Artist VV Brown has published an op-ed on the Guardian criticising the UK music industry for its approach to Black women artists.
“Throughout my career I’ve noticed many other examples where the UK music industry pits black women against each other, making us believe there is only room for one of us. We are not seen or heard in the same way as white artists,” wrote Brown, listing some of her own experiences of being compared to her peers. “It was common for the press to perpetuate competitive language as if black artists were rivals with each other. The genre of music didn’t matter; it was only based on the colour of our skin,” she wrote. “Black female artists are used, abused, discarded and mistreated. The patterns of disparity are undeniable. Our careers have quicker expiry dates than our white counterparts and we are not promoted or treated with the same intent. There sometimes seems to be a one-in, one-out rule so rampant it can feel like a factory line of disposable blackness.” The full piece is well worth reading, and not just in the UK.
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