I have to give it to 2 Chainz and Pharrell: their new video, “Feds Watching,” is hot. Love the scenery and for once, this rap video is not all about booty-bouncing. But what’s even more shocking is that the amazing, gorgeous models featured in the video are all dark-skinned women.  

Yes, this is still a reason to stop and stare. And yes, it's sad. But the truth is, whenever we get to see a plethora of mocha-skinned women in popular rap and R&B music videos, we're usually stopped dead in our tracks because it's so damn rare. Most of the time, if there is one of "us" on set, she's usually hidden or shown only once or twice. 

Don't get me wrong; I'm not mad or knocking the rappers and musicians that feature brown women (whether alone or alongside women of different hues and ethnicities). It's actually refreshing to see.  I just hope one day I won’t be as surprised to see a girl front and center in a music video–or on TV in general–who looks like me.

Back in March, rapper Kendrick Lamar recast the lead model in his “Poetic Justice,” video to make sure that a brown beauty was featured. “No disrespect,” Lamar said, “I love all women, period. But at the same time, I still feels like [the music industry] needs that balance [of shades in videos].” Maybe “Feds Watching” is a sign that other artists are starting to agree.

In any case, this video is fresh as hell and the spotlight it puts on dark-skinned women definitely gives us a reason to be hype. Enjoy, my Beautifully Brown girls!