Spice Captured Mixtape dropped officially today (02 November 2018) and seeing that Black Hypocrisy is the lead single that captured fans and foes’ attention lets dig in more into the topic.
Spice continues to push the envelope and strongly reaffirm why she officially holds the title of Queen of Dancehall. Her captivating unexpected video and single Black Hypocrisy immediately hit No.1 spot on the US and UK Itunes Reggae Charts and sitting with over 2M views on Youtube all this in less than a week.
Lets now take it back to when she took a break from social media and wiped clean her Instagram account of 1.6mil followers. When she came back, her first post was of herself looking white, insinuating that she has bleached her skin with a caption: “Nothing wrong with a fresh start”. She broke the internet. The comments is what she was really gunning for. The touchy subject was back on the radar. Colourism.
Also, be mindful that Spice is talking directly to the black community the world over, especially little dark skinned girls. Having navigated the showbiz industry in her dark skin was no easy feat, and still not, so she speaks from the heart as she states: “I was told I would reach further If the colour of mi skin was lighter” “Black girls lose self confidence Cah society seh brown girls prettier Cause dey attach the word “ugly” to our complexion”
The reaction to her new look set the internet into a frenzy, and was followed by confusion when the video dropped. What is interesting to note, though, is how a lot of people and her fans were not only shook, but disappointed, and that’s a good look, because it shows genuine concern. It says a lot about how many are truly embracing black skin. It says that more black people are proud of their heritage and even though colourism is rampant, bleaching is not the best solution, and that these are issues that need to be tackled by the black community. That black folk is hugely disappointed is really something that we should not overlook, its good sign. We are progressing. We are shedding off the White Mask, slowly but surely the time will come when we do not have to debate about this. Black IS Beautiful.
The topic is not new. The discussion is not new. Spice is not the first, and I suspect nor the last. But she sure did bring it back to the forefront with a rogue promotional campaign. But these are the symptoms, the effects, what then about the cause, the main cause. How did it come about that blacks hate the colour of their own skin? Why is the black community hating on black skin? Is it only the black community that hates black skin? I would like to believe that we know the answer to these questions, and they inevitably lead us to White Supremacy. Are we willing to boldly tackle that like we do with Black Hypocrasy? Those who do are labeled ‘Fake Woke’ by the black community and are black-balled by the establishment.
‘Dem seh mi black til mi shine, til mi look dirty / And it’s the only line in life that will ever hurt me
Because it never come from a Caucasian, trust mi.’
If it comes from a caucasian it hurts less? You see, you will never hear it from a caucasian because they will not say it in your face, but they think it and strongly believe it. When blacks say it, I understand where it comes from. Spice herself say it: ‘Leave the girls dem with low self-esteem’. But the caucasian, where does it come from, perhaps its also from low self esteem but disguised as supremacy. White Supremacy.
Its not up to Spice to tackle white supremacy, that is not what is intended by this. This is just an offshoot from a topic that she has started, if anything, its our collective responsibility as black folks to tackle this, from all angles, but especially within ourselves, in our families, in our communities. Its not only Black Hypocrisy, White Supremacy is also a part of this conversation, and we let it slide thereby giving it room to grow and continue to cause damage to our psyche by busy bullying each other.
CAPTURED the Mixtape is all sorts of Spice. It has the usual raunchy Spice signature tunes, then there is CAPTURED. Remember that Spice is signed to the to the biggest record label in reggae and dancehall, VP Records, back in 2009; yet they have not released a Spice album. The song ‘captured’ is a direct shot at VP Records. She belches out ‘Oh I wanna be Free‘, cos you see, the contract she has with VP is for ten years! The title and the artwork says it all. Will Spice pull off another great stunt that would focus on these insane contracts with Record labels, the Establishment? We certainly hope so. But for now, we remain captured by the Dancehall Queen’s music and tactics.
The mixtape is available on all digital platforms for your listening pleasure.
Here is the Track List
