Why DaniLeigh's "Yellowbone" is Controversial, and More on Colorism in Music

Recently, Dominican-American singer DaniLeigh released a snippet of her song “Yellowbone” which celebrated light skinned women. A prominent lyrics in the song goes: “Yellow bone that’s what he wants” discussing her man’s preference for light-skinned women.

The song itself wasn’t very good, especially compared to the artist’s usually very catchy tracks. And underneath, the sentiment wasn’t just about a sexual preference - it’s a dangerous and racist colorist anthem that needs to stop being perpetuated in 2021.

The oblivious way that Dani dealt with the fallout made it even worse. She cried out on social media, “Why I can't make a song for my light skin baddies?? Why y'all think I'm hating on other colors when there are millions of songs speaking on all types... Why y'all so sensitive & take it personal... Gahhhh damn,” That smells like an All Lives Matter style argument to us, Dani. Not cool.

While the singer thought she felt every right to come out with this song since "I’m Dominican... I’m Spanish, I’m black I’m white,” her Blackness or lack thereof has nothing to do with why the song is so problematic. Rather, the promoting of this terminology is what’s damaging, especially since so many people look up to her as a role model and musical icon. Additionally, DaniLeigh has never discussed how she identifies as Black or Afro-Latinx, so this feels like a shoddy excuse.

While she felt like she needed to make an anthem for girls that look like her, it’s not exactly like the space is lacking. We already have white supremacy to celebrate light skinned individuals over those with dark skin. The word yellowbone itself has been used to favor and compliment light skinned Black people since the 19th century. Colorism has been pitting Black people against each other since this time, and has ingrained a deep feeling of self-hatred in the dark-skinned community, as well as a sense of alienation.

The word yellowbone is a way to quantify beauty in relation to whiteness. It’s another way of perpetuating narrow, European beauty standards that are derived from slavery and colonialism.

So while she might think it’s an anthem to uplift her community, it’s actually a song that stomps down on an already downtrodden and disenfranchised one. While we’ve come to expect ignorant white dudes using these terms, it’s unfortunate that a prioritizing of light skinned women is seen not just in Danileigh’s track, but by rappers as well.

Anti-Blackness is not poetic. It’s ignorant. We want more Kendricks. We want more “Brown Skin Girl” tracks and take downs of colorism. We want awareness raised on colorism, a threatening but often under discussed aspect of racism that prevents true solidarity.

DaniLeigh is probably out there scratching her head, wondering why her male competition isn’t being held to the same standard. But as a woman in the industry, she should have been aware of that uneven playing field off the bat, and how a song like this helps feed into the system. Instead, she should have used her platform to be a little more politically conscious, and a little less tone-deaf. Hopefully, other light-skinned artists on the scene will use their privilege to end colorism’s legacy, rather than perpetuating it in an already problematic industry.