During an interview with Huffington Post Live, R&B songstress K.Michelle shined light on a very sensitive topic in regards to a double standard that black artists face in the music industry. As some may know, this rebellious soul has never categorized her style of music with a specific genre. Her highly anticipated third album, More Issues Than Vogue, will include tracks that showcase her range as an overall artist and songwriter from R&B, Soul, Pop, Country etc.
“Right now, being an African American woman in the music industry isn’t the best thing,” stated K. In the interview she discusses the difficulties she’s experienced as a soulful singer looking to get her music played to a broader audience on top 40 radio, while white artists with similar sounds are played on these stations with no problem.
“There’s certain formats and radio stations and certain things we can’t sing as African American women,” she also explained.
Michelle isn’t the first artist to address the heavy topic of discrimination in the music industry. Incredible artists who have released great bodies of work such as Tank and Tyrese have spoken openly about the hindering process of getting airplay on a larger scale as well. Who can we blame for the unfair censorship that these black artists are faced with?
K.Michelle shares that her record label, Atlantic Records, very honestly told her that if a record off of her upcoming album called “If It Ain’t Love” were sang by a white artist it would be number 1. She explains that the label has always supported her in pushing her music on all formats, but there is a fight with the radio station executives to even consider airplay for country music from a black artist.
Take a look at the full interview below, and let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
Full Interview
–Words by Tia Long
There was this one country song she did for this album. There was a clip of it on her facebook but I can not find it anymore…. I really hope that song will be on the album!!! I love her country singing!!!