flirtation with signifying blackness-or at least something other than whiteness. Every photo bears the residue of black and brown hood girl couture: from the Louis Vuitton do-rag to the bright acrylics, camo, and Adidas-style track suits (shown off in a rap squat, no less). Her videos find accompaniment in the likes of Chris Brown, Bryson Tiller, and-of course- Drake. In one of the photos Hallberg posted to "EXPLAIN," her similarly tan brother wears a white short-sleeve button down, linen shorts, and Stan Smiths, while she wears a dusky rose dress, those large gold hoop earrings, and a necklace seen frequently in her other photos: a gold chain reading "Goddess," reminiscent of the nameplate necklaces that, as Collier Meyerson noted in Splinter, have long " leapt off the chests of black and brown girls " but now intimate the racial aesthetics of the hood for people who wouldn't set foot there. Nowhere in her Insta Story or on her page does Hallberg suggest what might be the source of her style sensibilities. No reminiscing over hip-hop culture of yesteryear or stan worship. "I do not get my sponsorships, work opportunities and collaborations because of the color of my skin," she writes in the penultimate frame. "I get it because of the way I style my clothes and create makeup looks."

In Thompson's own analysis of Hallberg for Paper, building on her thread, she notes that this particular Instagram personality is not unique, deeming the platform "a breeding ground for white women who wish to capitalize off of impersonating racially ambiguous/Black women for monetary and social gain." The word hood not only applies to America's vast, regionally diverse collection of black and brown enclaves but, sadly, to a commercialized tone that is as "formulaic as it is strategic." Thompson herself has written before in praise of the "gaudy beauty practices" that exhibited the artistic ingenuity of where she came from, mourning the ways "the ghetto has been repackaged and curated to appeal to the masses whilst replacing black femmes and dark skinned women with those who look racially ambiguous."

To mislead is the point, though it is only incidental that Hallberg's presumed biraciality would render her black according to racial codes on American soil. Discussions of Hallberg are emphatic about how she "wants to be" or is " pretending to be" black. Such phrases have become shorthand in discussions of cultural appropriation, but we might do better to remember the adage made famous by Paul Mooney: "Everybody wanna be a nigga but nobody wanna be a nigga." The ambivalence Mooney describes is hidden by the clumsiness of a term like blackfishing. Hallberg is capitalizing on black aesthetics to be sure, but I don't believe she wants to be a black girl. Not when she can use blackness as a mere suggestion and instead become non-black, keeping centuries of subjection and violence at bay with the prefix and hyphen firmly in place.

She didn't invent this calculus, but she was almost certainly inspired by it, even if she didn't and doesn't know of it as such. It's entirely possible that Hallberg found inspiration not from " regula degula shmegula" girls from the Bronx and the South Side and Liberty City and so on, or even from stars like Cardi B or Nicki Minaj, but from those American royals whose love and theft has haunted us for more than a decade: the Kardashians. Kim Kardashian West skillfully pirouettes upon her conditional brownness, her license to play in cornrows and Hottentot silhouettes while her facial features anglicize. Her sisters have followed suit. For all of them, tan skin is the "but," the hyphen, the toggle between nigga and not-nigga that is so prized in American culture. Digital platforms enable the profitable uncanniness of racial performance, the visual and the textual so easily manipulated to infiltrate other folks' business. In the case of this Swedish model, the export of a black American culture handed her the keys to the kingdom of the American racial imagination. Now context comes to her doorstep. The choice of whether to make amends or to continue to exploit us is hers.

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Women "Blackfishing" on Instagram Aren't Exactly Trying to Be Black. They're Doing Something More Insidious.

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I'm Turning in My Miranda Card Two Critics Debate Power of the Dog's Surprising, Sneaky Ending Here's What Happened to Get Back's Non-Beatle Characters The Formula 1 Championship Is a Dramatic, Hateful Spectacle Every Instagram influencer is only as good as her brand, and Emma Hallberg's trademark is her glow.

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https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/what-is-blackfishing-meaning-why-harmful-jesy-nelson-nicki-minaj-b960244.html

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The video shows Nelson with a darker skin tone than usual, sporting plumped-up lips, grills on her teeth and curly hair, as well as wearing another hair style with braids. Surrounded by a coterie of mostly black men and women who turn up to terrorise a suburban neighbourhood, she sings about her penchant for men who are "so hood, so good, so damn taboo", which some feel fetishised black men and black culture.

In another disastrous PR move, she decided to turn to Nicki Minaj to calm the waters, who has come under fire recently for linking the Covid vaccine to swollen testicles and impotency (yes, you heard that right). In a conversation on Instagram Live with the rapper, who provides a verse on the song, Nelson said she never intended to cause offence. The singer also denied using fake tan and said she had been to Antigua before the shoot.

She said: "My intention is never to offend people of colour with this video and my song. When I was in the video with [US rapper Nicki Minaj], I didn't even have any fake tan on. I'd been in Antigua prior to that for three weeks. I'm just really lucky that as a white girl, when I'm in the sun I tan so dark. My hair's naturally curly, I've always had curly hair. I wanted to get a wig that emulated the same texture as my hair, I genuinely didn't think I was doing anything wrong."

So, what is blackfishing?

Blackfishing is a term used for someone accused of emulating a black or mixed-race person by using make-up, hair products and in some cases, surgery, to change their appearance, usually on social media. The term has entered the mainstream as a result of a shift away from Eurocentric beauty ideals over the past decade towards an ideal of racial ambiguity. It involves cherry-picking "desirable" features from black women - think unnaturally big Instagram lips, uncomfortably dark tan and curly locks.

The term entered the mainstream in 2018 when Wanna Thompson, credited with coining it, noticed white celebrities and influencers "cosplaying as black women".

"It's always been prevalent", Thompson told CNN. "Be it fashion, beauty or music. Black is cool, unless you're actually black."

Many view the Kardashian-Jenners as the catalysts for the rise of blackfishing, although they deny it. Their lucrative empire is based on this "Instagram look" - Kylie Jenner has leveraged her lips to build a cosmetics kingdom, even after admitting in 2015 that she regularly uses lip fillers.

The Kardashians are by no means the only celebrities accused of the practice - pop stars such as Ariana Grande and Rita Ora, who is of Kosovan descent, have also come under fire for allegedly darkening their skin and adopting black hairstyles.

A number of Instagram influencers have been accused of blackfishing. Prominent stars Emma Hallberg and Aga Brzostowska came under fire in 2018 and have both denied they have black heritage. Love Island's Molly Mae Hague was also questioned after using a foundation that was many shades darker than her natural skin tone.

Why is it harmful?

Kubi Springer, founder and CEO of SheBuildsBrands, told the Standard: "The harm of this is that this trickery is not someone wanting to be black, they do not want the experience of blackness. They want to take from black culture to create a perception of 'blackness' and appear 'exotic'.

"Being dark-skinned black is too often not profitable, but being exotic... is."

Blackfishing profits from certain aspects of blackness that are seen as palatable and "cool", without experiencing the discrimination that comes with the lived experience of being black.

Little Mix's Leigh-Anne Pinnock has made a documentary highlighting the racism she's experienced, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power. In the Sunday interview, she said: "Capitalising on aspects of blackness without having to endure the daily realities of the black experience is problematic and harmful to people of colour. We think it's absolutely not OK to use harmful stereotypes. There's so much to say on that subject that it's hard to sum up in a sound bite."

Some even consider it the modern version of blackface because it capitalises off the 'exotic' looks of historically oppressed minorities. Like blackface, blackfishing treats black features as a costume that can be removed at will.

It also involves co-opting an aesthetic which many black people themselves have been shunned for. According to a survey by the Halo Collective, one in five black women feel societal pressure to straighten their hair for work and more than half of black students have experienced name calling or uncomfortable questions about their hair at school.

"What this does is leave dark-skinned black women on the sidelines of commercial success from the very culture that they created," Springer says.

Kim Kardashian has worn cornrows to many events
/ Christopher Polk/Getty Images

What is the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation?

Cultural appreciation can be seen as a person seeking to understand and learn about a different culture in order to widen their perspective and connect with others.

Appropriation on the other hand, is taking one aspect of a culture that is not yours and using it for your own personal gain, for example to sell music, without demonstrating any understanding of the prejudices that make life difficult for minority communities.

Springer says: "I would encourage young people growing up to just respect the origins ," she says. "You can enjoy it, you can utilise it, you can work with it, you can recreate it - but respect the origin."

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What is blackfishing and why is it harmful?

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The video shows Nelson with a darker skin tone than usual, sporting plumped-up lips, grills on her teeth and curly hair, as well as wearing another hair style with braids.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfcYnswbybM

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https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/nepzyg/white-girls-instagram-blackface-blackfishing

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Instagram influencer Emma Halberg has been accused of altering her looks to appear black. She denies the accusations. Images via social media.

Last week a Twitter thread went viral for calling out white girls on Instagram and YouTube, some of them with huge followings, who are seemingly using various methods to transform their faces and bodies so they look "mixed-race" - though some have denied that's what they're doing, blaming their change on a propensity to deeply tan. Various media outlets are referring to this as "blackfishing", but there is another name for it, which more clearly links this practice to its racist past. While "ni**erfishing" sounds like a sport from the good ole days when AMERICA WAS GREAT, when a picnic wasn't a picnic without a black body swinging in the southern breeze, it is in fact a phenomenon all our own, from the year of our good lord 2018. N**erfishing is this cute lil trick whereby white girls literally reinvent themselves online, on Instagram and Youtube, as "mixed-race" or light-skinned black women. From our complexion to our lips and other facial features, to textured hair and the use of protective styles, weaves and braids - there is little to separate these white women visually from black women.

While it's clearly a trend this year, the writing has been on the wall for a while now. From Ariana Grande to Rita Ora, white chicks' profitability seems to soar if they can flirt with the suggestion of blackness, without being burdened by the reality of actually being black. Cultural appropriation has extended to body parts and many of today's most celebrated beauties are white women with augmented bodies and faces who've been cut and carved to produce a facsimile of blackness; pumping their lips and arses full of god knows what, to achieve the same features myself and many others spent years of our lives being bullied for. You couldn't make it up! Good thing you don't have to.

There's one family whose name I refuse to say, but it starts with K and ends with N. Some of the siblings have a different surname but they all seem to share the same surgeon, and certainly the same propensity to produce black children, which seems worthy of note given their desire to reproduce black features. These TV characters have made multi-billion fortunes off "their" looks, and mostly the make-up they sell by the shitload, usually to other white women who hope to recreate "the look". Naysayers will be quick to point out that "it's just a tan" or that "imitation is the highest form of flattery". These people would be better served taking a quiet moment to reflect on the history that has created the hellscape in which these Instagram influencers flourish.

Some of these gals are convincing, I'll give them that. These young white women from all over the world are really nailing their transformation from caucasian into seemingly "mixed-race" (in quotation marks because the concept is a social construct), through a combination of heavy make-up, hair styles, extreme tanning and, likely, some serious augmenting via apps. With their adjusted complexions, full lips and in some cases, rather rounded posteriors - they blow Rachel Dolezal 's black costume out of the water. That's what these are, costumes - but blackness isn't opt in and opt out. We can't be black when it suits us, and then wash it off when confronted by the very real racism that continues to reduce our realities.

But it's also crucial to remember that to be black is about more than just skin colour, hair texture or experiences of racism, it is also to be heir to a rich cultural legacy that western culture seems particularly enamoured by, which is somewhat perverse when you consider attitudes to black people. Yet so much of what we understand as western culture would be non-existent without that gift that keeps giving; unacknowledged physical, cultural or material black labour. For centuries, women of African descent have been conditioned to believe that their looks are inadequate and inferior to white women's. I grew up feeling like I was unspeakably ugly. I thought my bum and thighs were fat and monstrous, I was deeply ashamed of my hair. I had constant jibes about lips, and my skin complexion, while very light by black standards, was not spared being frequently likened to dirt. I've been called a black bitch and a nigger more times than I can count.

In addition to all of this good stuff were the assumptions about my sexual availability and perceived licentiousness as a black woman. This didn't only come from men. The recent accusations by Zoe Kravitz about being sexually "attacked" by Lily Allen, really hit home. She reminded me of my numerous encounters where drunk white women have groped me and/or attempted to stick their tongues into my mouth. I remember one incident where a particularly eager assailant physically tried to force open the door of the cubicle I had locked myself into to escape her advances, while she told me she "knew I wanted it" too.

Yet in constructions of beauty, black women's physicality was used to provide the rationale for white women's beauty. As Professor Patricia Hill Collins wrote: "Within the binary thinking that underpins intersecting oppressions, blue-eyed, blonde, thin white women could not be considered beautiful without the Other - black women with African features of dark skin, broad noses, full lips and kinky hair."

However, in the years since that was written (in 2000), the "skinny white blonde" standard has been somewhat displaced from pole position -- a new beauty standard is emerging and its manifestations are troubling. At this stage in my life I've mostly overcome the belief I once had that I was ugly and inadequate. I can recognise the features I was bullied for are -- quite simply -- beautiful. It's not just me, collectively black women are decolonising. We have beautiful features, and we know it! The infrastructure designed to convince us that we were worthless and inferior is crumbling, and now that so many of us are boldly embracing ourselves, a shift is happening. Black girl magic is real and these white girls want in. That's where the "mixed" body comes in. The African ancestry presumably provides the hypersexual swag, but mediated through European ancestry, so that the features are likely to align more closely to Eurocentric beauty standards.

Advances in beauty products mean now they can look just like us. I suspect many always wanted to, certainly the antecedents have long been there. While so much effort was invested in pushing this narrative that black women were ugly and inferior to white, there was a long history of jealousy directed from white women towards black. Evidence of this jealousy was enshrined in law, for example in 1786 when Esteban Rodríguez Miró, the governor of the then Spanish colony of Louisiana enacted the Tignon Laws, which decreed women of African descent must cover their hair in a tignon, a headscarf, effectively forbidding them from revealing their hair. White women felt that the intricate and often ostentatious styles black women could achieve positioned them at an unfair advantage in attracting the attentions of white male suitors. The law was enforced, but to little effect, as black women wore their tignons wrapped in beautifully elaborate styles and remained much admired by the male population. This wasn't the only time the politics around hair revealed a jealousy at the heart of oppressive relations between black and white. Light-skinned black women have existed in the diaspora for as long as there have been black communities in the New World. In America, for example, at least 3/4s of the black population are in fact "multiracial" (they are still black, because, remember, race is a social construct, right?).

The existence of "mixed-race" enslaved people was direct evidence to white women that white husbands, sons and male relatives were sleeping with black women. "Mixed-race" slaves were a visual reminder of this deception, and their features could prove a flash point. There are many accounts of enslaved women, particularly those with a texture thought to be too close to European, having their heads shaved, a punishment frequently meted out by white women. The wives of plantation owners were often quick to suspect that these women had duties that existed far beyond the domestic ones they were ostensibly kept in the house for. One particularly distressing account I came across was a case where a "mulatto" slave had her eyes cut out by a jealous wife, who believed her husband had taken a sexual interest in the girl. These are not stories from some dark distant past. They are events from the 19th century.

By the 20th century these stories had morphed into stereotypes about "mixed-race" black women, which migrated into popular culture, where we now had the privilege of being represented as "tragic mulattos"; according to white supremacist discourse, the mulatto did not have the "right to live" the US senator Charles Carroll said in 1900. We were an abomination who disrupted the racial order, and as a result of our pathology were emotionally unstable, yet we were still perceived as seductresses. And that's why it's no coincidence that when these online imposters post as their light-skin black alter egos they post thirst-traps with sultry eyes and pouty mouths, yet in photographs as their white selves, they remain smilingly wholesome girls next door. They are operating in familiar terrain, reinforcing topes that emerged out of slavery and which have been developed and refined via mass media throughout the 20th and 21st century. None of this is about flattery, it's about power, desire and ownership. A sinister reminder that people who once owned our bodies, still can, and of the troubled history and deep seated taboos that continue to define race relations between black and white in the 21st century.
Editor's note: This piece has been updated to reflect a particular Twitter thread as the one that went viral on this topic.

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white girls reinventing themselves as black women on instagram has to stop

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Instagram influencer Emma Halberg has been accused of altering her looks to appear black. She denies the accusations. Images via social media. Last week a Twitter thread went viral for calling out white girls on Instagram and YouTube, some of them with huge followings, who are seemingly using various methods to transform their faces and bodies so they look "mixed-race" - though some have denied that's what they're doing, blaming their change on a propensity to deeply tan.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U_-b0VWbTo&t=479s

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WHITE INFLUENCERS IN BLACK FACE | COLORISM | ARE BI-RACIAL WOMEN BLACK ???

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https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/91842/original/Moore%2B-%09%2BAuthenticity%2Bas%2BAuthentication%2B.pdf

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fnPVRNjkZ8

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Potential Essay Topics On Manufactured Identity In Music

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Potential Essay Topics On Manufactured Identity In Music

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. Industry Plants

. Inauthenticity: co-opting blackness to further careers

. Ghost-singing

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https://www.academia.edu/6446509/Racial_Authenticity_in_Rap_Music_and_Hip_Hop

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Racial Authenticity in Rap Music and Hip Hop

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Racial Authenticity in Rap Music and Hip Hop

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMqd7GdBdkE

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Essay Title: Manufacturing Authenticity: to what extent do non-white artists cosplay blackness?

. In my essay I will argue Jennifer Lopez used blackness to establish herself as an artist

. Using Jennifer Lopez as a case study I will explain authenticity and why its important

. In my essay using Jennifer Lopez as a case study I will demonstrate how non-black artists using blackness to further their careers

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjx9oSJDAVQ

The song conflicts with JLO as a person because she is saying she is 'real' when she is using another singers vocals as her own, she didn't write or produce the song, and has undergone many plastic surgery procedures.

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Jennifer Lopez - I'm Real (Remix) ft. Ja Rule

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn599R0ZBwg

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Lady Gaga - Perfect Illusion (Official Music Video)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2smz_1L2_0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U

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Lady Gaga - Paparazzi (Official Music Video)

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Lady Gaga's album cover for Joanne conflicts with her pre-established public persona 'Mother monster' and her artist identity that was characterised by her extravagant, boundary pushing, experimental fashion and her theatrical, overdramatic style. These defining traits of her artist identity are absent. It is significantly toned down. She has minimal makeup, no wig, simple hoop earring with a hat that looks like it belongs to a country singer. Even the colours are a more muted pastel blue and pink. And the background is plain.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbMqWXnpXcA

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmTqdUdZFI8

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What the Carters' Apes**t Really Meant | Beyonce and Jay-Z's Cultural Activism Pt.1

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https://medium.com/@benjaminpeiweiyang/the-formation-of-identity-resistance-and-status-beyoncés-2016-hit-as-a-brand-of-intersectional-2769d8680ded

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The Formation of Identity, Resistance, and Status: Beyoncé’s 2016 Hit as a Brand of Intersectional…

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Formation as both a synthesis of and critique to Foucault, de Beauvoir, and Fanon.

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/08/beyonce-formation-black-american-narrative-the-margins

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On Saturday night, I sent a group text to several friends as we were on our way to meet for drinks. It consisted solely of a screen capture from Beyoncé's new video for Formation and the words: "We must discuss this shit."
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Everyone knew exactly what I was talking about.

My best friend's answer: "Did Beyoncé just make a statement about the black feminine body defeating the police state?"

Formation is both provocation and pleasure; inherently political and a deeply personal look at the black and queer bodies who have most often borne the brunt of our politics. All shapes and shades of black bodies are signaled here and move - dare we say "forward"? - in formation. Even the song's title is subversive, winking at how we have constructed our identities from that which we were even allowed to call our own.

Formation isn't Beyoncé's first foray into the political but, in her latest collaboration with director Melinda Matouskas (who has directed eight of Beyoncé's videos since 2007), Beyonce's narrative and aesthetic comes in sharp relief. The video articulates multiple identities of southern blackness, while social critiques of the nation's crimes against its darker skinned citizens acts as ballast.

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A child finishes his dance before a line of police officers dressed in riot gear. Photograph: YouTube

Bookended by the flooding of the city of New Orleans after 2005's Hurricane Katrina - and by which the city's black residents were disproportionately affected - and a black child in a hoodie dancing opposite a police line and a quick cut to graffiti words "stop shooting us", Beyoncé morphs into several archetypical southern black women.

The potency of Formation doesn't come from its overt politics: it comes from the juxtaposition of lyric with the images, which organically present black humanity in ways we've haven't seen frequently represented in popular art or culture.

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Beyoncé in a car, as seen in the video for Formation. Photograph: YouTube

There is in it a litany of blackness, of what we love, of our diverse selves, of our intersections - class, sexuality and gender - woven so neatly in the visual that the lyrics and music seem secondary, but are intrinsic to communicating this celebration of southern fried blackness. Even Beyoncé retells her own history and by extension, marries the contradictions of black identity in her declaration: "My daddy Alabama, Mama Louisiana. You mix that Negro with that Creole make a Texas bama" - an insult that, perhaps, only Beyoncé was ever capable of reclaiming.

Beyoncé's use of "slay" is an additional embrace of the language of the black queer community and, in its repetition, it's an incantation that can slay haters, slay patriarchy, to slay white supremacy.

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Beyoncé's daughter, Blue Ivy, strikes a pose in the video for Formation. Photograph: YouTube

Formation is a protest and celebration, concerned with and in love with the very particular paradox of the black American identity and experience. The images, which are deeply layered and particular to a black Southern vernacular and aesthetic, beg to be catalogued: Creole and Black American, Mardi Gras Indian, crawfish, Black cowboys, wig shops, socks and slippers, corsets and parasols, parades, high school basketball, step team moves, bounce queens Big Freedia and Messy Mya, cotillions, "twirl on dem haters", braids, "bama", black spirituality (church and hoodoo, maybe even a nod to Mami Wata), black mama side eyes, drawls, Blue Ivy black girl magic fierceness.

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Beyoncé, preparing to 'twirl on dem haters' in the video for Formation. Photograph: YouTube

It's old and new south; it's dark and dirty south; it's Chantilly lace and denim jacket south; it's baby afro, baby hair and pink and purple wig south; it's second line and pentecostal holy ghost south; it's southern gothic and bounce south; it's my granny, grandaddy, auntie, uncle, cousin south. It is us, it's for us, and it's not concerned if white people understand.

I can't help, while watching and re-watching Formation, being reminded of this Nina Simone interview, in which she defines her role as an artist aligned with activism and black cultural aesthetics.

I think what you are trying to ask is why am I so insistent in giving out to them that blackness that black power that black ... pushing them to identify with black culture. I think that's what you're asking ... my job is to somehow make them curious enough or persuade them by hook or crook to get more aware of themselves and where they came from and what they are into and what is already there and just to bring it out. This is what compels me to compel them.

In this spirit, Formation compels its viewers to acknowledge the beautiful complexity of history, culture and customs, with levity and passion. It compels us to reclaim the black American narrative from its margin and make it center.

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Beyoncé and a group of women in white, antebellum-inspired fashion. Photograph: YouTube

These representations of black life are critical renderings of the range of our humanity, and they seem so unique here - as they did in Kendrick Lamar's offering last year - because we are so underrepresented in our beauty and diversity in television and film. (One notable exception is the documentary The B.E.A.T., from which Beyoncé and director Matouskas sourced some of their New Orleans footage with permission of the Sundance Channel, which owns the rights. They later thanked the directors publicly and noted that they were credited appropriately for the footage.)

But the politics were not an afterthought for Beyoncé: the date of the release of this work can't be ignored, given that February is Black History Month in the US. Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans have already begun. More to the point, last Friday would have been the 21st birthday of Trayvon Martin, killed by George Zimmerman in 2012 in a shooting widely attributed to racism; Sunday would have been the 29th birthday of Sandra Bland, whose alleged suicide in prison in 2015 after a brutal and poorly justified arrest captured on camera led to unsuccessful calls for further investigation into her death.

Both were considered formative moments for the women and gay men who have been at the forefront of Black Lives Matter and, more broadly, the movement for black lives.

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Beyoncé seen in regional-specific clothing during her video for Formation. Photograph: YouTube

Formation as a work of popular art is clever in its acknowledgment of the labor of black women as soldiers and leaders in social justice movements, even though popular culture has been more interested in the role of men and of male performing artists - like Usher, Kendrick Lamar, Common, Pharell, J Cole, and John Legend, Run The Jewels - in the wider conversation and activism around the crisis of police violence and black community.

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Beyoncé's Formation reclaims black America's narrative from the margins | Syreeta McFadden

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On Saturday night, I sent a group text to several friends as we were on our way to meet for drinks. It consisted solely of a screen capture from Beyoncé's new video for Formation and the words: "We must discuss this shit."

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Embracing her blackness and resisting assimilation and suppressing her identity

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Embracing her blackness and resisting assimilation and suppressing her identity

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjW0rHmodj0AhUJLsAKHThZDWkQ3yx6BAgHEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DWDZJPJV__bQ&usg=AOvVaw3_dShzSdlEkc8vBX7OEO6N

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https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/09/rap-gender-gap-why-are-female-mcs-still-not-being-heard

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Since the age of nine, Simbi Ajikawo had been recording raps in her school classrooms and performing at her youth centre. She idolised Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, the hip-hop icons of her youth. As she got older she tried everything to get noticed, appearing on E4 show Youngers and releasing a string of impressive freestyles. Her idols started to take notice. Lauryn Hill took her on tour with her. Kendrick Lamar had called her "the illest doing it right now". Throughout, Ajikawo, who'd come to be known as Little Simz, always hated being a "female rapper". She wrote the song Persons - with the line "Women can be kings" - about how her gender would never affect her desire to dominate her field.

Since the age of nine, Simbi Ajikawo had been recording raps in her school classrooms and performing at her youth centre. She idolised Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, the hip-hop icons of her youth. As she got older she tried everything to get noticed, appearing on E4 show Youngers and releasing a string of impressive freestyles. Her idols started to take notice. Lauryn Hill took her on tour with her. Kendrick Lamar had called her "the illest doing it right now". Throughout, Ajikawo, who'd come to be known as Little Simz, always hated being a "female rapper". She wrote the song Persons - with the line "Women can be kings" - about how her gender would never affect her desire to dominate her field.

A few years ago we had a long, messy conversation in a burger bar and she bristled at the mere mention of the word "female". "Why does it always have to be about my gender?" she asked. "Why can't I just do what I want to do freely without feeling like people are trying to put me in a box all the time? Do you know how annoying that is? When you feel like you're doing something greater than life, but you're always just a female rapper?" Last year she released Stillness in Wonderland, a record of intricacies and world-building that wrestled with issues of race, toxic relationships, anxiety and introversion; it was as ambitious as you could ever hope a rap album could be. It seemed certain that Simz would be the next UK success story.

But she was not. The album didn't even chart within the top 100. There were no Mercury or Brit nominations. Apart from her hardcore fanbase, the record was greeted with little more than a shrug.

No one is guaranteed a free pass to success, of course, and there are plenty of reasons why an album might not land with the public. But what rankled about mainstream indifference towards Simz was that it came at a time when rap music in the UK had never been more popular. Grime and UK rap has been on a near unstoppable rise. From Stormzy's No 1 album to Giggs, an artist who previously had all his shows cancelled by the police, bringing Drake out on to the main stage at Reading, barely a month goes past without another groundbreaking moment.
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The success of homegrown rap has happened in tandem with a renewed fervour for international artists: Kendrick Lamar, Dr Dre and Drake have all had No 1 albums and the likes of Chance the Rapper and J Cole have headlined major UK festivals. Those artists are all men, but it has also been an incredible period for female MCs. Much of the most intricate and fully realised music in this new wave is by artists such as Princess Nokia, an Afrofuturist art rapper from the Bronx who assumes multiple identities and has a radio show where she deals with race and womanhood in between Placebo records. Or Lady Leshurr, whose sick pop culture-infused humour and ongoing discourse with the listener is reminiscent of early Eminem. There are so many more to speak of: Nadia Rose, Paigey Cakey, Junglepussy. All women who, like Simz, would probably hate to be grouped together, in this way, based purely on their gender (Little Simz declined to be interviewed for this piece).

Yet it's worth talking about women MCs, because the commercial gap between male and female artists is a chasm. In the same way that rising gender equality in the workplace overall doesn't negate the fact that fewer than 5% of Britain's top companies have a female CEO, or that so few of the BBC's top earners are women, so it's true that while there a huge number of female MCs out there, almost none are breaking through to the top tier of the music industry. Apart from Nicki Minaj, who is undoubtedly a global superstar and the exception to the rule (although even her last album only charted at 22 in the UK) it's been a long time since a female MC broke the Top 10 or played near the head of the bill at a UK festival.

For Little Simz, the muted reaction to Stillness left her faced with a question she had always tried to avoid: would things have been different if she were a man? "She did everything perfectly," says Caroline SM, the founder of the UK rap collective New Gen and an A&R at XL Recordings. "I think she was just ahead of her time. Four years ago, grime, rap, whatever it is, was not getting a look-in at all - men or women. It's taken so long even to get to this point. Our scene is so slow."

It's true that many of the British men who are currently on top, artists such as Giggs and Skepta, have been releasing music for well over a decade. But even among relatively new artists like Stormzy, J Hus, Nines and Section Boyz, it seems as if the path to success has been fairly straightforward.

Lady Leshurr has asked similar questions about her own career and says that one of the reasons male artists do better is that they look out for each other. "In grime, there's a circle of people that all support each other and, guess what, they're all male: Stormzy, Skepta, Wretch 32. They're people that will always support another person's music. When you look at the females, there's not really that collective of people who will show love. If more female rappers in the UK were more supportive of each other it would be completely different."

She says the picture is further complicated by race. "In my opinion [the issues are about] gender but it's also the colour of your skin. It can be harder if you're a dark-skinned girl trying to make it in this industry because it's always been hard."

Leshurr has found that while in some ways the situation for women has improved, the double-standard about physical appearance, and skin colour in particular, has gotten worse. "For men it doesn't really matter what you look like. Ed Sheeran, for example; I'm not saying he's ugly, but you'd never think he'd be the biggest pop star in the world. Whereas for women, it's still based on image, and men will always think about what the female looks like before they hear what she's gonna say. It's always going to be 'She's ugly' or 'Look at her hair'. Whereas guys can just put a hoodie and a snapback on and record something and everyone will be like 'Yeah they're sick'."

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Connecting people ... Princess Nokia. Photograph: Alberto Vargas

Both Leshurr and Caroline SM believe that these problems are particular to the scene in the UK at the moment, and that the recent success of male artists will eventually open the door for female MCs too. But discrepancy in fortunes between men and women stretches back a lot further than that. Ms Dynamite, probably Britain's most famous female MC, managed to combine critical acclaim with chart success on her debut record A Little Deeper, which went on to win the Mercury prize in 2002. She was unable to turn that initial success into a sustained career as an album artist - her second record didn't chart in the top 40 and eventually she went back to her first calling: singing verses on club tracks. Seven years later another female MC, Speech Debelle, won the Mercury prize, but she was even less able to build a career from the exposure. She's now working behind the scenes, as a music relations manager for Arts Council England.

"Somebody needs to change the formula. The way people approach music," says Angel Haze, an artist from Detroit. A few years ago, Haze was the belle of the music press: an incredible MCing talent with a horrendous story, overcoming sexual abuse and life in a religious cult. She was interviewed by everyone, reliving her awful childhood experiences over and over again. Then she released her debut album, Dirty Gold, which charted at 196 in the UK.

"You don't get the recognition based on what your music sounds like, it's all about the hype around you, who said what about you. But it's this reality TV generation, everyone has a 30-second attention span and on to the new shit, and only the craziest of people survive." What's strange is that it's a cycle that no one can seem to get out of, artists and press playing their dutiful roles, unable to stop history repeating itself. Just last year, Young MA had a Billboard Top 20 hit with her track OOOUUU. The record, a brilliantly blue ode to cunnilingus, was one of the most open celebrations of same-sex relationships in mainstream hip-hop. Talking to the Fader in August last year, she said that the song's success motivated her to do more. "Let's keep it moving now. Let's keep giving 'em this fire and let's not stop this," she said. But one year on, she has released an EP to little fanfare. It charted at No 166 in the US and another hit has not emerged.

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One of a kind ... Stefflon Don performs at Wireless festival in July 2017. Photograph: Burak Cingi/Redferns

It would perhaps look foolish now to suggest that this could all be about to change, considering how often that prediction has been made in the past and been proven to be wrong. Yet everyone I speak to seems to believe the first superstar female MC of the 2010s is just around the corner. There's Ray BLK, who won the BBC's Sound of 2017 poll and combines R&B singing with MCing. Cardi B, who found fame on the American reality show Love & Hip-Hop, but whose brazen personality and track Bodak Yellow have meant that, unlike every other person on that show, she is now being taken seriously as a star.

"I feel like there was a glass ceiling before, but this new generation of people coming out are changing things," says BLK. "We can more easily connect with our fanbase - things are spreading a lot further because of that." Among this new wave, though, there is one name that everyone is saying is going to be the person to finally shatter the ceiling: Stefflon Don. "We haven't seen someone like her before. Not in my lifetime. Not in the UK," says Caroline SM. "We really haven't seen someone like that. She's a gangster. Boys are scared of her and she's sexy. She came through on the Section Boyz remix, she rolls with rappers. She's one of a kind."

Stefflon Don: 'I'm not going to compromise, or not say what I want'

Don's X-rated, Jamaican-influenced flow owes more to dancehall stars such as Spice and Cham, but she combines that with hard-hitting Atlanta-style production and British slang that gives her a global appeal. It is telling that when I talk to Don, she sees industry sexism as something of a relic. "I remember watching interviews with female artists on MTV and they would always say, 'It's harder for us,' or, 'We don't get as much opportunity as men.' I believe that. I don't think female artists would come out and keep saying it if wasn't true. But I haven't really experienced it, not yet anyway." Judging by her initial success, it's not surprising Don hasn't experienced the same pressures as other MCs. She's been working with Drake, and has just signed a huge record deal with Polydor for a reported £1.2m. Whether this new generation will be the stars of 2018, or just follow an established rise and fall, can't really be predicted.

For Haze, though, the ability to use social media to reach fans should just be seen as a way to get to the top faster. She says there needs to be a rethink of who the winners and the losers are in this story. Yes, she concedes, women have a harder time in music than men, but that doesn't necessarily mean they suffer worse outcomes. "I live in a house in the middle of the woods and I make music 24/7. It's like hibernating for a good cause and when I do resurface it's going to be at a different level. I'm so much happier than if I was releasing something new every six months."
Topics

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Rap and the gender gap: why are female MCs still not being heard?

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Since the age of nine, Simbi Ajikawo had been recording raps in her school classrooms and performing at her youth centre. She idolised Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, the hip-hop icons of her youth. As she got older she tried everything to get noticed, appearing on E4 show Youngers and releasing a string of impressive freestyles.

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https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191007-why-are-there-so-few-women-in-best-of-hip-hop-polls

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Women are just as much a part of hip-hop and rap as their male counterparts. Whether it's through their rapping abilities, writing chops, or ground-breaking decision-making skills behind-the-scenes, ladies have proven time and time again that hip-hop isn't just a man's game.

In recent years, a cadre of female rappers such as Tierra Whack and Rapsody have fought their way to the head of the hip-hop class, thanks to incredible projects and the skills to boot. However, despite these great strides, women are consistently left out of the conversation when it comes to ranking the best of the genre.

Earlier this summer, The Brew Podcast's list of the 50 best rappers of all time created a social media furore as there were no women included. In September, Nicki Minaj's now-deleted retirement announcement was met with everything from sadness to confusion to overall apathy. Many questioned whether Minaj should be included on a list of the Top 10 rappers of all-time, which sparked debates about her discography and whether she is 'worthy' of such an honour. Now, BBC Music's poll of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time includes two female rappers in the top 25, but none in the top fifteen.

Why does hip-hop continue to shut them out?

"Female rappers have always been part of the genre's lineage," culture critic Taylor Crumpton tells BBC Music. "Yet due to power dynamics, those in charge decided to weaponise their gender in efforts to not grant them the titles they deserve."

Queen Latifah is one of only two female rappers that appeared in BBC Music's greatest hip-hop song of all time poll (Credit: Getty Images)

Historically, men appear to listen to rap music more than women, which may have an impact on the way they view the genre. Nielsen's 2015 Audience Insights revealed rap's most voracious fans were young African-American and Latino (Hispanic) men in the 18-24 age group.

On the corporate side, men have more often than not led labels and businesses in the genre. According to music journalist Keith Murphy, hip-hop's head honchos have control over who receives publicity and financial backing, leaving many female MCs excluded in order to push their "more relatable" male counterparts. "It's a misogynistic way of writing hip-hop history," he says.

BET Digital's Music Editor Diamond Hillyer agrees, stating that the long-time objectification and depreciation of women in hip-hop led to male rappers being 'unchallenged' in these spaces. However, female rappers have recently proved their prowess in the game, by way of chart-topping singles, sold-out shows and droves of adoring fans, providing healthy competition and leaving the egos of those who once reigned supreme bruised.

All three experts believe that there are certain standards that female musicians are told to abide by in order to gain acceptance through the eyes of male fans and industry powerbrokers. They have to be creative, knowledgeable and skilled at their craft, and yet, their male counterparts need not adhere to similarly strict criteria to gain attention.

For instance, Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion have shown their rapping abilities on numerous occasions; however, they are criticised for lyrical content that refers to sex and money. In the same vein, chart-topping rappers Future and Migos rhyme about sex, drugs and violence, which has garnered mainstream success and praise despite dipping into a similar pool of material.

Nicki Minaj's now-deleted retirement announcement was met with everything from sadness to confusion to overall apathy (Credit: Getty Images)

The state of mainstream music may also have an effect on how female rappers are viewed in the eyes of hip-hop listeners. We're slowly whittling away at the archaic thought-process that one female rapper at a time can be highlighted (This was a non-issue in the '80s and early '90s, but following the well-documented Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim feud in the late '90s, there seemed to be a battle for mainstream supremacy between hip-hop's leading ladies until recently). Yet, it appears that the topic of aesthetic comes into play when discussing who gets attention from mainstream audiences.

As history shows, female rappers who fit the stereotype of a video vixen - buxom and scantily-clad - receive more mainstream attention. Hillyer says that while there is more acceptance regarding variety from a sonic standpoint, the media emphasises certain visual aesthetics over others.

Aesthetic and artistry are not mutually exclusive, yet, those seen as the antithesis of the stereotypical female rap aesthetic are not highlighted as frequently, despite the quality of their work. This is why mainstream will tend to focus their attention on a Cardi B more than a Chika today, or a Lil' Kim more than a Missy Elliott in days past.

"This issue has the power to influence - and sometimes even determine - a female rapper's standing in the hip-hop race," Hillyer says. "That's not to say female rap artists should 'tone down' the raciness of their image, or shrink away from their sexiness."

So, there's a chance that casual rap fans aren't exploring the genre in more depth, or discovering female MCs outside of mainstream influence. This is a detriment to these artists and the listeners, who won't be hearing the true breadth of what the genre has to offer. However, streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music have allowed serious music fans to make their own discoveries without mainstream influence.

"Audiences are engaged with [an artist's] ascension because they have cultural memory of their first mixtapes on SoundCloud to the release of musical projects on a record label," Crumpton says. Had social media and streaming been as prevalent in hip-hop's highly prolific years (the 1990s and 2000s), many female rappers may have benefitted. Murphy believes that artists such as MC Lyte, Mia X, and Yo Yo could have benefitted from the invention of streaming, which could have resulted in their inclusion on "best-of" lists.

Cardi B has risen to become the first female rapper in almost 20 years to reach number 1 on the US Billboard chart (Credit: Getty Images)

This is not to say mainstream media outlets aren't doing what they can do highlight all sorts of female rappers; however, it could be doing more. Instead of amplifying the voices and the visibility of those who are gaining popularity or already have it, more attention could be directed to those still on the margins.

Luckily, there have been several outlets both online and on-screen who have done their best to highlight female rappers, regardless of their popularity or looks. Netflix released a Roxanne Shante-centred film. Paper Magazine released a Women In Hip-Hop feature at the beginning of 2019, which highlighted burgeoning female MCs such as the quirky Rico Nasty and the slick-tongued Coi Leray.

While there is room for everyone at rap's table, ultimately, the mindset of many fans, artists, and decision-makers may be the most challenging stumbling block. Allowing women to be celebrated in the spaces they fought so hard to be a part of (regardless of their looks or abilities) is one step towards more female-friendly "best-of" lists in the future.

"For the first time in a long time, [women] are reclaiming the emancipation of our experiences, our bodies, our histories and our expectations in a way that's fun and meaningful to us," Hillyer says of female artists. "In many ways, this can also be the listening experience of men, with whom we share more similarities with than they realise."

More on BBC Music's greatest hip-hop songs of all time:
The 25 greatest hip-hop songs of all time
What critics had to say about the top 10
Full list of critics who participated - and how they voted
Why Juicy is number one ( not available in UK)
Trends and surprises in the poll ( not available in UK)
Playlist of the top 25 songs ( Spotify)

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Why are there so few women in 'best-of' hip-hop polls?

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Women are just as much a part of hip-hop and rap as their male counterparts. Whether it's through their rapping abilities, writing chops, or ground-breaking decision-making skills behind-the-scenes, ladies have proven time and time again that hip-hop isn't just a man's game.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EF1W91hfDQ

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Hip-hop's male gaze, agency, s*xual desire, and s*xual access | Khadija Mbowe

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJA5_O0ydY0&t=2215s

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Who's afraid of Lil Nas X? | Khadija Mbowe

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https://www.racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1664:blackgirlsvictimization&catid=72&Itemid=215&showall=&limitstart=5

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Details

Sonja C. Tonnesen

Parent Category: Intersectionality

Category: Gender

Hits: 51988

Article Index
A. Defeminization
The masculinization and defeminization of African American women and girls is one form of implicit bias that contributes to social approval of violence against them. When a woman or girl is perceived as masculine, she is also more likely to be seen as strong, aggressive, and less feminine. These traits are typically associated with gender-conforming men and, consequently, such implicit bias may cause a school administrator or teacher to perceive sexually victimized Black girls as capable of handling the harassment themselves (like men) and less in need of protection. In extreme cases, these girls are even misperceived as the primary aggressors against boys.

Through the lens of implicit bias and social psychology, UCLA Psychology Professor Phillip Atiba Goff and his colleagues scrutinized the White female beauty norms against which Black women are frequently compared and judged. In the study, 292 predominantly White undergraduate students in the Northeast were asked to categorize pictures and videos of Black and White men and women and rate them on the basis of three dependent variables: race/racial stereotypicality, gender/femininity/masculinity, and attractiveness/desirability.

The study's goal was to understand the relationship between implicit bias and intersectional identity as experienced by Black women. The study found that: (1) participants made the highest number of gender categorization errors for Black women; (2) "Blackness" and "maleness" were highly associated for both Black males and Black females, and (3) the more masculine a woman was rated, the more likely she was to be perceived as unattractive, which thus correlated with participants on average rating Black women (who were rated as more masculine overall) as less attractive than White women.

The participants' perception of Black women as more masculine than White women is a form of implicit bias that has serious consequences for the treatment of Black female victims in real life. For example, study participants have rated a hypothetical date rape as more acceptable with a Black female victim. Among the many negative images of rape survivors, one is that the victims become less attractive following victimization or deserved to be raped because of their sexually provocative or aggressive appearance, traits associated with masculinity. Since Black and dark-skinned women are implicitly perceived as more promiscuous and more masculine than lighter skinned women, these effects compound for Black rape survivors. For example, rapes of Black women lead to far fewer convictions than rapes of White women. This finding suggests that society does not take seriously the sexual victimization of Black women and girls, implicating depictions of Black women and girls as unworthy of protection.

Similarly, while the confidants of White women who discussed being abused were usually supportive and responsive, the confidants of Black women were more likely to be "unsupportive or nonresponsive." In sum, these findings confirm stereotypes that Black victims, and particularly Black women, are unimportant victims of sexual, gender-based violence.

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Hit it and Quit It": Responses to Black Girls' Victimization in School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Details Sonja C. Tonnesen Parent Category: Intersectionality Category: Gender Hits: 51988 Article Index A. Defeminization The masculinization and defeminization of African American women and girls is one form of implicit bias that contributes to social approval of violence against them.

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https://medium.com/womanized/sexuality-in-black-female-rap-progressive-or-regressive-c4036972a5cd

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Sexuality in Black Female Rap — Progressive or Regressive?

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Hip Hop music, like many other areas of arts and culture, is predominantly dominated by men. The overwhelming male control of hip hop…

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https://hanaayousof.medium.com/megan-thee-stallion-misogynoir-the-masculinisation-of-black-women-ffa85c1588ee

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Hot girl summer is in full swing. Coined by rapper Megan Thee Stallion in 2019, it's rapidly reached mainstream media - and my TikTok 'for you page'. And for good reason; hot girl summer embraces being unapologetic in every sense of the word. With her army of "hotties", Megan Thee Stallion has built an empire.

But as with many black women in the media, alngside the praise and (3x-Grammy-award-winning) success, Megan has been subjected to a barrage of hate. In particular, something that stuck me was comments flooding her posts; mention after mention of her secret - she was a poser, a fake. Megan Thee Stallion, shock-horror, the man. An obvious untruth, but not uncommon to experiences of many black women - especially dark-skinned women - today.

The masculinisation of black women is nothing new. Take well-decorated tennis player Serena Williams. Accusations of her inherent 'manliness' have hounded her career, only fuelled by the angry black woman trope. Black woman are expected to be demure, obedient; they are put into a box and must accept it. When Megan accused Tory Lanez of shooting her, she was treated as not a victim, but a scapegoat. Called a deceiver, an aggressor. Inundated with discussions of her overly critical stance despite her suffering.

Colourism and the fetishisation of biracial identities interplay with this masculinisation; peers Zendaya and Taylor Swift, while of similar heights, have never been treated the same. Arguably, this is largely due to the impact of Eurocentric beauty ideals and favouritism of proximity to whiteness on dark-skinned women, who thus have their femininity questioned.

So hot girl summer may be in full swing - but no longer has it become a safe space for black women, but rather, one marred with misogynoir. Something appropriated by white men who try to define who 'can' and 'can't' identify with the term. Truth being - it's not their decision. Because black women's femininity should neverbe up for debate.

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Megan Thee Stallion, Misogynoir & The Masculinisation of Black Women

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Hot girl summer is in full swing. Coined by rapper Megan Thee Stallion in 2019, it's rapidly reached mainstream media - and my TikTok 'for you page'. And for good reason; hot girl summer embraces being unapologetic in every sense of the word. With her army of "hotties", Megan Thee Stallion has built an empire.

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https://ucsdguardian.org/2021/03/07/the-marketing-of-black-womens-body-in-hip-hop/

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The Marketing of Black Women’s Body in Hip-Hop - UCSD Guardian

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With the rise of prominent black, female Hip-Hop artists like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, a market for more female artists was

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf3zj1qVbco&t=1552s

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