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Thank you @applemusic for giving me the opportunity to be in a room with two people I admire very much Last week I got to sit down and chat with @mosesboydexodus about music and alll of that and record a cover with @hakbaker all can be seen and heard over at @applemusic #applemusicforblackhistorymonth

A post shared by Celeste (@celeste) on Oct 3, 2020 at 6:51am PDT

The session was organised by Apple Music, in celebration of Black History Month. Over the course of October, the platform will be promoting Black British musicians both new and established. We can expect to see exclusive playlists, interviews and performances as part of this worthwhile series.

The recordings of Little Runaway and Both Sides of the Moon were seamless and powerful. It was especially nice to see Celeste preform her first ever single, given the amount of success she has achieved since its release. In contrast to the two down-beat soulful songs, her and Baker’s cover of Rudy, A Message To You was a buoyant track, filled with the joy of collaboration. At the end of the recording you can hear the pair laughing in the background.

After the second chorus, Baker diverts from the original to deliver his own verse. He sings: ‘In a London town, where the smiles wore upside down// Such abundant frowns, everywhere I look and turn around// In a town like London, Babylon run around with a truncheon.’

The original version of the song was recorded in 1967 by rocksteady musician Dandy Livingstone. Later in 1979, The Specials covered it. Livingstone song was originally about social unrest amongst the Jamaican community in England, an address to the so called ‘rude-boys’ ska fans of the time to keep calm and stay out of trouble.

In the 70’s, The Specials cover was a commentary on the disaffection and rioting that took place during the Winter of Discontent. By this time, the white community had appropriated the ‘rude-boy’ aesthetic of sharp suits and trilby hats; particularly within the punk subculture.

A key figure in this was Jerry Dammers (The Specials frontman), who set up 2 Tone Records in ’79 in a bid to dismantle racial tensions using music. The idea was to do so through multi-racial ska-revivalist bands such as The Specials, The Selector and The Beat.

Today, Celeste and Baker’s version takes on a new meaning. Baker’s verse about ‘Babylon [running] around with a truncheon’ is a reference to racial violence within the police force, that is all too often targeted at innocent young black men. The importance of this message, especially in light of George Floyd’s murder and the recent re-examination of cases such as Stephen Lawrence’s, is paramount.

Pinnock, second from the left, is the only Black member of Little Mix

The star has been opening up about her struggles with discrimination and prejudice amid the ongoing Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and suggested that her experience in Little Mix has been different to those of her bandmates because of the colour of her skin. The singer admits that, as the only Black member of the band, she sometimes feels ‘invisible’ in her own group, and senses that she is the least preferred among Little Mix fans, confessing that she feels this especially strongly when touring predominantly white countries. 

Despite her early experiences of racism, Pinnock says she was taken aback by the extent of this disparity, telling Channel 4 ‘I just wish that I knew more… that I was more educated on this and I knew that, yeah, your race will hold you back a bit. I just wish I knew so I could prepare myself’. Pinnock recalls that in 2011, after Little Mix’s X Factor win, choreographer Frank Gatson told her ‘You are the Black girl, you have to work ten times harder’. At first confused by his words, the singer says that this advice from Gatson, who is also Black, ‘made sense’ later in her career. Pinnock indeed feels greater pressure to work harder to satisfy fans and impress critics, observing that ‘Talent alone isn’t enough’ for Black artists to be successful, and that ‘Our reality is no matter how far you think you’ve come, racism exists’.

The Little Mix star is not the only Black musician calling out racism in the industry. Fellow X Factor winner Alexandra Burke also recalls having to put in additional effort to please white audiences, revealing that she was even asked to bleach her skin to appear ‘whiter’, and told not to style her hair in braids or an afro, because ‘You have to have hair… that appeals to white people’. Another Black X Factor contestant, Misha B, also recently expressed her feelings of being ‘devalued’ by the music industry, and said X Factor producers created an unfair ‘angry Black girl narrative’ during her time on the show.

As previously reported, Pinnock will be fronting a TV documentary about racism and colourism in the UK. Leigh-Anne: Colourism & Race will be broadcast on BBC Three, where last year Pinnock’s bandmate Jesy Nelson spoke out against cyberbullying, but no air date has yet been confirmed.

The programme is titled “Leigh-Anne: Colourism & Race” and will talk about the racism that to this day still exists in Great Britain. The “Holiday” singer said she wants to use her status as a celebrity as a “platform to bring this conversation to a wider audience.” BBC Three controller Fiona Campbell is hoping that by working with “high profile talent like Leigh-Anne, and other important individuals she will meet through this process”, the programme and the “honest conversations this film will feature will have the power to change attitudes, offer insight and help to prevent racism in our society.”

Leigh-Anne said she wanted to do this documentary “because I have always been passionate about rights for black people” and the she wanted to “stand up for my black and brown community.” The 28-year-old explained that the topic of race is a constant part of her everyday conversations as “conversations surrounding racism and colourism are something I constantly have with my boyfriend and family.”

leigh anne documentary on racism has finally been confirmed by bbc three. When it airs support her because this will be leigh chance to talk about more about her own experiences but educate and raise awareness to people pic.twitter.com/dYuS7sc3W4

— leighannebounce (@leighannebounce) August 12, 2020

Pinnock revealed that she’s hoping that the documentary will help her to use her voice to raise awareness. “Systemic racism is complex; through making this documentary I want to learn how I can best lend my voice to the debate so that the young people who look up to me won’t have to face what me and my generation have had to.”

As the issue is still a big part of her life, she will also share some of her own experiences that she had to face over the years due to the colour of her skin and how having white or lighter skin and being a celebrity is sometimes putting one in a privileged position. A release date for “Leigh-Anne: Colourism & Race” is yet to be announced.