Kelis took to social media on Tuesday (June 2) to call for widespread structural change in the music industry’s treatment of Black artists.
“If the music industry wants to support Black lives, labels and platforms can start with amending contracts, distributing royalties, diversifying boardrooms, and retroactively paying back all the Black artists, and their families, they have build their empires on,” the R&B singer wrote in a caption-less Instagram post.
Kelis, who first rose to fame with her 2003 breakout hit “Milkshake,” has been consistently vocal in her support of the Black Lives Matter movement over the past few weeks on social media. In her Instagram Stories, the singer has urged fans to support Black-owned restaurants in L.A., shared links to petitions they can sign and offered resources for how non-Black allies can take actionable steps to build on the momentum of the viral “Black Out Tuesday” social media campaign.
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, the successful chef also shared an inspiring soundbite from an interview by author and activist James Baldwin (from the 1989 American Masters documentary James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket), in which he frustratedly questions, “How much time do you want for your progress?”
Read Kelis’ message to the music industry below.
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