A contestant on Polish music talent show Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo has gone viral after winning the top prize for performing Drake's "Hotline Bling" in blackface.
Polish musician Bogumil "Boogie" Romanowski darkened his own skin to perform the Canadian rap star's viral hit on the show, Global News points out. His impersonation won him a 10,000 złoty cash prize (about $3,477 CAD) to give the charity of his choice.
You can watch some of the performance in the video below.
Romanowski's decision to perform in blackface rightfully drew ire from commenters on social media, with many attempting to explain the racial gravity of his choice to others in the comment section.
Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo (which roughly translates as Your Face Sounds Familiar) posted several photos of Romanowski in blackface to social media, offering up its own statement on his decision on their Instagram page.
"'Your Face Sounds Familiar' is an entertainment show, and its intent is to reproduce the image and performance of well-known and respected artists as precisely as possible," the show wrote in a translated statement. "This idea is known all over the world. The producers of the program, as well as the participants of all previous editions, including Boogie, have one goal — to imitate (vocally, movably and visually) the characters drawn by them, which are artists of the Polish and foreign music market."
The show's post then continued by pointing to past Polish personalities impersonating the likes of Michael Jackson (Agnieszka Włodarczyk), Stevie Wonder (Mariusz Totoszko), Missy Elliott (Kacper Kuszewski) and Jason Derulo (Rafał Szatan), though a few quick Google searches reveal that the aforementioned performances were also done in blackface.
You can see the relevant social media posts below.
Earlier this year, Drake responded to a photo of himself in blackface that resurfaced as part of a beef with Pusha-T. He revealed that the image came from a 2007 project about "young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and type cast."
Drake added that the photo was taken from a segment depicting how African Americans used to be "wrongfully portrayed in entertainment."
Polish musician Bogumil "Boogie" Romanowski darkened his own skin to perform the Canadian rap star's viral hit on the show, Global News points out. His impersonation won him a 10,000 złoty cash prize (about $3,477 CAD) to give the charity of his choice.
You can watch some of the performance in the video below.
Romanowski's decision to perform in blackface rightfully drew ire from commenters on social media, with many attempting to explain the racial gravity of his choice to others in the comment section.
Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo (which roughly translates as Your Face Sounds Familiar) posted several photos of Romanowski in blackface to social media, offering up its own statement on his decision on their Instagram page.
"'Your Face Sounds Familiar' is an entertainment show, and its intent is to reproduce the image and performance of well-known and respected artists as precisely as possible," the show wrote in a translated statement. "This idea is known all over the world. The producers of the program, as well as the participants of all previous editions, including Boogie, have one goal — to imitate (vocally, movably and visually) the characters drawn by them, which are artists of the Polish and foreign music market."
The show's post then continued by pointing to past Polish personalities impersonating the likes of Michael Jackson (Agnieszka Włodarczyk), Stevie Wonder (Mariusz Totoszko), Missy Elliott (Kacper Kuszewski) and Jason Derulo (Rafał Szatan), though a few quick Google searches reveal that the aforementioned performances were also done in blackface.
You can see the relevant social media posts below.
Earlier this year, Drake responded to a photo of himself in blackface that resurfaced as part of a beef with Pusha-T. He revealed that the image came from a 2007 project about "young black actors struggling to get roles, being stereotyped and type cast."
Drake added that the photo was taken from a segment depicting how African Americans used to be "wrongfully portrayed in entertainment."