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India Arie is catching grief for her ‘lightened’ skin on the cover art of her latest single Cocoa Butter. Rumors are flying that India bleached her skin and her camp tells TMZ the criticism is ridiculous, because the “lightened” skin is merely the product of the camera flash and angle. India never asked to be lightened.

The singer is known primarily for singing songs that promote self-acceptance and black beauty, such as “I Am Not My Hair” which has the chorus, “I am not my hair/I am not this skin/I am not your expectations no no/ I am a soul that lives within.”

India is not the first artist to catch flak for skin lightening, Beyonce came under fire recently when the image used to re-promote her album ‘4,’ featured a much lighter than normal skin tone.

Do you think it was through the magic of photoshop or did India.Arie lighten her skin?

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