Internalized Racism In The Music Industry

Introduction In the music industry, there will always be a difference between artists; whether we realize it or not. One obvious difference is race. We as human beings have come so far in the battle against racism and have left that chapter behind us. However, small traces of racism still live today inside of most people (internalized racism). One example of how internalized racism lives on is through the music industry. For this investigation, I wanted to see the differences in success of an artist through their race. Looking from mathematical standpoint, is there really a difference between the success of black artists and white artists? If so, is this the reason why black artists can have many more nominations for Grammy awards than white artists while still winning a similar amount of Grammy …show more content…
What is the correlation? Comparing artists of different genres, time periods, and ages, I will be looking to see what correlates between various black and white female artists. I wanted to keep it strictly female because of the advantages men have versus women in the industry. All of the artists have similar audiences and number of Grammy awards won. Rihanna and Taylor Swift are compared because of their similar number of years active. Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea are compared because of their current status as female rappers. Mary J. Blige and Adele are compared because of their similar style of music but different time periods. These tests are simply mathematical reasonings as to why black artists have a smaller win to nomination ratio for the Grammys than white artists. However, they do not come out of thin air. For years, black artists have noticed that there has been some sort of bias when it came to the accolades they and their fellow black people have received