Is Hip Hop anti-Gay?
Is Hip Hop anti-Gay?
by: Safwaan Islam
Hip Hop and especially rap has been made to be all about the male fantasy. Having money power and women etc. Rap is also known to be about masculinity and anti-gay. This can be seen in earlier rap of the 2000s and before with the usage of statements like "No Homo". This a Statement used to explicitly state not being Gay used by rappers like Cam, Lil Wayne and so many others. However, i believe that is no longer the case and rap over time has became accepting of homo and bi-sexual artists.
It may seem that being gay in the hip hop industry would not be successful but it has shown to have made no difference. There are many rappers in the the Hip Hop Industry today that have come out at gay e.g ILOVEMAKONNEN, Frank Ocean and maybe even Tyler the Creator.
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| Tyler the Creator (Left), Frank Ocean (Right) |
The rappers i have listed above have either came out gay or teetered with the idea of it. They also have not seemed to have received any set backs in there career from it.
The orientation of these rappers do not affect the careers of this artist in anyway or form, in fact it makes them more unique then ever as society is slowly shifting to be more accepting as a whole, people in the LGBTQ community have artist/rappers they can look up to as role models and people of inspiration. In today's society we have strayed afar from what a person is, whether it be gay, bi, trans etc; to now seeing on what the persons views and messages are that they bring to the table. However there is still the stigma of rap over glorifying masculinity and have an overall sense of a place and careers not for gays, but as long as artist have good music and striving careers, they're orientation wont be a issue to they're success.
What are your thoughts, do you think rap is still made to be very masculine and less open or do you think rap is becoming more progressive and inclusive to the LGBTQ community?
I think rapping is still very masculine becuase as an audience of rap some people have become more accepting of the fact that the music that they listen is from a homosexual person but most of the fan base are still not okay with homosexuals which is a fact so for rappers to come out depending on how big they are could affect them differently. The music the rappers who are homosexuals create can be criticized more becuase a homosexual male talking about lets say doing stuff that's masculine could be attacked by people who follow stereotypes like for example gay men wouldn't wear a certain type of clothing becuase it's too masculine for them.
ReplyDeleteI disagree because the fans/audience of rap have changed and has became a lot more accepting. Rapper Young Thug wore a dress for one of his album covers instead of being called gay he was accepted by his fans and is still very successful.
DeleteI think rap has progressed over the passed years and its not that masculine anymore. In the past years there were only male rappers, but now females have joined this genre too. Like for ex: Cardi B, Niki Minaj, Iggy Azalea etc. This goes to show that rapping is not only for males. I agree with you that having homo rappers is an inspiration for the LGBTQ community, and that being homo does not affect their careers. In the end of the day people are just gonna listen to their music.
ReplyDeleteHey Muhammad, you pose a good point of rap progressing over the past few years and how its not that masculine. How can people from the "lgbt" community get involved with such a movement in the rap segment of music? I do not agree that rap has anything to do with gender or attraction (heterosexuality, homosexuality). Mainly because rap changes with what society deems acceptable meaning that as homosexuality becomes more of a standard rater than a norm people from the "lgbt" community will not only be encouraged to participate but be an equal focus.
DeleteI agree with you about how rap used to be mostly about the male fantasy, and guys trying to prove their masculinity and how cool they are. But now rappers are starting to support the LGBTQ. For example Logic, he is a straight rapper, and a lot of his songs used to be about him trying to show his masculine lifestyle. But in one of his latest music videos, he shows 2 gay kids, going through a lot of trouble and getting bullied. But they later on grow up and get married and have a good life. Although some rappers still base there music on male fantasy, some rappers are trying to change this, to support females, and the LGBTQ community, and not only show a masculine lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteHey Safwaan,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, let me pose a question related to your topic of rap being progressive and more inclusive to the "lgbt" community. How many women rappers do you know of? Maybe this segment of music is specifically male dominated and may not change on its own. Don't get me wrong there is a large female presence in Hip-hop but specifically "rap" you do not hear particularly much of women. That may result in change because of the female presence since over 50 years ago in Canada has slightly shifted and is generally being accepted overall, due to the women suffragists. A similar movement can lead the "lgbt" community to deepen their relationship to "rap", hip-hop, and many other genres of music!
Hey Abdul, i definitely agree that women in rap are not being represented as there are a low amount of them compared to men. This doesn't mean they are not supported. Rapper Young M.A is a female rap artist who is also lesbian, she was able to become successful from her hit song. Also, more recently rapper Cardi-B has gained a lot of success over her hit song that people of all genders enjoy. In my opinion i believe that no matter your gender or your orientation if your music is good you will be able to become successful.
DeleteSafwaan I strongly agree with you becuase that's the whole point of people wanting to listen music is for the music who cares if it's by a male or female or homosexual it's all about the music and if your music is good then it will get you more successful.
DeleteHi Safwaan, nice article. I think that hip-hop is still very masculine and not open to the LGBTQ community. We still see rappers talking about girls, money, and clothing wear, all aspects that progress a man's masculinity. Then when it comes to female rappers, like Niki Minaj and Cardi B, they sexualize themselves towards men (ie The song, Anaconda by Nikki Minaj) , making hip-hop more and more for heterosexual, women loving, men. All this masculinity does not allow, gay men to be involved or liked upon, as gay men are looked upon as the anti-Christ to a male dominate culture.
ReplyDeleteI think overall hip hop evolves very slowly but will allow eventually for anyone to be successful no matter what they chose to rap about. As we know rap was once all about masculinity but if you look at rapper jay-Z he released an album called 4:44 it was about his career, his investments, his family and his opinion on racism. Rap has changed where you do not always have to rap about being the most dominant and masculine.
DeleteAlso i would like to touch upon female rappers having to sexualize themselves. They most likely have to do this because the current demographic of rap is male. However, you named Cardi-B she has made a step in a different direction with her hit song . Though Cardi-B is still known to sexualize herself in her hit song Bodak Yellow the premise is that she is dominant over everyone. Compared to older rap where female rappers would rap about being submissive to males.
DeleteI disagree with you Asfand, although the rap community is mostly based around money, girls, and things that progress a man's masculinity, it is starting be a lot better and open with the LGBTQ community. Some songs in rap are even starting to talk about gay people, for example, Logic's song "1-800". Also, rappers are beginning to open up more to LGBTQ because they want their fan base to expand and to like them. So maybe they don't actually support the LGBTQ, but they are putting up an act so that they more fans like them, and so that they don't get slandered and hated for not liking the LGBTQ community. So in my opinion, rap is getting better with the fact that they are starting to support other sexuality's.
DeleteI believe that rap is progressing towards a more inclusive future nowadays. In the past, rap was all about masculinity because rappers were trying to build their image by trying to depict themselves as the alpha male. However, in the recent years, rappers have limited the use of homophobic slurs because I believe that they don’t want to risk damaging their image in the media as being labelled as a homophobe. Nevertheless, I believe that it would be hard for rap to stray away from masculinity because it is still shown in rap today. In a recent interview with the Huffington Post, Snoop Lion (formerly known as Snoop Dogg) has stated that he doesn’t believe that homosexuality “will ever be acceptable because rap is so masculine.” Rap would be more acceptable towards LBGTQ if notable rappers showed support towards the community.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree on your point on how rappers do not want say any homophobic slurs so they can protect there image. While i also believe in the past rappers used say homophobic slurs so they don't look gay at a time where being gay could ruin career. Looking into the past being a gay rapper was not common so the they made sure they could not have been called gay to protect their public image in a similar way. Moving on to the comments from Snoop Lion, I do agree rap will always be masculine. A gay rapper may be accepted but them rapping about being gay may not be accepted by the majority of rap fans.
DeleteHey Safwaan, I believe rap is still very much on the masculine side, leaving out the LGBTQ community. Sure the coming out of these specific rappers show progress, but I believe their careers wouldn't have existed if they started off fully expressing their identity. With how things have been changing in the past few years, I wouldn't be surprised that a gay individual could still blow up to be a top billboard artist. Otherwise, I'm still sceptical that gay artists would make it as far as a very masculine without a larger amount of hate comments. Coming out as gay may possibly end the careers of some artists, especially ones from the hood or in gangs. Like I'd assume the careers of NBA YoungBoy, Lil Pump, etc, would take a hit if they announced themselves as gay. With a fear of losing your audience and popularity as an artist, many would just play it safe to avoid such an outcome, thus leading to no progression in supporting the LGBTQ community.
ReplyDeletei think would not receive support because of the lyrics of their current songs. If you look at songs from NBA YoungBoy and Lil Pump a lot of the songs are about women. Them coming out to some may seem like they were lying the whole time and that is how hate could be created.
DeleteHey Safwaan,
ReplyDeleteI believe that rap is still very masculine but that it is a lot more less homosexual. i believe that it is less because in the days of 2pac and Nas it used be very homosexual because the LGBT community was not accepted back then and people listening to there music didn't mind as much as the LGBT supporters. Now a days if a rapper in the hip-hop community slander that community, i believe they would lose a lot of there fan base and get slandered for what they said. A lot of the hip-hop rapers now talk about money, sex, and drugs. but back then rappers would say homophobic statements and then say no homo so they don`t ruin their look.
Hey Safwaan, I agree with you to some extent, yes, there are more homosexual and bisexual rappers but generally it is still not accepted by the majority of the rap community. Many rappers even out right voice their opinions against the LGBQT community, even if it may not be their actual standing on the matter. I believe this is done so because many of the rappers today only seem to talk about, sexual exploits, drugs, and murder. Now, with this in mind they probably feel as if supporting the LGBQT community publicly may "ruin" their image, as Elmi said as well.
ReplyDeleteHey Safwaan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elmi. Music videos in the past were more masculine and aren't like what they are today. Today, rapper's careers would be ruined if they say anything that hurts the LGBT community, but it wasn't the case back then. Generally, rappers could say whatever they wanted about the LGBT community and not get penalized for it. Today, they can't say anything that hurts the LGBT community or it will hurt their legacy.