Eric Benet’s latest studio album “The One” features a track titled “Red Bone Girl” that is causing a stir in social media, according to Color Lines.
Color Lines alleges Benet is promoting a “white supremacist beauty standard” with his track. The song ironically features Hip-Hop superstar Lil’ Wayne who is no stranger to controversy over this particular topic on colorism.
Many black women were outraged over a particular line the “How to Love” artist rapped on the track “Right Above It.” On the song, Wayne said, “Beautiful black woman, bet that b***h look better red.”
Lil’ Wayne is saying through this line that a dark skinned woman would look prettier if light complexioned. In “Red Bone Girl,” Wayne raps, “I like them light skin, lighter than a feather.”
Benet takes a more poetic approach to describing a love affair he had with a light complexioned woman. Benet begins the song telling the listener he “loves all women.”
“Yes Lord,” he continued. “I love them dark, I love them light. Short, tall, thick, thin and back one more again. But there’s this particular situation I need to tell you about.”
Benet melodically narrates the romantic escapade he enjoyed with the young woman whose “reputation ain’t squeaky and clean,” but still has him captivated with her “devil mind” and “angel face.”
In the song’s hook, Benet sings, “She’s my, redbone girl/ Redbone but she’s my world/ Have you see, my milk chocolate dream/ My redbone girl, redbone girl, yeah/ She’s my, redbone girl,/A bitter sweet, but she’s my world/Coffee cream, thick and lean.”
Benet recently spoke with CBS Local to discuss the criticism his latest effort is generating, according to Color Lines.
“I think it’s its own form of racism, really,” Benet said, according to Color Lines. “A couple years ago I did—I wrote—a song called ‘Chocolate Legs’ about my experience with this—it happened to be a song about a particular experience with a dark skinned lovely young lady.
“And there was no anger,” he continued. “There was no uproar of ‘How dare you!’ You know, so ‘Redbone Girl’ is one song about one experience with a girl who happens to be light complected…there was quite an uproar about that. You can talk about having an experience with a dark-complected person but how dare you talk about having an experience with a light skinned person.”
Eric Benet’s latest album “The One” is available online on iTunes for $7.99. “The One” is Benet’s first independent album release.
Do you think “Red Bone Girl” promotes a western European notion of beauty? Listen to “Red Bone Girl” below and tell us tell us your thoughts.
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