T-Pa: rappers will not work wh Frank Ocean bee he is gay | Frank Ocean | The Guardian

Contents:

• IS T-PA GAY?
• T-PA: RAPPERS WILL NOT WORK WH FRANK OCEAN BEE HE IS GAY
• T-PA SAYS RAPPERS BLACKLISTED SGER FRANK OCEAN FOR BEG GAY

IS T-PA GAY?

What T-Pa Gets Right—and Wrong—About Homophobia Hip-Hop.

Rapper, rerd producer, Auto-Tunist extraordaire, and gay rights advote—n that last tle really go wh the others? Over the urse of six mut, T-Pa—expletive-rich and double Solo cup sual—speaks about the issue of homophobia hip-hop wh bracg honty, rervg particularly strong cricism for men wh the muny who exprs gay paranoia (the fear that all gay men your vicy are somehow magilly attracted to you). And if that weren’t enough, he’s also charmgly protective of his gay assistant.

Gawker’s Rich Juzwiak, for example, appld T-Pa for “beg on the right si of history” and for seeg “homophobia for the absurdy that is. For while this terview is clearly an enuragg ntributn to the evolvg nversatn surroundg homophobia hip-hop, also perpetuat certa pernic trop that unrgird that homophobia the first place. To start wh, at one pot the terview T-Pa talks about the notn of givg “pass” to his iends for sayg somethg that n be taken as “slightly gay.

T-PA: RAPPERS WILL NOT WORK WH FRANK OCEAN BEE HE IS GAY

But T-Pa would have to be OK wh a iend g all of his pass and perhaps actually beg gay—his sayg homophobia is unacceptable should be evince enough, right? If you want a parable example of gay disfort chned progrsive language, look no further than A$AP Rocky’s teractn wh gay NBA player Jason Colls at last year’s MTV Vio Mic Awards.

T-PA SAYS RAPPERS BLACKLISTED SGER FRANK OCEAN FOR BEG GAY

Disfort asi, the most troublg aspect of the T-Pa terview is his weird oversimplifitn of the gay experience. In a rhetoril move meang to both women and gay men, T-Pa posns the two groups as “gettable” objects by sayg that a straight man the club fely n’t get a gay man if he don’t get women first. Addnally, he stok the irratnal fear that gay men are predators by sayg “The gay niggas will get on you.

” It’s evable that gay men will prey upon you and proceed to engage gay terurse wh you. “Even if [gay men] did like you [they’re] gog to be bottoms, so you’re the one fuckg [them]. Serly, though, T-Pa’s gross oversimplifitn of what means to be gay works agast acceptance by ntug to image gay men as alien creatur ready to abduct you at any moment if they so choose.

All that said, I don’t want to seem like I’m jt hatg on a rapper who was bold enough to say somethg supportive of gay people, however awkwardly. As a hip-hop fan and gay rights activist, I have a few thoughts about how we n e this moment to ntue the stggle for te gay acceptance. First, g sweepg generalizatns about the gay experience has got to stop; that kd of thg is not nducive to unrstandg what ’s like to be gay an unacceptg space.

Also, masculy and homophobia are a dangero pairg.

Usg hyper-mascule and sexist language to promote gay acceptance only further margaliz gay men of varyg genr exprsn, not to mentn women. Alli speakg on gay people’s behalf is a fe thg, but (like the Macklemore “Same Love” bate) a better mol of activism might volve vg them to the platform on ocsn—don’t worry, they’re not “gon get you” while they’re speakg for themselv. Sger, rapper and producer T-Pa had a few words for homophob on Twter this week.

The "Chopped 'n' Skrewed" artist sound off as follows: Attentn all homophobic idts: if you’re not attractive to straight women, you’re probably not attractive to gay men. Ur still fugly— T-Pa (@TPAIN) April 16, 2013Earlier this month Snoop Ln (the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg) said he don't thk homosexualy will ever be fully acceptable rap mic. Perhaps a heterosexual male hip-hop artist havg a gay assistant may be a start.

In Febary, hip-hop in, philanthropist and all-around mogul Rsell Simmons said that rappers are ls homophobic than before. Wh T-Pa's agency and A$AP Rocky's recent supportive statements, maybe rappers are gradually g You GoHip Hop And HomosexualyPopular the CommunyYou May Like. T-Pa has never ma any public statement about this, so all mors about if T-Pa is gay rema pletely unfound and unproven.

Yet, as often happens wh artists of this field, the mors that T-Pa is gay are persistent, which is surely annoyg. More and more celebri adm every year that they are gay, but this is not the se wh T-Pa sce this celebry never said so. Although T-Pa has never admted to beg gay, the media always nsirs the likelihood of one day reportg on the other.