Everything has to be about race these days.
Kelli-Leigh has voiced two UK No.1 singles and a string of club hits, but has struggled to find label support for her own music.
The singer from south London wants more recognition for black women working in dance music and says it’s not just her whose work is being overlooked.
“Other artists and black soul singers I’ve spoken to – they say the same thing,” Kelli-Leigh tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.
“It’s often quite a defeatist feeling. It’s not right, but this is where we are and I’ve got to keep it moving and I’ve got to pay my bills.”
There is nothing unusual in this. You can apply it to any of the arts – singing, playing, writing, whatever. They are all an overcrowded market. We can presume that she is a reasonably accomplished singer as she is being hired for session work. But not, perhaps, different enough or accomplished enough for a record label to take the chance. Or maybe she is and the record labels, like literary agents and publishers, are notoriously risk averse with new talent.
There is an answer to all of this in the new age of the Internet.
After nearly 10 years in music she now manages herself and releases solo music on her own record label, Music Core Ltd.
And there you go. If people want to buy her stuff, it’s there for them to buy. Problem solved.
The hits she’s appeared on does mean Kelli-Leigh is asked every day to write and record vocals on other people’s songs.
“I’ve made some money from being able to perform I Got U and I Wanna Feel alongside my own songs I’ve put out myself,” she says.
In which case, she is doing pretty well.
“But I haven’t been able to pay my bills like the people I’ve sung for have been able to.
“I’ve had to do so much more work to try and get equal respect. That’s when you think, there’s an injustice here.”
That’s because she is a session musician and not the primary artist. It takes time – years, maybe – to establish that respect and following. This has nothing to do with skin colour. Think about well known artists from the sixties and seventies who are now household names – for example, Neil Diamond and Kris Kristofferson both wrote songs for other people for years before they became famous in their own right – Kris used to sweep floors, for crying out loud. They didn’t moan about lack of respect – they grafted and polished their work until they gained that recognition.
I have never managed to get a publishing deal with the big publishers. Maybe my work isn’t what they want. Maybe they don’t think it is good enough to sell in sufficient numbers to make it worth their while. Undeterred, I’ve taken a different path. Sales are small – very small – but I still write and I still put my work out there. What I don’t do is complain because no one wants to buy it and blame that on the colour of my skin.
I would think that the music industry is one of the places that black people are over-represented by head of population. But it’s never enough is it?
The other places I can think of are sport and crime.
My daughter writes novels too. She also understands that she will probably have to do a day job for the foreseeable future because that is how such things work. We also know a local girl who is a singer-songwriter and highly accomplished guitarist. I think that she does make a living out of her music but only a very modest one so far.
@jaded48
Yes, and hugely over represented on BBC shows
Back in 80s/90s we referred to ToTP as Top of The N1ggers as regardless of Top 10/30 predominantly white singers ToTN was all or mostly black
BBC R1 even publicly announced they would not air Rock/Metal except in weekly Top 30 prog. Iron Maiden, Status Quo at No1 – not on BBC R1
What holds blacks back now is their refusal to act, behave and speak like others
tbh the more they moan, protest and blame others the more I dislike them and feel “You don’t like UK? Move out”
The small island of Jamaica with its pop. of around 3 million earned a monumental influence on popular music throughout the world. How was this possible if black singers are held back? Genuine talent may have something to do with it. Moaning to the editor probably less so.
To quote (but not endorse) the narrative of the race baiters “It’s because in Jamaica they are a black community not being held back by the racism of whites”.
Simples.
I expect it is racist to say that Dusty Springfield is Britains best ever Soul singer, her Greatest Hits album was the first I ever bought aged about 12. The second was a reggae compilation on the Trojan label.
Since the days of Motown soul and dance music has been founded on a continuous conveyor belt of outstanding female artists. If Kelli-Leigh is unaware of that legacy then perhaps she could try googling it.
The alternative option of course is that her stuff is complete shit and nobody wants to buy it.
I remember Martine McCutcheon from Eastenders saying nobody was interested in the songs she wrote before she became an actor. The fact was, her songs were cliched rubbish and nobody could sell her music until she became well known for other reasons. Music producers will not ignore people who can make them money, just because they are racist. If people can’t sell their art, it’s likely to be because they are rubbish and no other reason