Singer Kelis has been outspoken about her mistreatment from the music industry this year.
In January, she made headlines after revealing the details of a recording contract that she was “blatantly lied to” about. As a part of June 2nd’s #TheShowMustBePaused initiative, Kelis shared her thoughts on a few of the ways the entertainment world can be better to Black people.
“If the music industry wants to support Black lives, labels and platforms can start with amending contracts,” her statement began. Kelis also wrote that those same forces can be “distributing royalties, diversifying boardrooms, and retroactively paying back all the Black artists, and their families, they have built their empires on.”
She participated in the traditional aspect of Blackout Tuesday—posting a Black square on Instagram—as well. The post has since been deleted.
Her words were met with support from Erykah Badu and writer/speaker, Jamilah Lemieux.
As stated, Kelis spoke during the social media blackout conducted by music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang. Their #theshowmustbepaused day was set to temporarily halt all output from musicians, labels, and platforms in honor of the Black lives lost at the hands of police. With Kelis’ statement, she held the industry accountable for failing the very people it often benefits from.
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