American rapper, Lil Uzi Vert has announced that he intends to bleach his skin in a post on his Twitter account.
“Bleaching my skin need umbrella,” Uzi tweeted on Wednesday (Feb. 2), before posting a video hinting that he had already begun the process.
The rap star’s declaration comes after uploading a photo of Michael Jackson as his Twitter profile picture before changing the image to one of dancehall legend Vybz Kartel, two artists notorious for skin bleaching.
If Uzi’s claims are true, he would be the latest in a long list of stars who have been connected to skin bleaching as Lil Kim, Beyoncé, Tamar Braxton, Nicki Minaj, Blac Chyna, Rihanna, Ciara, Sammy Sosa, and others are alleged to have partaken in the potentially harmful process.
Many argue that bleaching is a byproduct of mental enslavement as it relates to colorism in society, which rapper J. Cole previously spoke about with VIBE. “We’re still Black Americans. Those mental chains are still in us,” he explained back in 2013. “That brainwashing that tells us that light skin is better, it’s subconsciously in us, whether we know it or not… still pursuing light skin women. There are some women out there that are like, ‘I don’t even like light skin men’ and that’s fine.”
The “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l” rapper continued, adding, “But Barack Obama would not be President if he were dark skin… That’s just the truth. I might not be as successful as I am now if I was dark skin.”
