Yesterday singer Lily Allen released the video to her new single Hard Out Here, which has now been branded racist. In the video a troupe of black dancers “twerk” and do all sorts with their buttocks.
CLICK HERE to read Black In Asia’s Tumblr post criticising Lily and the video.
Lilly who claims the video is meant to be “light hearted and satirical” wrote:
Privilege,Superiority and Misconceptions
1. If anyone thinks for a second that I requested specific ethnicities for the video, they’re wrong.
2. If anyone thinks that after asking the girls to audition, I was going to send any of them away because of the colour of their skin, they’re wrong.
3. The message is clear. Whilst I don’t want to offend anyone. I do strive to provoke thought and conversation. The video is meant to be a lighthearted satirical video that deals with objectification of women within modern pop culture. It has nothing to do with race, at all.
4. If I could dance like the ladies can, it would have been my arse on your screens; I actually rehearsed for two weeks trying to perfect my twerk, but failed miserably. If I was a little braver, I would have been wearing a bikini too, but I do not and I have chronic cellulite, which nobody wants to see. What I’m trying to say is that me being covered up has nothing to do with me wanting to disassociate myself from the girls, it has more to do with my own insecurities and I just wanted to feel as comfortable as possible on the shoot day.
5. I’m not going to apologise because I think that would imply that I’m guilty of something, but I promise you this, in no way do I feel superior to anyone, except paedophiles, rapists murderers etc., and I would not only be surprised but deeply saddened if I thought anyone came away from that video feeling taken advantage of,or compromised in any way.
6. Ask the ladies yourselves @shalaeuroasia @monique_Lawz @ceodancers @TempleArtist@SelizaShowtime @melycrisp
The dancers have responded to the criticism via Twitter and they are happy with the video.
I think that Lilly was trying to be clever and funny and its backfired, but on this rare occasion I am not angry with mockney Lily. A woman in her privileged position will never understand why this video is a problem. My anger is directed towards the dancers who signed up to star in the video. Why agree to take part in this bottom of the barrel buffoonery? We really need to stop accepting these embarrassing and damn right degrading roles.
Miley Cyrus performing at the MTV VMA’s 2013
I tell you there are people out there who will not hesitate to throw their self respect out of the window, and will happily help to promote stereotypes for free catering, exposure, the chance to appear alongside a celebrity and a cheque.
Still from Lily Allen’s Hard Out Here
No one held a shot gun to those ladies heads.
Check out Hard Out Here.
Categories: Music News
MAD NEWS UK 
She watched those ratchet rapper videos where black women are whored and decided to take the same approach.
Lily cannot do the same thing on screen, I have never seen a ratchet video of hers, she has children, and I cannot see her putting her ass on our screens. She had to get the bitches to do it for her. Who else shakes their booty for cash but black women.
And it looks like her lyrics were written by a black male ratchet rapper or writer or white black wannabe.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cHxydDb7o&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Df8cHxydDb7o
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/13/lily-allen-hard-out-here-racism
Good article on it here, worth reading.
A lot of people commenting on this don’t seem to get the blatant racism involved in this video, there are a lot of people worth chatting to about this situation.
Her saying “its not about race” is her removing any right to be offended away from black women.
The video only shows the black women twerking, with lines like “don’t shake my arse because I’m not stupid” amongst many other blatant examples.
Its basically a minstrel show, she’ll pretend its ‘tongue in cheek’, but she’s looking down on people.
Not to mention Wining / twerking style sexually seductive dancing has been in black culture since the start of time, she is basically saying this isn’t ok.
Even if you completely don’t agree with all the “ratchetness” in videos, a lot of these women are poor a fook and basically exploited to be in rap videos. They shouldn’t be looked down on and called stupid, she should be making a stand against the exploiters.
Bun Lily tbh
Not that one, this one. 🙂
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=h7gUu4DYZO0
Back again, this article sums it up perfectly actually, everyone should read this:
http://thequietus.com/articles/13871-lily-allen-hard-out-here-macklemore-miley-cyrus
Yet again, people only get in arms when a white main stream musician does something (regardless of if they were trying to make a point). Where is all the national media outrage when large majority of U.K “urban” stars trot out these types of video’s (with no irony intended)?
Any way, when it comes to making a statement about the music industry through a video, The Roots – What they do – has not been topped.
How can you see what you cannot see? Maybe it’s best it stays underground rather than go mainstream. Then it can be suffocated to death rather than seen as a trend once it hits mainstream.
Lily Allen is a racist and I speak from direct experience. Lily called her black sister on the phone out of the blue, whom she has not ever spoken with before, and asked her, ‘how much money would it take to stay away from our mutual father?’ Keith Allen their father taught lily how racism is a benefit to them that is why she comes out with her irrational rationalism’s. Lily then decided to sully her black sisters name in the newspapers etc, because her black sister was shocked and offend by this her first approach, and obviously refused her nefarious offer. So lily told the papers her sister came to her for money. Actually the call was recorded and lily said why she offered money, plus she sent a stream of text messages with her disgusting offer. Lily and her father have hated on this black child for no reason other than she is black and her mother is a strong black activist.
Do not listen to those who justify her behaviour or rationalise her racist actions if you see and your instinct knows this believe. For it is a fact she hates black people, her ploy has been to have a couple of black shucking and jiving idiots surround her so she can cry ‘ oh look I have black friends’.
She learnt her racism from her daddy and she loves to show it in private, and try to fool the rest of ya’ll.
‘ Hate is not inborn; it has to be constantly cultivated, to be brought into being, in conflict with more or less recognized guilt complexes. Hate demands existence and he who hates has to show his hate in appropriate actions and behavior; in a sense, he has to become hate.’ Fanon.
erm any article links?
the video is just a cheap video with no real concept to me. As for the song as I mentioned pon her video she clearly stole the hook from the film Hustle and Flow main song Its hard out here for pimp.
@SoFrolushes, the sister sued for libel against the magazine and won. Here is the link, http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/500394/gala-talbott-apology
the original article was removed, because it was lies from lily.
and this is the interview the half sister and mother sold The Sun in 07
http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/latest-gossip/53326-im-lily-allens-secret-sister-says-gala-talbott.html
PPS: Keith was NOT married when he got together with the mother of his black daughter.
Fact, he was an abusive cocaine addict who had his addiction hidden till the relationship was full on. Fact he, as has lily sent this now young woman abusive texts and emails.
Fact, sold to the sun because he… well I won’t say what he did – I am their friend -, and people who believe a sun journalist tells the truth hasn’t read of them hacking or besmirching the name of Stephen Lawrence and his friends. Nuff said. The Sun was also sued for th.at ’07 article, she won that too. Really you think the white press represent black people in truth?
“We keep coming back to the question of representation because identity is always about representation. People forget that when they wanted white women to get into the workforce because of the world war, what did they start doing? They started having a lot of commercials, a lot of movies, a lot of things that were redoing the female image, saying, “Hey, you can work for the war, but you can still be feminine.” So what we see is that the mass media, film, TV, all of these things, are powerful vehicles for maintaining the kinds of systems of domination we live under, imperialism, racism, sexism etc. Often there’s a denial of this and art is presented as politically neutral, as though it is not shaped by a reality of domination.
” ― bell hooks,
very interesting on the half sister situation.
You learn something new everyday…Well I decided to Google the sister situation, my browser had some jokes – http://wp.me/a15N5e-c6
http://noisey.vice.com/blog/lily-allen-hard-out-here-ayesha-a-siddiqi Interesting post too.
I never knew about this secret sister a lot of these white rocker types seem to have “black” children hidden away dont they….hmmm.
I was hip to Lily and her racism during her twitter war with Azealia Banks….she posted a picture of her husbands limp tiny penis coloured brown with a curly wig, gold chain and minstrelesque smile.
I wonder what her “best friend” Miquita Oliver has to say about all of this….