FanMAIL: The real story behind the Flo Rida video shoot yesterday
I realize this email is long, but please read the whole thing when you have a moment. It’s important for you to know that the practice of discrimination based on skin tone and excess melanin in one’s skin is alive and well in the music industry. In order to put a stop to this divisive practice, we must expose it and make everyone aware that it is an ongoing problem.
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Sandra-
First let me start by stating I love your blog and how you always show love to the chocolate girls out here! My name is Candy and I am the Assistant to Lashawnna Stanley founder and CEO of Ethnicity Models and Talent Agency. I’m sending you this email in regards to your post about the HOT new video by Flo-rida”suga.” You made a comment stating “Is it just me or has the standard for video vixens been upgraded considerably”. The lead model in the video is named Natasha Majors and she is an Ethnicity Model. For the last ten years LaShawnna Stanley has fought to clean up the image of the video modeling industry. Ethnicity Models is about upsetting the standards when it comes to the urban market. We stress to the girls to love them self first, be professional and not selling their soul just to be in a video. Any case below is what REALLLLY happen on today’s set, and how LaShawnna had to go through a bunch of drama just to get a brown girl in the video. The note below is a personal note that LaShawnna jotted while at the video.
Enjoy your Easter
Candy L
Source: Note from LaShawnna Stanley’s personal Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/note.php?note_id=68062621735&ref=nf
All I can say is Tupac “keep ur head up” if ur not familiar with the song youtube it. Why do we hate our women? Oh so here we go… I was called last mintue to cast a flo rida video, after a week of trying to cast the video in miami without using ethnicity, they had no choice but to call. Although reluctant because I am sick and tired of being sick and tired, I went ahead and accepted. They only need one lead girl to play the love interest, how hard can it be! So after only seeing 6 girls #7 was it- Flo saw the girl he wanted to play his lead…. Natasha! Yall might know her from my fun w/friends photos as “ghetto tasha”. They didn’t even want to see anymore girls once they saw her, she 5′10, brown, 36d,26,38 all natural with a face like naomi campbell. The look of intimidation that set in on the video commissioner and another women from the label set in as soon as natasha entered the room in her white bikini- no stretch marks or cellulite, no implants or excessive makeup. Just a naturally beautiful BLACK woman. I could tell from the look on their faces there was going to be some drama…..
Ok so natasha is booked, call time is 6am, she arrives, only to be told oh we don’t need you we booked somebody else, a light skin latin girl with long hair, the typical look they’ve been pushing on us in the video world lately-because they think its the look that the consumer fantasises over.Don’t get me wrong I think those women are beautiful too but we can’t keep displaying one standard of beauty. All women all colors, shapes and sizes are beautiful….
Ok it doesn’t end there, now anybody that knows me knows I’m a gangsta from kansas city, you can’t just tell me anything. So I wait patiently for Flo and his manager to arrive to tell them what happened. They are pissed! They are some good ole carol city miami “real hood fella’s” they wanted ghetto tasha! What happened? So the producer and the video commissioner came up with the excuse oh we thought she couldn’t get her hair wet so we booked somebody else. Huh? Thank god for blackberry and emails, I have mail in my phone confirming that natasha was ok with getting her hair wet. Its a damn shame that they would go to that extreme to not show a BLACK girl as a beauty object but quick to book them if its a part for a stripper or a whore….so in every case it’s NOT the artist that are brainwashed its the powers at be forcing the images on us that they want to represent beauty.
Now you know why the call me “the model mafia”! Natasha is the lead, case closed! Stay tuned and look out for the “sugar” video its gonna be hott! Now let’s hope they don’t try to wash her out in the edit and try to make her complexion look lighter than it really is…..
Photo: Splash News Online
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 at 1:41 pm and filed under Business women, Fan Mail, Music Video, Photo of the Day, Put 'em on Blast . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or Trackback from your own site. This site is Gravatar enabled. Sign up to upload your own avatar.
28 Responses to “FanMAIL: The real story behind the Flo Rida video shoot yesterday”
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*smh*
Somebody cliffnote me please. mmmthx
I’m not shocked but it’s sad. Just imagine how many artist are just saying o.k and not standing on having something other than LHLS in their videos. I agree with what she said about booking darker women for the strippers and more degrading roles too. It’s a damn shame. Beauty comes in all colors not just lighter than a paper bag.
WOW!
good for her..although i am light skinned, I get tired of videos not portraying my beautiful brown skinned sistas..it needs to stop..quit trying to conform to what you think society wants to see..because quiet as kept…these millionaire white boys you are trying so hard to impress don’t like light skinned women..and the women you are trying not to offend try their damndest to be just like the ones you are trying to comdemn..wake up!
Good for the model…beauty does come in all colors and it’s a shame that the industry is still stuck on color issues. The girl is beautiful.
WOW! I’m not surprised…..
A damn shame. Was never a FloRida fan, but he definitely earned my respect for that one. She’s a beautiful girl too.
I’m not a even a lil bit surprised.
She’s a beautiful women, but i guess that wasn’t enough.
5′10 .. cool.. thats my height … and that would make Flo about 6′3-ish … impressive ….
she’s a pretty gurl .. and I’m glad that her agent is a pit bull with a blackberry … way to go !
big ups to Flo’s team who stood up for what THEY wanted..
i hate gettin judged as “Bourgeoisie” (yes i spelled it right) and snobbish because im light skin! this aint school daze!!
GOOD FOR THE LADY WHO SENT THE EMAIL, GOOD FOR FLO RIDA AND HIS MANAGER AS WELL.
JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU, AT THE END OF THE DAY A WHOLE LOT OF THIS “IMAGERY” IS ALL ABOUT KEEPING THE BM AND BW SEPERATED. NO IF AND’S OR BUT’S ABOUT IT…
SIDE NOTE: I WAS IN THE HARDWARE STORE TODAY AND SAW 5, COUNT UM, 5 COUPLES THAT WERE BM/BW…GREAT TO SEE SOME BLACK FOLK STILL “GET IT” AND STARTING TO GET, AND KEEP OUR UNIONS TOGETHER…
OH AND ONE MORE THING, THIS MODEL IS LIKE WAYYYY FINER THAN naomi campbel.
WAY FINER…
Co sign w/ you KYM!
Kudos to the agent, I am glad she didn’t take their word as the final answer. Also glad Flo and em’ stood they ground.
Also.. she is beautiful, the fact that its naturally is even more impressive.
As a light skin female, I too get tired of what we as society deem to be BEAUTY … speaking out about these injustices, is a STEP in the right direction. Society’s percepetion of beauty will only be what we as the consumers ALLOW.
Flo Rida gets an A for the day for standing his ground. Black beauty needs to be displayed in ALL shades and not just in videos.
OKAY, Flo-rida u got a fan…..!! Lets see some more Rappers stand up……I know they don’t have to, but I don’t HAVE to buy their shyt either. TI, Jeezy, Wayne…I love ya but….Im tired of dis shyt. R&B singers…..too, its 2009, dis shyt is way past old its mildewed.
I agree with the above that I was not a fan of FloRida but now I am! Kudos to him for standing up. I just watched Snoop Doggs video for Beautiful today and was SMH. How cd he in good conscience have a video like that when his dtr is VERY dark skinned?! It is up to the ones with the power to change things (ie the artist, photogs, directors) who have made it!! Although this was sad to read…thank you Sandra and Candy for posting.
i agree, i really wasnt checking for flo rida until i saw the video snip yesterday and today, confirms it all. its good to see a man step outside the box and representing for all those who arent ashamed to speak up for what they truly love.i normally dont engage in the light/dark battle anymore(i used to but it seemed like a never ending arguement with brain dead idiots) but i still cant understand why so many black men(and i say black because other men of other races have no problem with dark skinned sisters)hate on what made them. black women of all hues are beautiful but its sad to see a young dark skinned girl who doesnt know she is beautiful because she sees no examples or has no one to tell her this.so many young girls watch these idiot music videos and television shows and think that they have to be lighter than a paper bag be considered beautiful.its sad but thats why we have to uplift each other
#11, oh but sweetie, life IS school daze. the whole light/dark skinned saga is an uphill battle going nowhere too soon. it didn’t start with our generation and it’s not going to stop with our generation.
2bme Says:
good for her..although i am light skinned, I get tired of videos not portraying my beautiful brown skinned sistas..it needs to stop..quit trying to conform to what you think society wants to see..
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I stopped watching videos a long time ago because I’m tired of not seeing women that I identify with.
i feel the person who made the school daze comment as a LSLH sister with a VERY darkskinned daughter i get the it comments is that YOUR daughter or is her daddy from Africa just ignorant ish and i am 40 years old if one more grown azz man calls me light-bright, what up red or redbone or white chocolate i will SCREAM if grown azz women dont stop asking me is your hair real what are you mixed with are your parents white i am going to cry!!!! damn people it is 2009 time to get rid of the slave mentalities and teach our children better it may not end in our lifetime but we can stop it in our lives
*steps off soapbox*
Those industry idiots are so narrow minded. That’s THEIR vision not ours. Just like they make these artists put out negative lyrics. We need to boycott those bastards.
Shout out to Flo Rida for man’in up for himself and for this woman. It was really big of him to not be bullied into something he wasn’t into and big of him to stand up for this woman who had no fault in this situation.
Its sad that racism is still so blatant and the people who project it are pitiful. Nothing about her skin color determines her will. They should respect the fact that she was professional, on time, and fought for what was hers.
I’m glad she won this round but sadly, the war isn’t over. More ppl just need to keep this fight up and keep standing up for whats right. Thats where the improvement will come from!
thank you lexi! now i know its not just me. this little girl had a nerve to ask me “what are you?” im like my mom and dad are BLACK!! i also hate the red bone, big bird, white bread and white girl jokes! its all in the willie lynch letter.
Once I heard T.I.’s Live Your Life, I just figured, no more excuses! I always expect to hear conscious thoughtful rap music from the underground or your standard folks (Common, Mos Def, Kweli), but T.I. was just fine before this song. After the song I’m like, “He needs to exhibit this skills as the norm.” Maybe he always has. Somebody tell me!
The reality is that you’ve got fledgling entertainers who would rather step on the slave block to get sold than to take it to that higher level.
We can’t do the same slave b.s. and expect to receive power and respect.
Oh, when I said T.I. was “just fine” I meant that he was just a fine looking rapper to me. I wasn’t looking for him to truly have skills or something thoughful to say. I would just dance to his music if I heard it.
I’m in my early 30s but I ain’t bought a lick of rap music that ain’t underground in a minute. I just figure that they are all sellouts until I note otherwise.
I swear, its weird in the opposite direction, but him going to jail and putting out his album may take him to a much higher level as an artist. Instead of him getting on and getting hood cred, he might come out and do an ATL 2 and get to Will Smith’s level.
Racist liars. If it wasn’t about skin color, then they could have booked a brown Latina if they were gunning for someone ethnic. They are just some flatout racist liars…
Florida is wack anyways…
He’s not wack anymore……LMAO! TEAM FLO-RIDA…….a dark skinned sister will stand for you homie!!!