Spice is known for her Acrobatic stage presence and undeniable endurance but the International dancehall artist recently sent social media into a frenzy for after unexpectedly releasing a photo appearing to have bleached her skin. The internet wasted no time expressing how they felt about Spice’s new look, memes quickly circulated calling the singer salt instead of spice. With a blonde wig and much lighter skin than her deep brown complexion, Spice took to Instagram to promote her new single “Black Hypocrisy” to dispel the bleaching rumor that grew legs over night.
Spice is no stranger to stirring up controversy and her bleached white skin was only a PR stunt to showcase the dangerous realities of colorism within the Black community. The dangerous act of skin bleaching has grown exponentially in Black and brown communities all around the world. Lessening the concentration of melanin in the skin with the use of soaps and topical creams, the promotion of lighter skin in hopes to obtain beauty is as old as white supremacy itself. This practice has become increasingly prominent in the Caribbean and Jamaica’s own Spice tackles the issue head on.
In “Black Hypocrisy” Spice exposes that she was told if her skin was lighter she would be more successful. During a make shift press conference in the video below, Spice states that she had a dream that Black women would start supporting each other more, rather than bashing each other. She goes on to say the hate that receives about her dark skin is from other black women and men. With the constant pressure to conform to societies standards of beauty, Spice reappears as white in order to be accepted by her own people. Surrounded around beautiful Black women of all shades the ladies protest the black hypocrisy that takes place within black culture concerning colorism. Answering to a much larger issue of self hate in degradation “Black Hypocrisy” is not only a song with obvious deep meaning, it has sparked the need for much a conversation about colorsim on a global scale. Well played, Spice.
Check out “Black Hypocrisy” below, and tell us what you think.
