Lil Nas X mak history as first openly gay artist to w at CMAs - Los Angel Tim

the first gay rapper

Lil Nas X spurred dozens of thk piec, broke Billboard chart rerds, me out as gay and earned six Grammy nomatns. What did you do this year?

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LIL NAS X MAK GRAMMY HISTORY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY RAPPER NOMATED TOP TEGORI

* the first gay rapper *

” However, the album wasn’t regnized the rap genre, nor was “Old Town Road” nomated untry (Hill’s sgl also sred nomatns the rap sung and pop duo/group tegori) the time most of heard “Old Town Road, ” teenagers on the vio-sharg app TikTok had already been obssg over the tune, which fed together lo-fi trap and banjos lifted om a Ne Inch Nails sample, for as the rerd went om viral meme to cultural phenomenon — eclipsg a chart rerd that Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men set over two s ago — Hill was often dismissed as a novelty act: too rap to be untry, too untry to be nsired real Billboard ially cid to bump the rerd om the untry charts this sprg due to “not embracg enough elements of today’s untry mic s current versn, ” “Old Town Road” beme a lightng rod an ongog nversatn about untry mic’s relatnship wh black the unlikely foc of a raft of thk piec dissectg race, genre and thenticy, Hill’s cisn to e out as gay while “Old Town Road” ro the top of the charts was all the more powerful. Although he’s not the first queer artist to pete the major tegori at the Grammys (Sam Smh was the first openly gay artist to w rerd of the year 2015), Hill is the first gay rapper to be nomated.

(Matt Wkelmeyer / Getty Imag) Lil Nas X ma history Wednday night at the 53rd CMA Awards when he beme the first openly gay black mician to take home a w om the Country Mic h “Old Town Road, ” a llaboratn wh veteran untry sger Billy Ray Cys, was named the mil event of the year. Country sgers Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, both of whom are whe and openly gay, shared the 2014 song of the year CMA Award wh Kacey Mgrav for “Follow Your Arrow. 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.

LIL NAS X MAK HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK ARTIST TO W AT CMA AWARDS

Lil Nas X beme the first openly gay black mician to w at the Country Mic Assn. Awards for his h "Old Town Road." * the first gay rapper *

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). Sheran has sce parted ways wh Drake, who helped him nab a Grammy nomatn, but he ma an even bigger impact on his own when he me out as gay on Twter 2017.

By 2015, the rapper felt like people still didn't get the ht and took to Twter to air her grievanc followg an onslght of accatns claimg she was homophobic. The star knew she was gay sce her first year of school, but nied to her mother until she me out — to the support of her fay — when she was 18 years old. "There's a lot of rappers out there, a lot of gay girls exprsg themselv; I'm not the first to say , I'm not the first to rap about , " she told The Guardian.

RAPPERS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY

Are you wonrg if there are famo gay rappers? If so, we have created a list of the top 30 bt gay rappers around the world. Check this out! * the first gay rapper *

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). " She also prevly told The New York Tim that she don't re whether people thk she's gay, but was important for her to mata a modicum of mystery around her personal life.

In 2012, he revealed he is gay and once claimed to be the first rapper to e out as such, though this is disputable (Frank Ocean's g out, for stance, cid wh Y-Love's).

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

LGBTQ reprentatn the hip-hop scene has flourished the last few years. Read on to learn more about some of the biggt gay and lbian rappers the mic dtry. * the first gay rapper *

" He highlighted the signifince of livg his tth, revealg he spent years worryg about the potential effects g out might have on his public reputatn, before ultimately ncedg that his personal happs — and the value of 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 a number of 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. "I never knew where I stood [ the gay scene] until I looked around and realized that not only did a certa group of people fd me attractive, but the feelg was mutual, and that was the bear muny, " he revealed.

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.

21 BT GAY RAPPERS WHO EMBODY THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNY

Deadlee and Baby Boi Slim make unapologetic mic about beg gay and Lato. * the first 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. 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.

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.

WHAT MAK A ‘GAY IN’?

Wonrg if there are LGBTQ+ members the rap dtry? Check out the 21 bt gay rappers who embody this muny. * the first gay rapper *

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.

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.

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

From Tyler, the Creator to Lil Nas X, hip-hop has never had so many stars who intify as gay or bisexual. Is this a blip or a turng pot? * the first gay rapper *

” 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 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. Performg openly and proudly gay mic as a male pop star is a rary  the dtry, and Lil Nas X is leadg  through a reckong wh open displays of queer sexualy, kickg up ntroversy not unlike what female pop stars — om Brney Spears to Nicki Maj — have faced the past for their the same time, some LGBT micians argue that solely focg on Lil Nas X as makg hip hop more clive is both unfair to him and ignor the work that a lany of other queer artists have done the genre for years — the face of ser performs on stage durg the Rollg Loud mic ftival on July 25 Miami Garns, Fla.

WATCH VIRAL FOOTAGE OF KG VON ADMTG TO BEG GAY TO THE POLICE

Lil Nas X, a Black, openly gay man the rap dtry, releas his but album 'Montero,' which uld be the year's biggt more ways than one. * the first gay rapper *

The rapper ma a seri of homophobic ments at the ftival, igng a firtorm of cricism — and qutns around the double-standard queer hip-hop artists face when exprsg their sexualy. Jt two days after Lil Nas X released the mic vio for his provotive and fiantly open track Indtry Baby, fellow rapper DaBaby ma homophobic ments on stage at a Miami mic ftival, igng a firtorm of cricism. That argument, Kornhaber explaed, monstrat the double standard that queer artists have to grapple wh — pecially gay male artists hip Awards celebrate DMX, Cardi B, Lil Nas X and moreRappers have often sexualized themselv their lyrics and vios, cludg DaBaby, who appeared fully nu and performg a sex act his vio Givg What It's Supposed to Give, which released jt days after his ments.

' (Jorian Charlton)Though Lil Nas X is the first openly gay rapper wh superstar-level appeal and fluence, he's far om the first gay hip-hop mician — or even the first openly gay one, explaed Myst Milano, a queer Toronto-based rapper, DJ and producer who they/them pronouns.

RAPPER BLUEFACE ACC HIS 6-YEAR-OLD SON OF BEG GAY BEE HE IGNORED WOMEN DANCG BIKIS

Chigo rapper Kidd Kenn has officially ma BET history, appearg as the first out gay male rapper the BET Hip Hop Awards Rap Cypher. The 18-year-old phenom, who recently dropped his solo sgle "Get L," performed live Atlanta alongsi artists DJ Hed, Toosii, Lakeyah and Symba. * the first gay rapper *

More than homophobiaToronto rapper turned mic exec Kiana (Rookz) Eastmond says that's where the qutn of whether hip hop is clive of LGBT artists miss the breadth of the issue. The qutn rc queer artists, managers and producers to a subset of hip hop tryg to get , she said, rather than beg as much an tegral part of hip hop as any other | Lil Nas X, DaBaby kick off discsn about homophobia hip hop: Lil Nas X, DaBaby kick off discsn about homophobia hip hopJt two days after Lil Nas X released a provotive and fiantly hont mic vio for his song Indtry Baby, fellow rapper DaBaby received a firtorm of cricism for his homophobic ments. CBC's Jackson Weaver explas what means for LGBTQ ntent the the same time, homophobia is not unique to hip hop — and neher is queer artists makg a name for themselv other Canada, there's Orville Peck, an openly gay man challengg what voic n be heard untry mic.

ListenAmythyst Kiah's but solo album exam how she fs to the legacy of untry mic as a Black gay woman"It's not jt about homophobia — I don't thk a bunch of hip-hop artists … see gay people and they're like, you know, 'Let's go throw ston at them, '" she said. ”“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.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* THE FIRST GAY RAPPER

Grammys 2020 history: Lil Nas X is first openly gay rapper nomee - Los Angel Tim .

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