Exposg Hip-Hop's Gay Subculture

Contents:

• HERE ARE HIP-HOP ARTISTS WHO EMBRACE BEG GAY, LBIAN OR BISEXUAL
• RAPPERS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY
• 30 BT GAY RAPPERS (LGBTQ+ HIP-HOP ARTISTS)
• EXPOSG HIP-HOP'S GAY SUBCULTURE
• LORD JAMAR SAYS HIP-HOP IS “NOT A GAY MIC”
• FAT JOE SAYS HIP HOP IS RUN BY THE "GAY MAFIA"
• SNOOP DOGG: “HIP-HOP IS READY FOR A GAY RAPPER”
• GAY HIP HOP: IS THE CULTURE READY TO PUBLICLY EMBRACE HOMOSEXUALY?
• ILOVEMAKONNEN ON BREAKG FREE OF ‘INDTRY POLICS,’ BEG GAY HIP-HOP AND WHEN THGS ‘SOURED’ WH DRAKE

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

We saw when hip-hop heavyweight Emem peppered "Rap God" wh anti-gay slurs, spe claimg he had no problem wh homosexualy. 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.

RAPPERS WHO HAVE COME OUT AS GAY

In Ocean's letter, which was origally meant to be clud the "Channel Orange" ler not, the rapper spoke about havg his first gay romance at the age of 19. 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). 1 but on the Billboard 200, and a multi-ln dollar rerd al wh RCA, which ontman Kev Abstract claimed was gog to help them ph their "gay agenda.

"I'd see negative ments and fet [beg gay] was a big al to some people, that some people hadn't heard before, " he told ShortList.

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. However, her work still feels radil rather than regrsive, bee Young MA is one of the few outspokenly gay members of the greater hip-hop muny.

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

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. Mykki Blan told Pl that his father knew he was gay sce he was 3 years old, though he didn't e out publicly till much later.

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 .

EXPOSG HIP-HOP'S GAY SUBCULTURE

However, he urged gay fans to be ut when g out to homophobic parents, notg 's important to have a back-up plan if thgs go awry. 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).

"We need people who are willg to say: 'I'm gay and I don't give a f***, ' and the world will be a better place, " Cak told Attu.

" 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). " 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.

LORD JAMAR SAYS HIP-HOP IS “NOT A GAY MIC”

" 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.

Regardg beg a gay hip-hop artist, he ntrasted himself wh straight rappers, many of whom he emed preoccupied wh rcg women to the sum of their parts.

FAT JOE SAYS HIP HOP IS RUN BY THE "GAY MAFIA"

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. 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.

SNOOP DOGG: “HIP-HOP IS READY FOR A GAY RAPPER”

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. Still, Banks’ outspokenns onle go both ways, as the bisexual artist has also ed her platform to ll out transphobia and homophobia. ” 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.

GAY HIP HOP: IS THE CULTURE READY TO PUBLICLY EMBRACE HOMOSEXUALY?

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.

Mista Strange, a drill rapper om Bra, has shared his experience of beg a publicly gay rapper and how often leads to unrtimatn.

ILOVEMAKONNEN ON BREAKG FREE OF ‘INDTRY POLICS,’ BEG GAY HIP-HOP AND WHEN THGS ‘SOURED’ WH DRAKE

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. 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. However, tim have changed, and the artists would face backlash if they exprsed homophobic sentiments today, unlike 1996. 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.