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Is DaniLeigh Black? Singer slams 'Black fishing' accusations for 'Yellow Bone' song: 'Why y’all so sensitive?'

Singer DaniLeigh, who is currently seeing DaBaby, defended her song saying: 'Why I can’t make a song for my light skin baddies??'

Singer DaniLeigh, who is more famous for being DaBaby's girlfriend, has stirred up trouble for herself with her new song 'Yellow Bone'. According to her, the song celebrates "light skin baddies". Debuting her new Marilyn Monroe-inspired hairstyle, DaniLeigh posted the song to Triller, where the song lyrics go like "Yellow bone that’s what he want, yellow bone that’s what he want. Prada me and Saint Laurent. Yellow bone that’s what he want”. 

"Yellow", sometimes pronounced as "yaller" or "yella", refers to a lighter-skinned person with Black ancestry. Within the African-American community, being less dark often leads to upward mobility in a society that puts a premium on Whiteness. This in turn has encouraged a whole slew of damaging behaviors within the Black community that has been referred to collectively as "colorism".

Unlike racism, colorism occurs within the Black community because light-skinned people get more opportunities. But they are also simultaneously rejected for their complexion within their own community for 'not being Black enough'. Darker-hued people also develop an inferiority complex because light-skinned people are usually considered more 'beautiful'. 

Colorism is an especially sore spot for the African-American community and DaniLeigh's song touches that raw nerve. What makes it worse is that DaniLeigh herself is not Black. The term "light skin" specifically refers to Black people and never any other race. One tweet said: "Danileigh made a song for lightskin women and she’s not even BLACK??!?", while another Twitter user said: "Why is DaniLeigh, a non black woman, creating a colourist ass inflammatory song called Yellow Bone. Someone help me understand." Another tweet bluntly asked: "Danileigh, do your parents know you’re out here pretending to be Black?"

Instagram account, theshaderoom, posted not just DaniLeigh's video or her swaying to her song but also her comment defending it, which said: "Why I can’t make a song for my light skin baddies?? Why y’all think I’m hating on other colors when there are millions of songs speaking on all types…why y’all so sensitive & take it personal gahhhh damn”. She also took to Twitter to defend herself, saying: "And I said is what he want !!!! Not what the world want ... I’m talking bout myself ... stop playing w me." 

A social media user decided to point out exactly why her song was terrible on multiple levels. "Alright I’ll say it now. Danileigh is talking about she made a song for the “light skin baddies” but 1st, she’s not even light skin or “yellow bone”...she’s Latina, 2nd the lyrics feed into colorism. 3rd, the song is just bad. That’s what makes the whole thing worse". 

What is DaniLeigh's real ethnicity?

DaniLeigh's real name is Danielle Leigh Curiel. She was born in 1994 in South Florida to father Vladimir Curiel and mother, Vicky Curiel, who were from the Dominican Republic. Thus, her ethnicity is Hispanic. The surname Curiel itself is linked to Sephardi Jews from Spain who escaped to Latin American countries to escape the inquisition and slowly assimilated into their new home countries. DaniLeigh herself was born in South Florida and is still connected to her Dominican roots. In a now-deleted tweet, she had posted a picture of her fair-skinned parents when they were celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary. 

However, she has in the past tried to pass as 'Black' by imitating dance and song styles and a style of speaking and of rap associated with the Black community. Most users specifically called her out for her privilege and her attempt at 'playing' Black because it suits her. One tweet said: "DaniLeigh is a white Latina from South Miami whose privilege put her in the view of Chris Brown. That’s everything that needs to be said," while another user said: "Now miss Dani Leigh not you making a song claiming to be a yellow bone but couldn’t wait to be darker," posting pictures of how she makes herself look darker than she really is -- a prime example of "black fishing". Said one tweet: "Blackfishers are so wild. theyll look like ariana grande on wednesday, kehlani on thursday, yara shahidi on friday, and tori kelly on the weekend".

Update: On January 24, 2021, DaniLeigh did feel the need to make an apology for the unreleased song and her reaction to criticism, except it’s unlikely this one will go over much better. In the apology, she brought up how she’s dating DaBaby, who she refers to as a “chocolate man” and also refers to her “dark-skinned friends.” She also notes that “brown skin women flaunt their skin all the time in music” following that observation up with “why can’t I talk about mine?”