On ‘Love & Hip-Hop,’ Amara La Negra Schools an Ignorant Music Producer on Afro Latinidad

With just the inaugural episode of Love & Hip Hop: Miami, Dominican singer Amara La Negra had to school a Latino producer on Afro Latinidad. The show, which promises to show the real side Miami (aka not Miami Beach) follows Amara, Trick Daddy, Trina, Prince, Gunplay, Veronica Vega, Bobby Lytes, and Shay Johnson. Amara La Negra, who is hoping to crossover into the mainstream market, met with producer Elijah Sarraga, aka Young Hollywood. After taking her mother along to her first meeting with Hollywood, Amara decides to pay him a second visit to see if working together is a possibility.

Instead of a productive meeting, Hollywood tells her she needs to look “more Beyoncé,” and “less Macy Gray,” insinuating that her afro kept her from looking “elegant and breathtaking.” But Amara – who has unapologetically embraced her Latinidad and Blackness – had no time for his anti-black comments. “Not all Latinas look like J. Lo or Sofia Vergara or Shakira, so where are the women that look like myself?” she told him.

In a confessional clip, she further elaborated, “I’m extremely proud of my brown skin, I’m proud of my color of the way that my hair curls. I’m proud of who I am, and nobody’s gonna take that away from me.”

But he doesn’t seem to get it, as he laughs his way through their conversation and calls her a “Nutella queen.”

When the cast for the show was announced, Amara La Negra’s inclusion brought cause for celebration. In the past, Amara has spoken out about colorism and racism in our community, and with this new season, she’ll once again rep for the Afro-Latino community. Within the first few minutes of the show, she made that clear. “I embrace my [Latinidad] and my Blackness even more, only because I feel I can open opportunities for other upcoming women or girls that follow me,” she said.

As the show chronicles her crossover attempt and her close bond with her mother, Ana Maria Oleaga, we’re bound to see her once again come across asinine and racist comments about her identity. And Amara will be ready to strike them down. Check out a few tweets celebrating the addition of Amara La Negra into the Love & Hip Hop universe.