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

Contents:

• 30 BT GAY RAPPERS (LGBTQ+ HIP-HOP ARTISTS)
• RAPPERS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY
• HERE ARE HIP-HOP ARTISTS WHO EMBRACE BEG GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL
• CHIGO RAPPER KG LIL JAY ADDRS ‘GAY’ ALLEGATNS AFTER PRISON VIO SURFAC
• SHOP SKILLETS, UTENSILS AND MORE OKWARE!OPEN MENUVIOSHOPCULTUREFAYWELLNSFOODLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERPRIVACY POLICYYOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTSCHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICYINTERT-BASED ADSTERMS OF USEDO NOT SELL MY INFOCONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCHCULTURELIL NAS X REFLECTS ON 'HYPER-MASCULY' HIP-HOP: 'CHANGE IS HAPPENG'7:15UNPACKG HIP-HOP'S PAST, FUTURE, AND PRENT LGBTQ BYDEENA ZAVIO BYELISA TANGNOVEMBER 16, 2021, 2:30 PMLIL NAS X REFLECTED ON HOW BEG AN OPENLY GAY RAPPER HAS IMPACTED THE LANDSPE THE HIP-HOP DTRY A VER TERVIEW WH GQ PUBLISHED MONDAY.ASKED ABOUT HIS ROLE BREAKG DOWN "HYPER-MASCULY" HIP-HOP, THE GRAMMY-WNG ARTIST ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HIS PRENCE AND SUCCS THE DTRY HAS HELPED BREAK DOWN THOSE BARRIERS."THE WHOLE LANDSPE IS VERY HYPER-MASCULE," THE "INDTRY BABY" RAPPER SAID, THOUGH HE ADD THAT "CHANGE IS HAPPENG.""THERE’S GOG TO BE SO MANY GAY RAPPERS. THERE’S GOG TO BE MORE TRANS PEOPLE THE DTRY AND WHATNOT," HE SAID. "TEN YEARS OM NOW, EVERYTHG THAT I’M DOG WON’T EVEN SEEM LIKE WAS SHOCKG."CAK DA KILLA: HOW THE RAPPER SAYS HE FOUND HIS VOICE AMID HOMOPHOBIA HIP-HOPRAPPER LIL NAS X ATTENDS THE 10TH ANNUAL LACMA ART+FILM GALA PRENTED BY GUCCI AT LOS ANGEL COUNTY MM OF ART, ON NOV. 6, 2021, LOS ANGEL.AXELLE/BER-GRIFF/FILMMAGICTHE HIP-HOP STAR, WHO RELEASED HIS BUT ALBUM "MONTERO" SEPTEMBER, ALSO CREDED THE RISE OF A NEW GENERATN OF FEMALE HIP-HOP STARS FOR BREAKG DOWN THOSE BARRIERS."IT’S SO GREAT AND SO AMAZG THAT ALL THE FEMALE RAPPERS ARE BREAKG THROUGH. AND, A WAY, FEMALE RAPPERS ARE THE BIGGT RAPPERS RIGHT NOW," HE SAID'ALL HAIL THE QUEENS': A LOOK BACK AT THE LEGACY OF WOMEN HIP-HOPCOLLABORATNS BETWEEN FEMALE ARTISTS THIS YEAR HAVE TOPPED THE CHARTS, CLUDG CARDI B’S "WAP," FEATURG MEGAN THEE STALLN, "KISS ME MORE" BY DOJA CAT AND SZA, AND LIZZO’S "RUMORS," FEATURG CARDI B.LIL NAS X ME OUT AS GAY 2019, AND HE WAS ALREADY AN TERNATNAL SENSATN AT THE TIME THANKS TO HIS VIRAL FIRST SGLE, "OLD TOWN ROAD" FEATURG BILLY RAY CYS -- A SONG THAT BLEND UNTRY WH HIP-HOP.THE GRAMMY-WNG RAPPER REFLECTED ON SOME OF THE BACKLASH HE EXPERIENCED OM PEOPLE WH BOTH GENR AN TERVIEW WH THE BBC AT THE TIME, SAYG THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS "NOT REALLY ACCEPTED" EHER GENRE.LIL NAS X BOUGHT 'OLD TOWN ROAD' BEAT FOR $30: THE STORY AND THE MOVEMENT BEHD THE RERD-BREAKG H'S MAKGOVER THE SUMMER, HOMOPHOBIA HIP-HOP AGA BEME A NATNAL TOPIC OF DISCSN WHEN RAPPER DABABY MA ANTI-LGBTQ MENTS, WHICH CLUD MISRMATN ABOUT HIV, THAT WERE WILY CRICIZED AS HOMOPHOBIC BY CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS AND VAR ARTISTS.RAPPER LIL NAS X ATTENDS THE 2021 MET GALA CELEBRATG IN AMERI: A LEXIN OF FASHN AT THE METROPOLAN MM OF ART ON SEPT. 13, 2021, NEW YORK CY.GILBERT CARRASQUILLO/GC IMAG VIA GETTY IMAG, FILELIL NAS X REFLECTED ON THE CINT, TELLG GQ THAT THE NEW GENERATN OF RAPPERS ARE "GOG TO HAVE TO RHAPE THEIR THOUGHTS," AND ADD THAT HE HOP DABABY "GROWS" OM THIS EXPERIENCE.AFTER NEARLY A MONTH OF MOUNTG CRICISM, DABABY APOLOGIZED AUGT DURG A MEETG WH GLAAD AND BLACK HIV ADVOT OM VAR ANIZATNS.LIL NAS X EXPLAS WHY HE FELT WAS HIS 'DUTY' TO E OUT DURG HEIGHT OF HIS 'OLD TOWN ROAD' FAMEA PREV HEADLE FOR THIS STORY MISSPELLED LIL NAS X’S NAME. IT HAS BEEN RRECTED.UP NEXT CULTURE—REVIEW: 'AHSOKA' IS A PROVOTIVE PORTRA OF SISTERHOOD TAKG ON A FADG PATRIARCHYAUGT 25, 2023ADAM SANDLER AND HIS FAY LIVER 'YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAH': REVIEWAUGT 25, 2023TIM MCGRAW ATTENDS ACM HONORS WH WIFE FAH HILL, DGHTERS AUDREY, MAGGIE: SEE THE PHOTOSAUGT 24, 2023LADY GAGA SHAR PHOTOS OM REHEARSAL AHEAD OF LAS VEGAS RINCYAUGT 24, 2023UP NEXT CULTURE—REVIEW: 'AHSOKA' IS A PROVOTIVE PORTRA OF SISTERHOOD TAKG ON A FADG PATRIARCHYAUGT 25, 2023ADAM SANDLER AND HIS FAY LIVER 'YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAH': REVIEWAUGT 25, 2023TIM MCGRAW ATTENDS ACM HONORS WH WIFE FAH HILL, DGHTERS AUDREY, MAGGIE: SEE THE PHOTOSAUGT 24, 2023LADY GAGA SHAR PHOTOS OM REHEARSAL AHEAD OF LAS VEGAS RINCYAUGT 24, 2023
• GAYHIPHOP
• GAY RAP, THE UNTHKABLE BE REALY

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

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. ” 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.

RAPPERS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY

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.

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.

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

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.

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. 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.

CHIGO RAPPER KG LIL JAY ADDRS ‘GAY’ ALLEGATNS AFTER PRISON VIO SURFAC

”“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.

SHOP SKILLETS, UTENSILS AND MORE OKWARE!OPEN MENUVIOSHOPCULTUREFAYWELLNSFOODLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERPRIVACY POLICYYOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTSCHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICYINTERT-BASED ADSTERMS OF USEDO NOT SELL MY INFOCONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCHCULTURELIL NAS X REFLECTS ON 'HYPER-MASCULY' HIP-HOP: 'CHANGE IS HAPPENG'7:15UNPACKG HIP-HOP'S PAST, FUTURE, AND PRENT LGBTQ BYDEENA ZAVIO BYELISA TANGNOVEMBER 16, 2021, 2:30 PMLIL NAS X REFLECTED ON HOW BEG AN OPENLY GAY RAPPER HAS IMPACTED THE LANDSPE THE HIP-HOP DTRY A VER TERVIEW WH GQ PUBLISHED MONDAY.ASKED ABOUT HIS ROLE BREAKG DOWN "HYPER-MASCULY" HIP-HOP, THE GRAMMY-WNG ARTIST ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HIS PRENCE AND SUCCS THE DTRY HAS HELPED BREAK DOWN THOSE BARRIERS."THE WHOLE LANDSPE IS VERY HYPER-MASCULE," THE "INDTRY BABY" RAPPER SAID, THOUGH HE ADD THAT "CHANGE IS HAPPENG.""THERE’S GOG TO BE SO MANY GAY RAPPERS. THERE’S GOG TO BE MORE TRANS PEOPLE THE DTRY AND WHATNOT," HE SAID. "TEN YEARS OM NOW, EVERYTHG THAT I’M DOG WON’T EVEN SEEM LIKE WAS SHOCKG."CAK DA KILLA: HOW THE RAPPER SAYS HE FOUND HIS VOICE AMID HOMOPHOBIA HIP-HOPRAPPER LIL NAS X ATTENDS THE 10TH ANNUAL LACMA ART+FILM GALA PRENTED BY GUCCI AT LOS ANGEL COUNTY MM OF ART, ON NOV. 6, 2021, LOS ANGEL.AXELLE/BER-GRIFF/FILMMAGICTHE HIP-HOP STAR, WHO RELEASED HIS BUT ALBUM "MONTERO" SEPTEMBER, ALSO CREDED THE RISE OF A NEW GENERATN OF FEMALE HIP-HOP STARS FOR BREAKG DOWN THOSE BARRIERS."IT’S SO GREAT AND SO AMAZG THAT ALL THE FEMALE RAPPERS ARE BREAKG THROUGH. AND, A WAY, FEMALE RAPPERS ARE THE BIGGT RAPPERS RIGHT NOW," HE SAID'ALL HAIL THE QUEENS': A LOOK BACK AT THE LEGACY OF WOMEN HIP-HOPCOLLABORATNS BETWEEN FEMALE ARTISTS THIS YEAR HAVE TOPPED THE CHARTS, CLUDG CARDI B’S "WAP," FEATURG MEGAN THEE STALLN, "KISS ME MORE" BY DOJA CAT AND SZA, AND LIZZO’S "RUMORS," FEATURG CARDI B.LIL NAS X ME OUT AS GAY 2019, AND HE WAS ALREADY AN TERNATNAL SENSATN AT THE TIME THANKS TO HIS VIRAL FIRST SGLE, "OLD TOWN ROAD" FEATURG BILLY RAY CYS -- A SONG THAT BLEND UNTRY WH HIP-HOP.THE GRAMMY-WNG RAPPER REFLECTED ON SOME OF THE BACKLASH HE EXPERIENCED OM PEOPLE WH BOTH GENR AN TERVIEW WH THE BBC AT THE TIME, SAYG THAT HOMOSEXUALY IS "NOT REALLY ACCEPTED" EHER GENRE.LIL NAS X BOUGHT 'OLD TOWN ROAD' BEAT FOR $30: THE STORY AND THE MOVEMENT BEHD THE RERD-BREAKG H'S MAKGOVER THE SUMMER, HOMOPHOBIA HIP-HOP AGA BEME A NATNAL TOPIC OF DISCSN WHEN RAPPER DABABY MA ANTI-LGBTQ MENTS, WHICH CLUD MISRMATN ABOUT HIV, THAT WERE WILY CRICIZED AS HOMOPHOBIC BY CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS AND VAR ARTISTS.RAPPER LIL NAS X ATTENDS THE 2021 MET GALA CELEBRATG IN AMERI: A LEXIN OF FASHN AT THE METROPOLAN MM OF ART ON SEPT. 13, 2021, NEW YORK CY.GILBERT CARRASQUILLO/GC IMAG VIA GETTY IMAG, FILELIL NAS X REFLECTED ON THE CINT, TELLG GQ THAT THE NEW GENERATN OF RAPPERS ARE "GOG TO HAVE TO RHAPE THEIR THOUGHTS," AND ADD THAT HE HOP DABABY "GROWS" OM THIS EXPERIENCE.AFTER NEARLY A MONTH OF MOUNTG CRICISM, DABABY APOLOGIZED AUGT DURG A MEETG WH GLAAD AND BLACK HIV ADVOT OM VAR ANIZATNS.LIL NAS X EXPLAS WHY HE FELT WAS HIS 'DUTY' TO E OUT DURG HEIGHT OF HIS 'OLD TOWN ROAD' FAMEA PREV HEADLE FOR THIS STORY MISSPELLED LIL NAS X’S NAME. IT HAS BEEN RRECTED.UP NEXT CULTURE—REVIEW: 'AHSOKA' IS A PROVOTIVE PORTRA OF SISTERHOOD TAKG ON A FADG PATRIARCHYAUGT 25, 2023ADAM SANDLER AND HIS FAY LIVER 'YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAH': REVIEWAUGT 25, 2023TIM MCGRAW ATTENDS ACM HONORS WH WIFE FAH HILL, DGHTERS AUDREY, MAGGIE: SEE THE PHOTOSAUGT 24, 2023LADY GAGA SHAR PHOTOS OM REHEARSAL AHEAD OF LAS VEGAS RINCYAUGT 24, 2023UP NEXT CULTURE—REVIEW: 'AHSOKA' IS A PROVOTIVE PORTRA OF SISTERHOOD TAKG ON A FADG PATRIARCHYAUGT 25, 2023ADAM SANDLER AND HIS FAY LIVER 'YOU ARE SO NOT INVED TO MY BAT MZVAH': REVIEWAUGT 25, 2023TIM MCGRAW ATTENDS ACM HONORS WH WIFE FAH HILL, DGHTERS AUDREY, MAGGIE: SEE THE PHOTOSAUGT 24, 2023LADY GAGA SHAR PHOTOS OM REHEARSAL AHEAD OF LAS VEGAS RINCYAUGT 24, 2023

”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.

GAYHIPHOP

“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. A diverse array of talents such as Brockhampton ontman Kev Abstract, Steve Lacy (also formerly affiliated wh Odd Future) and Skype Williams have all prented works this year that are eely crafted through a black queer his “Arizona Baby” album, -produced by Jack Antonoff (Taylor Swift), Abstract reflects on growg up gay and Corp Christi at the turn of the lennium.

1 song Ameri and jt eclipsed a chart rerd that Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men set 23 years ago wh “One Sweet Day, ” a song spired by the AIDS crisis and the tragic peril brought to so many black gay men this untry. Walter Thompson Innovatn Group back 2016 found that only 48% of 13-20 year-olds intified as exclively heterosexual, pared to 65% of the generatn before is an dience that shgs when Tyler, the Creator do an about-face the way he did on 2017’s stellar “Flower Boy” where he sually rapped about beg attracted to men after years of g gay slurs — a topic he still ref to addrs outsi of the mic (he cled to be terviewed for this piece). “Tth is, sce a youth kid, thought was a phase / thought ’d be like the phrase; ‘poof, ’ gone / But, ’s still go’ on, ” he that’s not to say the rt of the mic dtry is that much further mic had lacked an openly gay superstar before Adam Lambert and Sam Smh ma history wh their chart buts and Grammy victori, rpectively.

GAY RAP, THE UNTHKABLE BE REALY

And spe their stat as legendary rock hmakers and gay ins, there was much hand-wrgg over how bpics for Queen and Elton John would handle the queerns of s evolutn hip-hop is signifint, albe more gradual and ls pronounced than the larger shift pop culture over reprentatns of black male was Fox’s hip-hop drama “Empire, ” which ma a powerful statement by makg one of s leads a gay black R&B sger (for a time, the rerds released by the character — played by Jsie Smollett — were the only mic by an out gay black man gettg mastream rad play.

)“Moonlight, ” a g of age tale about a gay black boy, won bt picture at the Amy Awards 2017 and for the first time queer people of lor outnumbered their whe unterparts on TV, acrdg to GLAAD’s annual TV diversy report. Seri such as “Queen Sugar, ” “Dear Whe People” and “This Is Us” feature storyl abound nuanced black LGBTQ characters; meanwhile, Ryan Murphy’s “Pose, ” which has exposed the world to a part of black queer culture that has spired pop divas for s, is up for two Emmys, cludg one for Billy Porter, the first openly gay black man to receive a lead actor nod. ” And Emem has yet to retire his age of “faggot” the 18 years sce he famoly performed wh Elton John at the Grammys as a PR-orchtrated act of good will agast his vicly homophobic lyrics.

A wave of black queer rap artists, cludg Le1f, Zebra Katz, Cak Da Killa, Mykki Blan and Hoe of LaDosha, broke out of New York at the start of the wh mic and visuals that upend the very same genr nstcts that have been weaponized agast gay men for the last century by pairg hyper-feme athetics — high fashn looks, weave, manicured fgertips — wh braggadocs’ rhym. ”Jt a few weeks ago, New Orleans rapper Young KSB went viral wh a glorly rnchy o to anilg that’s as sexually explic as anythg domatg Spotify playlists — but ’s impossible to image that viralns transng to the as Hill was celebrated for breakg rap’s gay glass ceilg, the jok about his sex life also ma to the news verage. When asked about Hill’s g out, Young Thug — a rapper who jumped on an “Old Town Road” remix and has toyed wh genr norms by drsg uture gowns — said that Hill “probably shouldn’t have told the world” he was gay.

He don't shy away om beg open his mic about his sexualy and sex life, which isn't unmon for straight artists to do hip hop mic, but not necsarily for a gay artist.

Chart-toppg rapper Lil Nas X, who tapulted to stardom wh his viral h 'Old Town Road', publicly me out as gay June the last day of Pri Month, he tweeted, "some of y'all already know, some of y'all don't re, some of y'all not gone fwm no more.

"i felt gay always sisted there was still a le drawn as to which ‘label’ of human i was attracted when i really j be walkg around thkg ERRYBODY FINE, " she wrote a sce-leted a 2020 terview wh Diva Magaze, she said, "I’m fely on the non-bary sle.

We saw Snoop Dogg's famo 2013 terview wh The Guardian, when the "G and Juice" rapper claimed, "[Homosexualy is] acceptable the sgg world, but the rap world I don't know if will ever be acceptable bee rap is so mascule. Odd Future has long been cricized for s homophobic lyrics, so much so that the band was booted om Atralia's massive Big Day Out ftival 2011, acrdg to Billboard.

Nohels, the Odd Future DJ wasn't exactly accepted to the gay muny, particularly nsirg Odd Future's ntroversial history (Tyler the Creator the word "f****t" 200 tim on "Gobl" alone). He admted to "BBC Breakfast" that he didn't feel like homosexualy was "accepted eher the untry [or] hip-hop muny, " but he hoped fans would "feel fortable" wh .

NBC News noted his mic serv as a much-need opposn to a hip-hop culture where homophobic lyrics have tradnally been the norm (50 cent, famed for g the "f" word his songs, has sce apologized for past homophobia, as has Emem).