A new collaboration between Yo Gotti and DaBaby is sparking a heated debate around colorism and its negative impacts within the rap industry. 

Gearing up for summer 2021, the artists released their new “Drop” video on Thursday. The music video features women in their summertime bathing suits enjoying themselves, while twerking and dancing at a pool party. It includes scenes of dancers stretching, working out and dropping into splits.

While some folks dropped flame emojis in support of the rappers’ release, others criticized the video for a lack of diversity.

“I don’t see no dark skinned girls,” someone wrote on Yo Gotti’s recent post.

“Uhhhhh where the the rainbow??? I need to see some more brown skin!!! Confused,” another person wrote.

Many people took to social media to express their thoughts around the controversial video and colorism.

“I don’t know if I’m just numb to it but I really no longer care about rappers not putting more brown/dark skin women in their videos. Idk why we get so up and arms about it, they been do this for awhile no matter the backlash. Imma put my energy into being mad over something,” @Impermanent_D6 tweeted. 

Some people defended the artists saying they’re allowed to do what they want, while others expected this from the rappers and don’t believe it’s worth their effort to care.

“y’all really mad at yogotti about that? Y’all so sensitive it’s crazy,” @bribadassss tweeted, adding that that people can have their “preference.”

“I’m confused,” @sheknowsthat_ wrote on instagram. “Weren’t y’all just saying these women are degrading themselves in this video ? Now y’all want black women in the same video that’s degrading . Sometimes it’s okay to not be invited or included in everything . Every invite isn’t a good invite . Stop looking for stuff to be mad about and let people have a preference any who.”

“Why are we surprised and most importantly why do we care? These arent the spaces we even wanna be represented in, next caaaase,” @onemilknosugar posted.

This of course is not the first time colorism is sparking debate within the music industry.

From controversy surrounding Dominican R&B singer DaniLeigh’s track “Yellow Bone” to Kodak Black’s derogatory lyrics toward Black women among several other cases, artists have been scrutinized for colorism and the negative impacts in society.

Over the years, studies have been completed to address the problematic complex of colorism.

“Unfavorable messages about or exclusion of dark-skinned females” is just one theme that has emerged connected to music’s influence on messaging about skin color, according to a study published by Morgan L. Maxwell, Jasmine A. Abrams and Faye Z. Belgrave in the Psychology of Music.

As theGrio previously reported, according to Professor Margaret Hunter from the Department of Sociology at Mills College: “Colorism for Latinos and African Americans has its roots in European colonialism and slavery in the Americas. Both systems operated as forms of white domination that rewarded those who emulated whiteness culturally, ideologically, economically, and even aesthetically. Light-skinned people received privileges and resources that were otherwise unattainable to their darker-skinned counterparts.”

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