Mathew Knowles stopped by SiriusXM’s “The Clay Cane Show” on Wednesday (June 19) where he discussed race relations in the music industry. During the interview, he specifically spoke about his daughter, Beyoncé, and how she may have benefited from having a lighter complexion.
“In the music industry there’s still segregation,” Knowles said. “Programmers, especially at pop radio, [have] this imagery of what beauty looks like. They wanted that imagery to be the same as singing those records.”
When asked if his daughter had benefited from not having dark skin, he said she had. “I think it would have affected her success,” he added. Knowles then name-dropped former Destiny’s Child member, Kelly Rowland, to explain how colorism plays a role in a musician’s success.
“I use Kelly Rowland as an example. She’s a great example,” he explained. But you know, the great thing is Kelly did exceptional outside of America, especially in Australia. Kelly sold over four million records. She just got off script.”
Listen to Matthew Knowles’ comments on “The Clay Cane Show” below.