India Arie to remove music from Spotify over Joe Rogan’s comments about race

The R&B singer-songwriter called out Rogan for his recent "language around race” and skin tone on his podcast.

India Arie is removing her music from Spotify following podcast host Joe Rogan’s recent remarks about skin tone and race. 

In an Instagram post shared with her fans on Wednesday, the R&B singer-songwriter called out Rogan’s “language around race,” deeming it “problematic.”

Rogan said the term Black was “weird” on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. As reported by The Daily Beast, he also said it was “very strange” that the word “Black” is used to describe people who are not from the “darkest place” of Africa.

R&B singer India Arie (left) called out podcast host Joe Rogan (right) for his “language around race.” (Getty Images)

Rogan made the comments during a conversation with cultural commentator Jordan Peterson. At one point in the interview, Rogan recalled the time that academic Michael Eric Dyson called Peterson an “angry white man” at a 2018 debate

“Hilarious. You’re not mean at all,” Rogan said. “That’s what’s dumb about that statement. You’re not mean at all.”

Peterson seemed to be triggered by Dyson, calling him “white.” 

“I am kind of tan,” he declared. “And he was actually not Black, he was sort of brown.”

From there, Rogan and Peterson debated about skin tone and how Dyson isn’t “Black.”

“Well, isn’t that weird,” Rogan stated. “The Black and white thing is so strange because the shades are such a spectrum of shades of people. Unless you are talking to someone who is, like, 100 percent African from the darkest place, where they are not wearing any clothes all day and they have developed all of that melanin to protect themselves from the sun, even the term Black is weird.”

Rogan concluded, “When you use it for people who are literally my color, it becomes very strange.”

Dyson reacted to their remarks in a statement to The Daily Beast

“Clearly they haven’t kept up with discussion about how race isn’t just about skin tone or color, but about a host of meanings determined in the social world,” said Dyson about Rogan and Peterson. “Blackness is not about shade, but about the shade provided by traditions of Black thought, culture, and resistance. But in a way, Blackness is about throwing certain kinds of shade, and I’d love to go on Rogan’s podcast to share my thoughts and chop it up.”

Dyson concluded: “I’m afraid he may be too afraid to engage me directly. Better to talk behind my ear.” 

Spotify, which platforms Rogan, is catching heat for not booting Rogan amid recent backlash to his stance on the COVID-19 vaccines. 

Rogan has been accused of repeatedly making false claims about the vaccine. Several artists have responded by yanking their music from the platform, including singer Neil Young

“Neil Young opened a door that I MUST walk through,” India Arie wrote Tuesday in her IG post.

Arie noted that Rogan is “problematic for reasons OTHER than his Covid interviews …”

She also called attention to reports that Spotify inked a $100 million dollar deal with Rogan while “paying musicians a Fraction of a penny.”

“This shows the type of company they are and the company that they keep,” she concluded. “I’m tired.”

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