Cheryl podcast: BBC R&B series draws criticism

The BBC and Cheryl have been criticised over a new 12-part podcast about R&B music.

The Girls Aloud star, former X-Factor judge and solo chart-topper shared details of the BBC Sounds podcast You, Me & R&B on social media.

Critics say it should have been hosted by a black presenter and some feel it's an example of "black talent being pushed to the side and ignored."

1Xtra DJs Yasmin Evans and DJ Ace were among those to comment on the choice.

Uhura, 30, makes pop culture podcasts herself and is one half of The Unpacked Podcast.

She thinks it's great that Cheryl is such a big fan of R&B music, but doesn't think she should have been given this platform, ahead of a black artist.

"I honestly feel that if you're going to give a platform about R&B music to a woman, and the platform is the BBC, it should be a black woman musician," she tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"There are so many black British female artists who have been overlooked within the UK constantly.

"These women are talented, they are knowledgeable, they are experts in their fields."

She names Mica Paris or Beverley Knight as her preferred hosts.

"It feels like again, black voices and black talent is being pushed to the side and ignored," Uhura adds.

"Yet again, there is a white woman being rewarded.

"Does she really have the credentials? From my understanding she's a pop singer, not an R&B singer."

Sheryl Nwosu, the chair of the Black Music Coalition, says she was surprised when she heard about the podcast.

"I think it really ignores some of the voices, which were raised in 2020, and some of the issues which were validly raised by black artists within the music industry, who have specifically spoken of the lack of access to opportunities for them," she tells Newsbeat.

"She's never done anything to promote the genre, but she's given this platform as a vehicle to promote herself and talk about herself using R&B as the backdrop."

BBC Sounds, which made the podcast in collaboration with BBC Radio 2, said it was one of many new music commissions, with a variety of hosts.

"We feature a wide range of voices spanning different genres across our extensive music output.

"Many of our shows are fronted by DJs who are experts in their fields, others are hosted by people with a passion for their topic," it said in a statement.

Cheryl has spoken throughout her career of her love for R&B music.

In 2009 she told Holly Willoughby, in TV special Cheryl Cole's Night In, that "everybody knows I like R&B, I love hip hop" and in 2010 told Piers Morgan, on his Life Stories series, that she wanted to dress like US R&B group, TLC.

"I thought of myself as a bit of a hip hop girl, I wanted to wear baggy trousers and Timbaland boots," she said at the time.

Other podcasts commissioned and curated by celebrity names include Charli XCX's Best Song Ever and Romesh Ranganathan's For The Love Of Hip Hop.

Comedian London Hughes tweeted to say that the podcast was unsurprising because "white women have always been allowed to take up space in UK 'black music'."

Cheryl and the podcast were accused of "profiting off black spaces".

Some of the criticism has focussed on the singer's 2003 conviction for an assault against a black toilet attendant, which was found by a court not to be a racist attack.

The incident took place when Cheryl, 38, was 20 years old, shortly after she became famous as part of Girls Aloud.

Newsbeat has contacted Cheryl's management for comment on the backlash, but they have yet to respond.

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