For a long time, women of African descent have struggled with negative body image, mostly due to the overarching politics of global anti-Blackness and the patriarchal structures that dominate our local communities. For the longest time, mainstream media has positioned smaller, skinnier, and lighter-skinned bodies as desirable. The advent of social media has generated a neo-Black pride movement of sorts, with natural hair, fuller bodies and a general appreciation of African phenotypes dominating the digital landscape. Within this motion, we see a rise in #BodyPositivity, and more recently, #BodyNeutrality, encompassing a layered view of Black beauty that considers the intersections of race, gender, disability, and weight.
anaiis on New Beginnings and Music That Heals
Music provides the soundscape to the online media we consume and thus plays a major role in narrating current and changing attitudes to Black bodies and beauty. Emma Dabiri did a great job of explaining music's impact in not only reflecting but influencing people's attitudes towards Black women in a 2013 article titled "Who Stole all the Black Women from Britain?". In her essay, she details the erasure of Black British women in the media, saying, "Here in the UK, the visibility of black women in representations of mainstream Black British culture is such that you might be forgiven for thinking we are an endangered species. The near erasure of Black British women from this terrain, which is in the main dominated by black men and white women, is rarely commented upon, despite its prominence." She couples these observations with the reality at hand, citing a 48% prevalence of Afro-Caribbean men in the UK to date interracially, as a case of life imitating art and vice versa.
With this in mind, we'll be exploring five music videos by Black artists from Africa and the diaspora that present Black womanhood authentically and diversely.
4 LGBTQ+ Artists Who Are Breaking Conventions in Music in Africa and the Diaspora
Sampa the Great - “Black Girl Magik”
In this mellow, ragga-infused tune, Sampa reminds us what Black girl magic means. Based in Australia, the Zambian-born poet and songwriter is all about demystifying beauty standards in this video, featuring varied shades of melanin and lengths of lustrous 4c afros hairstyles. Halfway through the song, she breaks into a powerful monologue that describes the essence of the song, "I wrote this for my sister who calls out to beauty who can no longer see her. No one can describe who you are, but you are who you are."
Black women are visually depicted as angelic and innocent, directly contradicting harmful narratives regarding Blackness as inherently more violent, masculine and dangerous. The alternative spelling of "magic" as "magik" in the song title, in turn, signals a subversion of this mainstream understanding of Black womanhood.
Yseult - “Corps”
Born to Cameroonian parents, Yseult is a French singer-songwriter who describes her music style as "y-trap" - a mixture of trap and pop music. As a plus-sized, dark-skinned woman living in France, Yseult is not new to sitting outside the margins, and she uses the understanding of body politics to inform her music. In the video for "Corps" or 'Body" in English, Yseult is seen sitting on the floor naked, save for a transparent cast covering her upper body. In "Corps", Yseult makes herself physically vulnerable to the scrutiny of the camera, as it slowly 360s her frame, alluding to the lens of the media and society on people of her positionality. Speaking to Vogue on how she relates her body to her arts, Yseult remarked, "My body is a tool. I'm remembering how I used to feel in my body and how I used to speak of my body with disgust and bitterness. Today, with a little more groundwork on myself, I've grown to love and hate it; I have learned to accept this duality. You need to hate yourself to love yourself."
Prudence Mabhena - "Music by Prudence"
As a half-hour short film, "Music by Prudence" is not your typical entry in a music video listicle, but then again, Prudence Mabhena is not your typical singer. Born in Zimbabwe, Mabhena was born with Arthrogryposis, a condition that limits the range of motion in the joints. She was abandoned by her immediate family based on the idea that her disability was the product of witchcraft and a curse. Fortunately, her maternal grandmother stepped in to raise her. It was in this upbringing that her love of music began, as her grandmother would sing to her as she worked on the farm.
The Oscar-winning short documentary, directed by Roger Ross Williams, was released in 2010 and features Mabhena’s music as the soundtrack to her story on finding beauty in her difference. The then-24-year-old founded a band, Liyana, formed entirely of musicians with disabilities. The group carried a distinct sound from the heart of Southern Africa, which is well packaged in Mabhena's soaring voice in songs like "Liyana", "Dream", and "Going Nowhere".
Fena Gitu ft Maandy and Vallerie Muthoni - “Pussy Power”
Kenyan singer Fena stuns in this powerful expression of feminine energy. Dubbed "P. Power" in the censored version, the song presents a reclamation of a body part and aspect of sexuality historically used to oppress women. The single features Maandy and Vallerie Muthoni, two of the country's finest upcoming female rappers; this track hits hard with raw female ingenuity and self-sufficiency. Overall, the tune spreads "feel good vibes" - beginning from Nairobi, to East Africa, to Africa, to all around the world "got that power".
anaiis - "Nina"
As much as Nina is a song about conquering fears, it is also about challenging perceived beauty standards and body image. Featuring an eclectic ensemble of Black models, from those with albinism to older Black women to gender non-conforming people, the London-based singer celebrates the diversity of Blackness against a backdrop of fear and negativity, to which she refuses to surrender.