Queen Naija Denies Being A Colorist, Addresses Previous "Nappy-Headed" Comments

BY Erika Marie 9.6K Views
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Queen Naija, Colorism
In 2017, Queen Naija shared a story about being bullied by "Black," "ugly," "nappy-headed" girls. People accused her of colorism, but she ha returned to explain the situation in detail.

Although she's addressed this controversy on numerous occasions, singer Queen Naija returns with another video about the accusations that she's a colorist. Before she was making waves as an R&B star, Queen Naija was a YouTube personality developing a brand over on the video streaming network. In 2017, she shared a video where she spoke about being bullied as a child and described her assailants as "nappy-headed little girls." While she didn't outright describe the skin color of any of her bullies, people didn't like her word choice and believed she was talking about dark-skinned people. Soon, Queen Naija was labeled a colorist after describing her bullies as "black," "ugly," "nappy-headed" girls.

A year later, she decided to address the rumors in another video she uploaded to YouTube. However, her explanation fell on deaf ears. It seems that Queen Naija has spent some time thinking about her controversy and once again has appeared with another discussion about being labeled as a colorist.

"I have never been a colorist. I have never felt that I was better because I was light-skinned," she said. "I feel like melanin's beautiful... The words I have used in the past, they were probably ignorant. Not probably. They were ignorant. Back then, I didn't know they were ignorant because that's what I was just used to. I wasn't that educated on my culture and wasn't deeply rooted into it."

She added that in the past, she didn't understand how she offended anyone, but she now sees how her words affected people, especially Black women. Watch Queen Naija give her explanation below.

About The Author
Since 2019, Erika Marie has worked as a journalist for HotNewHipHop, covering music, film, television, art, fashion, politics, and all things regarding entertainment. With 20 years in the industry under her belt, Erika Marie moved from a writer on the graveyard shift at HNHH to becoming a Features Editor, highlighting long-form content and interviews with some of Hip Hop’s biggest stars. She has had the pleasure of sitting down with artists and personalities like DJ Jazzy Jeff, Salt ’N Pepa, Nick Cannon, Rah Digga, Rakim, Rapsody, Ari Lennox, Jacquees, Roxanne Shante, Yo-Yo, Sean Paul, Raven Symoné, Queen Naija, Ryan Destiny, DreamDoll, DaniLeigh, Sean Kingston, Reginae Carter, Jason Lee, Kamaiyah, Rome Flynn, Zonnique, Fantasia, and Just Blaze—just to name a few. In addition to one-on-one chats with influential public figures, Erika Marie also covers content connected to the culture. She’s attended and covered the BET Awards as well as private listening parties, the Rolling Loud festival, and other events that emphasize established and rising talents. Detroit-born and Long Beach (CA)-raised, Erika Marie has eclectic music taste that often helps direct the interests she focuses on here at HNHH. She finds it necessary to report on cultural conversations with respect and honor those on the mic and the hardworking teams that help get them there. Moreover, as an advocate for women, Erika Marie pays particular attention to the impact of femcees. She sits down with rising rappers for HNHH—like Big Jade, Kali, Rubi Rose, Armani Caesar, Amy Luciani, and Omerettà—to gain their perspectives on a fast-paced industry.