“Brown Girls”

(image found here)

The title of this post is a reference to a comment by Santogold where she says in an online interview, of her and M.I.A, “She’s cool, she’s my friend. We’ve worked with some of the same people and both are brown girls who aren’t just doing and R‘n’B or rap, but have similar influences. What I find so illuminating about this comment is the fact that Santogold is maybe one of the first black artists I have heard, besides James Spooner, who is openly talking about the fact that black people do not just make “black” music. By grouping herself with M.I.A in saying that they are “brown girls” who are essentially going against the grain, is Santogold making a cultural point about how general mainstream society sees black & asian women ?

Santogold is not the black M.I.A -  First things first, it is starting to jar me how people are saying she is copying M.I.A or the ‘black’ M.I.A as some trog on YouTube said. This is ridiculous. She is her own person and I think that is what she was trying to get across with her commment, in saying that not all black girls can be lumped together as being derivative of each other. I think that is what M.I.A also was trying to achieve with Kala, which is a fabulous album. I think both women are trying to show that the label “ethnic” or “asian” or “black” does not translate to stereotypes or iconography. It translates to what people want to mean essentially.

“Brown girls” will always be brown: I think Santogold’s comment is also very self-aware. I think she, I am sure, like many female artists realises that the commmercial aspect of music is about looks and what people look like. She is an pretty girl, like M.I.A but as women of colour, they are indicative of the fact that this “race does not exist” crap will never be eradicated. I think, as women of colour, whether you are black, asian or mixed, we must realise that it is part of who we are but it does not mean that we have to fall into stereotypes of what we will be.

Beyonce is not “dark”: Lol, this point refers to a post I did ages ago, citing my annoyance at how a mainstream white mag called Beyonce “dark” in its makeup pages, which is obvious why it got me. Beyonce, to an extent, would make a fantastic topic for a thesis on anything ranging from the politics of superstardom to the her cultural impact on the digital community, who can be divided into “haters” and “lovers”, lol, I am in the latter of course! But no, seriously, I think Beyonce is a probably one example of a black girl who does fit the so-called stereotype of R&B + rap, but then again, that is who she is, and that is where she has made her name. I think what I am getting at is, as women of colour, us black girls must never surrender who we, we must never look down on our gorgeous shades of brown, black, sable, and sienna, because at the end of the day, they are our shield against the world.

Stay black/brown/mixed/asian - whatever you are, just be it.