Congratulations to the people who contributed on Leigh's iconic debut album and made history.

On 26/02/2026 at 00:51, Tafty said:

Now the top 3 isn't just a want, it's an absolute NEED!!!

LMAO! She mentioned this at her latest concert signing for the album lmao.

God I love the fact Leigh’s back!!! She needed this confidence boost…We lost her for a while with all the label drama / negativity but she really is thriving and I couldn’t be happier for her.

The only thing I have to wonder though - though it's great she debuted top 3 - what's the achievement if it freefalls? Won't the sales cement the label's reasoning for not backing her?

38 minutes ago, Starbooty said:

The only thing I have to wonder though - though it's great she debuted top 3 - what's the achievement if it freefalls? Won't the sales cement the label's reasoning for not backing her?

I guess most fanbase driven albums freefall anyway. It's just the charts these days.

Saying it again but streaming may have made the ease of listening to music easier but it's totally ruined the charts.

She should be so proud of the chart success regardless - I'd just hate the sales to be used against her.

I’m loving this album more and more with each listen. Really close to matching the pop perfection of Jades album imo. The only track I don’t care for is Been A Minute.

Yeah the roll out was a strange choice. The singles are the weakest tracks and 'Friends' eating video budget despite not being on the album was a weird one.

If you told me a month ago id be going back to this as much as I have id of called you a liar , it really is such a good cohesive album and I cant wait to see it performed live next month

This has been on repeat for me ever since it was released, can’t believe how much I love it. I didn’t think Leigh Anne would be the one delivering my favourite solo album, but here we are.

Jades is still my favourite but given how I wasnt keen on the singles (I actually love them now)

I love the album and am shocked its my most played of the year 🙌

Black girls in pop spark debate on exclusion  - The Post

I'm a bit confused at what she's trying to say in these articles. I don't think the examples she/the journalist are citing are good at all and feels like they're just cherry picking random critical Tweets to make it out as if these black artists are being targeted by the mainstream when in actual fact every pop star gets these sort of reactions. Taylor Swift is the most white bread, vanilla female and she has her fair amount of haters and criticism for her music, stage presence and vocals. Ed Sheeran gets absolutely dragged by many pop fans. Perrie herself has been the butt of jokes from her own fanbase for how beige her music has been. Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Britney Spears etc have all been a laughing stock of the internet at some point. Every single artist gets random Tweets made about them.

I do respect her for her activism (even if it's hypocritical at times) but every interview is just so negative and for someone who doesn't want to be known as the 'black girl from Little Mix' it's pretty much been the focus of all her interviews.

“People will say, 'Where are all the Black pop girls?'” Pinnock said to the media outlet. “You can’t see us because you’re tearing us down. You’re not allowing us to thrive and are not supporting us. They did the same to Chloe Bailey and Normani.” 

Who is tearing them down? What does she even mean? Her album just went to number 3 on the strength of her fans supporting her. It's hard for any artist to get hits these days and again, even her white blonde bandmate Perrie has struggled. I don't see what she's trying to say about Normani either considering fans have been begging for her to release new music and drop visuals for her album for years and she literally had two massive hits and a ton of industry support with two VMA performances.

It's a bit of a head scratcher for me.

I know buzzjack classes her as RNB but Google says shes also Pop and Soul, but isnt like the biggest UK female singer aka Olivia Dean right now Black too 😅

Have either of you lived the life of a black, female popstar? Just because YOU don't see it, doesn't mean stuff she says about it isn't happening.

It's a well known fact that black artists (specifically females) have a hard time breaking through and they get a lot of vitriol and hate simply just for existing as a black person. You even said it in your post above that "Taylor is the most white bread... receives criticism for her music", "Ed gets absolutely dragged by pop fans" & "Perrie has been the butt of jokes... for how beige her music has been"... because of their music. They aren't ever attacked because they're white people (being a woman though... that's another conversation and adds another layer to things.) You mention Britney but Britney is a completely unique situation and isn't exclusive to her being a woman and is definitely not because she is white...

The acts she has mentioned (herself, Chloe and Normani) have all been subjected to horrendous online abuse and it's her calling out the people who scream "Where are the black artists" but then look over 90% of them when they do release material. It's almost like society can't accept more than two black women succeeding at any time. They always pit them against each other.

I don't see anything wrong with what she is saying?

I can't really comment on Leigh's views because they are hers and her experiences but sometimes you can draw links to anything in life. I don't doubt for one second that black artists especially females have it harder but I just don't get most of that article. It's claiming Flo's In My bag was criticised for being 'too urban' and wouldn't achieve mainstream success. That happens across the board for all artists (What's in fashion changes all the time that's just FACT) at present singer / songwriters are in fashion (Where are all the huge pop dance hits that used to flood the charts, or UK rap artists (Aitch / Arrdee etc) You could go down a rabbit hole linking the reasons why to everything under the sun but the fact is it has nothing to do with the colour of someone's skin or heritage it's literally just the 'in vogue' mainstream sound at that time.

You can look across this whole forum where all artists are discussed and it's mentioned all the time about a song sounding to pop to be a hit, too dancey, outdated, too much rap, too experimental etc etc....

In 10 years time the charts could be full of more urban sounding songs (They have before).

Sabrina is also mentioned but that doesn't make sense either because she gets LOADS of hate for the content of her songs and being too provocative...So the fact the article claims no one cared and she didn't receive any criticism is crazy to me, she got to number 1 yes but that wasn't without loads of negativity (Look at the controversy her album cover caused across the internet!!)

Edited Friday at 16:353 days by Mr. C. Joel

Woah woah I never said anything against her views at all so dont tar me with that brush all I said is isnt OD a black female artist, so yes there are someI never said I disagreed or her views were wrong 🤔

In case you hadn't noticed I've been the only one actually hyping her up on the thread this week considering her tour literally just started 😮

16 hours ago, Tafty said:

Have either of you lived the life of a black, female popstar? Just because YOU don't see it, doesn't mean stuff she says about it isn't happening.

It's a well known fact that black artists (specifically females) have a hard time breaking through and they get a lot of vitriol and hate simply just for existing as a black person. You even said it in your post above that "Taylor is the most white bread... receives criticism for her music", "Ed gets absolutely dragged by pop fans" & "Perrie has been the butt of jokes... for how beige her music has been"... because of their music. They aren't ever attacked because they're white people (being a woman though... that's another conversation and adds another layer to things.) You mention Britney but Britney is a completely unique situation and isn't exclusive to her being a woman and is definitely not because she is white...

The acts she has mentioned (herself, Chloe and Normani) have all been subjected to horrendous online abuse and it's her calling out the people who scream "Where are the black artists" but then look over 90% of them when they do release material. It's almost like society can't accept more than two black women succeeding at any time. They always pit them against each other.

I don't see anything wrong with what she is saying?

Literally every celebrity in the industry will get personal attacks. All of them. Can you give a specific example of a black female artist getting HATE (genuine hate, not just Twitter trolls) for simply existing? Because like I said, Normani was absolutely showered with praise and had the whole industry and 5H fandom buzzing when she dropped Motivation and everyone was begging her to hurry up and release her album and drop visuals. Her solo career only failed because her management were abysmal and she was dealing with personal matters - her family being ill. How on earth is that because of 'not being seen or appreciated'?

I did mention the white artists being dragged for the music but let's not pretend Taylor Swift hasn't been ridiculed for a decade and has the public dissecting every aspect of her life. She's extremely controversial and unliked by many. Katy Perry has been a laughing stock for years. Justin Bieber was targeted ever since he showed up on the scene as a teenager. I mean, you can get an example of literally any artist and they'll have been getting abuse at some point. Are we forgetting just how bad Liam Payne had it before he died?

I'm sorry but again, while I do acknowledge that black females have a tougher time in the industry the points and examples Leigh make just aren't the best ones to be making. She literally just got a number 3 album BECAUSE fans rallied for her. How is that not being seen and appreciated?

It seems like she keeps blaming her skin colour for her lack of success when the reality is she fumbled the bag with a crap lead single and considering Perrie flopped just as hard as her, it's got nothing to do with Leigh being black.

(Also, who even says 'where are the black pop artists?'? I've never even heard of people saying this. I'm on stan Twitter alot and frequent pop music forums and can't say this is even a thing people say so again, I'm just so lost?)

^ Jessie J and Jess Glynne are two more examples of British white female singers who are constantly ridiculed.