Reggae artiste Tenza Di Boss Lady has taken on the age-old issue of skin bleaching in her latest song African Empress. The singer said she is not afraid to “go there” as she tries to instill African pride in her fellow brothers and sisters. “It’s a taboo subject, but a cruel racial hierarchy still exists in today’s society where the lighter-skinned persons are regarded as ‘superior’ to the darker skinned; dark skin is seen as failure; and light skin is beautiful and equates to success,” said Tenza. Skin bleaching has become a trend in Jamaica, but the issue came home more forcefully to the artiste while on an Africa tour, there she noticed that a number of beautiful black girls were also bleaching. “They are under the impression that, if they bleach their skin tone, then they will become more beautiful and accepted. It made me sad and broke my heart, but I was even more worried for their health, as young black girls bleach their skin with products designed to remove stain from clothing,” the singer said. Tenza thought the best way to get her message across is through her music and she hopes African Empress will encourage black females to be proud and embrace themselves for who they are. The song is produced by Suncycle Digital and TMD Records and is available on itunes. All proceeds from the sales will go towards Tenza’s own “BossLady Charity”, which is geared towards early childhood education for the poor and needy.