Gay rap, the unthkable be realy | Hip-hop | The Guardian

Contents:

• 30 BT GAY RAPPERS (LGBTQ+ HIP-HOP ARTISTS)
• 21 BT GAY RAPPERS WHO EMBODY THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNY
• HERE ARE HIP-HOP ARTISTS WHO EMBRACE BEG GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL
• RAPPERS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY
• GAY RAP, THE UNTHKABLE BE REALY

30 BT GAY RAPPERS (LGBTQ+ HIP-HOP ARTISTS)

While other genr, gay sgers like Elton John and Sam Smh have been phed by labels, rappers that are gay are vastly outnumbered by their straight unterparts. In a 2005 terview wh SPIN, 50 Cent stated that homosexualy is taboo hip-hop: “In hip-hop, there’s (sic) certa standards of thgs you n’t do.

There’s always been nflict at the center of hip-hop, bee ’s all about which guy has the petive edge, and you n’t be that aggrsive if you’re gay.

Wh this mdset, ’s no wonr that homophobic language hip-hop has been treated by so many rappers as an easy way to prove their masculy. Emem, who famoly the slur “f*****t” multiple songs, claimed a Rollg Stone terview that he never equated the term wh homosexualy, but “[i]t was more like llg someone a b**** or a punk or a******. Pop star Lil Nas X me out as gay durg Pri Month 2019 while his song “Old Town Road” was number one on the Billboard Hot 100, tellg his fans “efore this month ends, I want y’all to listen closely to c7osure” wh a rabow emoji.

21 BT GAY RAPPERS WHO EMBODY THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNY

” Sce then, the artist has released an album lled Hedonism, as well as several extend plays and mixtap characterized by quickfire rap, aggrsn, and unabashed gay eroticism. The artist’s name ntas a nod to gay slang, as he noted, “[i]n the gay muny, your backsi is lled your k, and I have a lot of that… [w]hen I thk about ke, I thk sweet, mpy and edible, which is one si of me. The artist has spoken out agast allegedly homophobic treatment after beg arrted Portugal and posted solidary wh Rsia’s LGBTQ muny after news of a police raid on a Mosw venue where Blan was schled to perform.

Though he never explicly intified wh a gay or bisexual label, sger and rapper Frank Ocean ma breakg news after he posted a letter on Tumblr 2012 talkg about his “first love” wh another boy that the rapper met early his life. There has been a well-known stigma towards homosexualy hip-hop which has led to some artists’ reers beg tarnished by mors that they had associatns wh people of the same sex. While his h song “Old Town Road” was at the top of the Billboard Top 100 Chart for a rerd-breakg 19 weeks, Lil Nas X ma the brave cisn to e out as a gay rapper.

In one of his tracks, he touch upon this subject wh the lyrics, “Won’t let me through ‘e I’m back like Santan, Won’t let me through ‘e I’m gay like Schofield.

HERE ARE HIP-HOP ARTISTS WHO EMBRACE BEG GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL

As a gay Lat female rerdg artist, Snow Tha Product acknowledg that her journey hasn’t been smooth, but she emphasiz that honty is ccial. This tweet, which was both ndid and wty, required a lot of urage to liver, particularly 2017 when beg a gay rapper was still a ntroversial topic the mic dtry.

He distguish himself his mic by beg ndid about his sexualy and sex life, which is not unmon for heterosexual hip-hop artists but is not typil for gay artists.

RAPPERS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY

Da Brat ced the pervasive homophobia of the ’90s for her cisn not to e out earlier and said that people like Ellen faced signifint backlash for beg openly gay. However, he ultimately accepted that his happs and the value of the reprentatn as a Black gay rapper eclipsed a need for acceptance wh the hip-hop muny.

She also discsed the prevalence of vlence agast butch-prentg gay women, highlightg the murr of several lbians a regn of Chile that has bee notor for s homophobic hate crim. “Beg ‘butch’ means wearg your sexualy on your sleeve, which, an age still explibly marred by homophobia, n have grave nsequenc all over the world, ” she stated. The rapper also llaborated wh openly gay hip-hop artist iLoveMakonnen, provg that diversy and acceptance were at the foreont of his creative visn.

Although there’s a long way to go before the discrimatn agast LGBTQ+ artists be a thg of the past, the rise of gay artists is a sign that the hip-hop dtry has started to break away om the notns. He approach the same topic on this track: “Won’t let me through ‘e I’m back like Santan, Won’t let me through ‘e I’m gay like Schofield. She mentned, “As a gay female rapper, I have the opportuny to show my lleagu that beg attracted to the female body don’t mean I have to fetishize .

GAY RAP, THE UNTHKABLE BE REALY

Lil Nas X me out as a gay rapper while his h song Old Town Road held the number 1 spot the Billboard Top 100 Chart for 19 weeks—the longt nng sce 1958. There are several out and proud gay rappers who are absolutely killg wh diverse, sometim hilar, sometim poignant lyrics that you should fely be vibg along to. ”“It’s hard to be out genr where beg gay, or exprsg your sexualy, is owned upon, ” add platum rapper and sger iLoveMakonnen, born Makonnen Sheran, who rose to fame as a protégé of Drake and me out as gay 2017.

”Before the viral sensatn of “Old Town Road” turned Hill to a pop star and gay in, hip-hop was already reachg a turng pot s clivy, as more young black men explorg sexualy and terrogatg masculy their work are gettg mastream attentn.

Rap culture has always been powered by unbridled machismo, and one would be hard prsed to not fd a gay slur embedd the lyrics of any of the genre’s most famo archects. Slang such as “s” and “No homo” and “Pse” that e queerns as a punchle have been thrown around sually for as the old guard has been replaced wh a younger generatn unncerned wh rigid labels and unbothered by genre, today’s rap and R&B scene isn’t as exclively heteronormative as once was.

“We know folks our muny have always been religly nservative, and beg gay is still seen as taboo, ” said Ebro Darn, the global edorial head of hip-hop and R&B for Apple Mic and host of “Ebro the Morng” on New York’s Hot 97 rad statn. ”Over the past uple of years, Ocean’s former Odd Future llaborator, Tyler, the Creator, has transned om a bratty provotr who hurled gay slurs wh reckls abandon to a thoughtful nfsnalist, one who surprisgly and rather matter-of-factly raps about his own attractn to men.