Rachel Chinouriri Shares Moving Post About Being a Black Woman in Indie Pop Music: 'Deserve to Feel Like I Have a Chance'

• Rachel Chinouriri expressed disappointment online after reading a fan’s recent post
• The British singer-songwriter wrote that the internet often reminds her that "simply being Black will make it twice as hard to be an indie pop star"
• Chinouriri is currently opening for Sabrina Carpenter on the European leg of her tour

Rachel Chinouriri is opening up about the difficult realities of being a Black woman in pop music — and her commitment to being successful anyway.

The British singer-songwriter, 26, is already having a banner year, having been nominated for two BRIT Awards, readying the release of her new EP next month and opening for Sabrina Carpenter on the European leg of her Short n’ Sweet tour.

But in a post on X on March 23, Chinouriri expressed disappointment after reading a fan’s post that said she would not achieve the same success as stars like Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan because of her skin color.

“Well… pressed translate and feel pretty sad tbh but this just reminds me…You can open for the biggest popstar in the world and the internet will still remind you daily that simply being black will make it twice as hard to be a indie pop star 💔,” she wrote. “I deserve to feel like I have a chance at a successful music career because I love storytelling and hope people like me because of my music and not just because of my race.”

The “All I Ever Asked” singer said that race is something she’s spoken about “openly” since the start of her career, but that she wanted to share a reminder that she would do her best to pay it no mind as she forges ahead.

“I won’t let being a Black woman stop me from trying and no matter how my career pans out, at least I know I tried my best,” Chinouriri wrote. “Lots of Black girls aspiring to be in indie/pop music have this fear… I know it all too well… and I hope my fight to change this narrative behind the scenes and publicly contributes to inspire the future generations of young Black girls to keep going and remember you are allowed to just be whoever you want to be and not what the world wants to shape you into.”

She concluded, “I trust the universe will protect me and guide me exactly to where I dream being.”

Chinouriri — who in April will release a new EP titled Little House — previously opened up about her experiences in the music industry in an interview with PEOPLE last year.

The star said that early in her career, her indie pop songs wound up on R&B playlists on streaming platforms because she was Black — and recalled a breaking point that inspired her to speak out about it in a viral 2022 Instagram post.

She recalled being in the studio when someone in charge of playlisting on an unnamed platform came in and said he was a fan of her music. The person brought with him a popular rapper — and introduced Chinouriri to the rapper as “the next R&B soul princess.”

“That was the same night I made the post and it went really viral. It was quite mental. It really opened a lot of doors for me, so I’m quite happy that I said something,” she said, noting that as soon as she spoke out, her music was taken off R&B playlists and put where it belonged. “With that, I hit 1 million monthly listeners simply because my music was put in the right playlist.”

She continued, “If you’re looking for R&B music and then you hear ‘So My Darling,’ you’re going to skip it. It just wasn’t reaching anyone. And with that small change, I reached so many people. Having to go through the awkward conversations of, ‘You’re mis-genreing me because I’m Black’... That’s a really awkward conversation to have with someone who is trying to help you. ‘Cause some people’s reactions are, are you calling me racist? It’s such a touchy subject to try and go around. But it just makes me feel happy that I managed to get my chance to be seen.”

Chinouriri released her debut album What a Devastating Turn of Events last May, and the first single off her new EP, “Can We Talk About Isaac?,” is out now.