So I’m sitting at home doing what I normally do on the weekend, watching dated black comedies from the 1990’s. What will it be this weekend? How about House Party, a goofy comedy from 1990 that starred rappers Kid N Play.
Those old enough to remember the duo know they weren’t a religious, political or gangsta rap group at all. They were one of those PG rated acts that were tame enough for grandmother’s to buy CD’s for their children.
As a brand new teenager when the film came out, I remember seeing it many times and laughing along with everyone else. House Party was and still is a classic comedy. So why not re-visit this movie for the first time in 15 years? Everything was going great until I got to this scene where Kid is stuck in a jail cell and must rap his way out of getting anally male raped.
Hahahaha! Funny, right ? No harm done, right? Its all just jokes, right?
Well…first of all, let’s just ignore the basis of the scene where these seemingly thuggish heterosexual men felt the need to rape a dude after just being in the holding cell merely for a couple hours. Talk about impatiently raging hormones.
No, the core impetus for my stink face while watching this scene was the outright homophobia throughout the rap song. Okay, I get it, jokes about not wanting to be raped…I get it…But what about the lines attacking Liberace and Rock Hudson (gay men who died from AIDS related illnesses)? Or how about the line implying having gay sex at all will instantly make you an AIDS candidate?
Was I over thinking this? Was I looking for a problem that didn’t exist, I mean the movie is 23 years old. Then I thought back to A Tribe Called Quest’s IMMENSELY homophobic song, possibly the most homophobic song ever recorded in the history of music. Again, ATCQ was another group that was supposedly tame for all ages, yet they spewed anti-gay venom to the masses.
These are only two of many examples where rappers from the 90’s either acknowledged their hatred for homosexuals or used the term “faggot” as an insult. As much as I used to love DMX back in 1998-2000, it was harder for me to find a song where he DIDN’T say the word “faggot.”
The list goes on: from KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Wu Tang Clan, The Lox, Brand Nubian, Eminem, Notorious BIG and Tupac….they have made their feelings on gays very clear in their lyrics.
Hip Hop Hates Fags. There’s no break dancing around that.
Oh sure, nowadays we have a lot of rap artists pushing the limits on what is considered “masculine.” But what can we expect from Hip Hop when Lil Wayne wears tight leggins and is photographed kissing his play father on the lips but still tosses faggot and homophobia all through is music…Or that Kanye West wears kilts and blouses on stage, is in what some people think is a fake relationship to hide his sexuality and gets accused of being a gay fish….yet he still tosses out homophobic lyrics and statements. *Kanye Shrug*
The same applies to peripheral Hip Hop influenced media like movies, television, sports, websites and environments. Go to any Hip Hop message board or any Hip Hop music playing Black barbershop and you’ll still see/hear a total disregard for gay sensitivity. The homophobia in basketball forums after Jason Collins came Out was disgusting.
Hip Hip driven comedy series like In Living Color and Chappelle’s Show routinely made jokes at the expense of black gay men any time they could. And its not just in America. The new Hip Hop inspired UK television drama for teens and young adults “Youngers” features an entire storyline where a main black character is falsely accused of being gay and is ridiculed for it for two straight episodes.
So what’s the big deal?
I’m truly starting to believe that as popular as Hip Hop culture is, all of these subtle jabs and pokes at gay men and/or homosexuality in general just continue to add as motivation for black men (especially masculine black men who feel a part of said culture) to remain in the closet. Even as religion’s hold on the black community’s feelings towards gays wanes, it appears as though Hip Hop culture’s blatant homophobia still has the same impact that it always had.
Question: Imagine if all of the comments, jokes and subtle pokes were from white men regarding race instead of black men regarding sexuality? Would this be just as Shrug-Worthy?
Hypothetically Imagine if a prominent Caucasian filmmaker had 75% of all his films filled with white characters spewing the word “Nigger”…Now hypothetically imagine that same white filmmaker writes a screenplay with “Nigger” typed in it 110 times and a Caucasian dominated Academy Awards committee hypothetically rewards him with an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, would Blacks be okay with this?
….Oh wait, bad example…I was supposed to be being hypothetical…
Okay, imagine if a television cooking show personality had, many many years ago, used the word “nigger” immediately after being mugged by…well…some ignorant scumbag niggas…Would Blacks be okay with that?
…Dammit, I did it again, didn’t I?
Okay, HYPOTHETICALLY speaking, imagine if country music or rock singers made decades worth of new songs casually using “nigger” as an insult, would Blacks be okay with this? If Saturday Night Live consistently had sketches every week ridiculing characters for being stereotypically black, would this be acceptable?
If Justin’s Bieber or Timberlake made a comedy film where they sang about not wanting to be mistaken for being Black, would that be acceptable? Okay, again, bad example…those two guys go OUT OF THEIR WAY to be mistaken for being black…
But you get my point. Are gay Hip Hop fans the equivalent of a battered wife who keeps taking a beating but refuses to file charges and/or leave the abuser?
Should I stop being so sensitive and just “man up?” Possibly. Maybe.
But that doesn’t make it any less worth thinking about.
When it comes to Homophobia, we’re the jury that gives out a George Zimmerman acquittal every time we go to the club and zone out to musicians that clearly hate us.
Homophobia in Hip Hop culture appears to be like racism in the south…it’s not going anywhere any time soon.
So just deal with it.
Swerve, Bruh.
Nick Delmacy
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I always thought Play was a homo. Q-Tip too. hip hop still hates us which is why I listen to alternative lol. If you think that stuff was bad, try watching Eddie Murphy Raw. Funny then, now it’s just absolutely painful.
I think in the black community being gay is associated with being less less tough,and basically less of a man.So as long as blk ppl have this idea our music will too.
I once asked a woman(when i was a kid and didnt know i was into men) how she could enjoy music that objectifys women and not be offended.She said to her it was just songs and she didnt feel like she was supporting it because she never gave up money or anything for it.Maybe lot of gays feel this way
Thank you thank thank you for calling out Timberlake and his wannabe black charade.
Making love to other gay fish!
Didn’t Mase get caught soliciting transsexual sex workers in Atlanta, after he found de Lawd, or is that just an urban myth?
i never heard about Mase, but a prominent DJ in NYC(Mr. Cee) has been caught twice getting transexuals.
For the record, DMX could have been speaking German for all I care….I still wouldn’t have said no. *swoons*
Or maybe I’m getting my stories mixed up. Was it Play who got caught cheating on the chick who couldn’t act from Coming to America with a dude? I can’t be expected to keep all this mad phuckery straight.
As I read through @nick‘s article my emotions ranged from passive acceptance of Black dysfunction within our community to just a total realization that we are simply a f*cked up race of people.
What other race of people would tolerate the knuckle dragging antics we see everyday within our culture and communities? Hip Hop’s promotion of violence, misogyny, homophobia, Teenage Pregnancy rates, babies out of wedlock, Black male incarceration rates, and the list goes on.
Blacks are a hypocritical, homophobic, bible thumping, violent group of people! And quite frankly, I’m sick of them! We’re ALWAYS the last to conform to what the rest of society has already deemed as acceptable and deserving of respect!
As you can see from my rant, the issue of hip hop and it’s lack of evolution over the years has left me quite bitter. I refused to buy J Cole’s latest album because of his anti gay lyrics. I refuse to support Chris Brown because of his many many twitter comments about the very fags who lust over him. Where is a guy like me to turn if I want to enjoy hip hop without the BS?
As @nick said, maybe I ought to just “deal with it.”….right? 🙁
Wrong!
I quite trying to find acceptance in HIp Hop and I starting understanding me. I use to fool around with a rapper in Atlanta. I constantly use to question his sexuality and he told me that there are many bisexuals in the rap game but they will never ever come out. He once told me is like a eating a whole pie. The best of both worlds. He later told me that rappers and some R&B singers have sex with one another to hide there sexuality. He told me too many instances and recounted who was there and what went down for me not to believe him. Rappers who use homophobic language are mostly trying to hide there sexuality. What’s done in the dark stays in the dark.
I agree with you I’ve quit trying to find acceptance in Hip Hop. Once I reached my 30s and learned to accept myself I stopped f*****g with Hip Hop all together. Most of the rap produced today is garbage anyway. Hip Hop is dead as far as I’m concerned. That said there has always been a “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in place for masculine gay & bisexual men in Hip Hop. Also if you look closely there is a homoerotic subtext as well. Irony isn’t it.
Ok, firstly, lemme say some great work is being undertaken on this site on bringing issues concerning us (black people first, then same gender loving) to the fore, so thanks @nick for all the work you’re doing, appreciate it!. Secondly, am not one to post on many issues, but I felt this rant required a response. I agree with the premise, that as a race there are a few extra things that are wrong with the way we relate to each other. Now, I am not making excuses for our behaviour in anyway, but I believe it is important that we understand the context in the hope of moving forward and forging solutions to the issues that plague us as a people. There are reasons why black people are hyper spiritual, hyper masculine, hyper all the bad things cited, it stems from our history as black people, which is unique to us. There is no race in the history of the world that has suffered the type of perpetual systematic oppression we have endured as black people, from slavery, colonialism to racism and disproportionate incarceration. We have found solace in religion (which in my humble opinion has done more to perpetuate our oppression, topic for another discussion). If ever we are to rise above these issues, we need to understand these issues, they are key to our emancipation.
@blackzw – If my ‘rant’ about the aloof Black people within our community compelled you to log on and give a counter view, I would hope that being called a FAG by hip hop artists inspires you to speak out against it rather then make excuses for them by defending the indefensible. The white man is to blame for many atrocities against humanity, but he hasn’t a damn thing to do with rappers calling our sisters and mothers ‘whores and bitches’. Nor is he responsible for the gorilla masculinity that makes it ok for rappers to call YOU and I ‘FAGGOTS’.
Thanks for your input, though I disagree I really appreciate your feedback.
I knew whilst typing that comment it’d be construed as a defense for the “indefensible”… so was expecting that. All I was trying to do was offer perspective in the hope of invoking discussions on how to tackle our problem. Like it or not, hip-hop represents some of the core beliefs of a significant proportion of black men. So the question is why is it so? Another is how do we deal with it?
I feel ya’ on this one, Nick. When overtly homophobic lyrics are spouted in Hip-Hop songs, it doesn’t really phase me in the least. But I consistently cringe whenever I hear the “N-word.” And I realize professing this fact may say more about me and how I identify, than about the muzik I listen to.
I guess I’m ambivalent on this issue, Bruh….
Nick, I’m feeling this article because it IS something that I have thought about for years. There are so many gay rappers out now and I often wonder why they don’t get any play in gay clubs. Maybe they do and I just don’t know about it since I don’t go to any. I think that would be a good alternative to support and promote one of your own in a gay environment.
This blog post was a really good read. I don’t think the current hip-hop scene is nearly as homophobic as it was during the 90’s. It’s gotten somewhat better but homophobia in hip-hop still exists. I’m not making excuses for rappers who use the “F” word but the black community lives in a world where the word “Faggot” has several definitions; the main one obviously referring to homosexuals but its also used to insult one’s manhood, call someone stupid, dumb, etc. It’s a sad reality but unfortunately, its a reality. I made the conscious effort about 3 years ago to no longer support artists who lyrics are homophobic to send a message to them but we have to remember that these rappers are a product of an environment where use of the “F” word is just as common as the word “The”. Once we as a community can fix what’s broken, it’ll have a trickle-down affect and we’ll probably see some things change in a positive manner. Some people may or may not agree with me but these are just my thoughts………
Very good read @Nick. I do listen to the likes of Big Daddy Kane and other rappers of the golden age and when you listen to their music and hear how many slugs they take at gay men… it is way too much. I don’t know why gay masculine men still jam hip-hop when those who are rapping hate “us” (or maybe themselves if they’re in the closet).
I, too, share a love/hate relationship with hip-hop and my partner tells me that I think too much and fail to manage my expectations because I expect others to listen critically from time to time and ask questions. A prime example of this is that Busta track called “Twerk It” which I love until I start thinking about comments and things that are anti-gay that have been attributed to Trevor…
I will say only this on the Hip Hop music scene- it is not conceivably possible that there is NO gay/bi-sexual person in Hip Hop..Not possible. We know that and THEY are aware of that. But I see Hip Hop as a testosterone driven all boys club, where the members know each other and are each others’ BFF. First rule for this club- what happens here stays here. So I’m not buying all this hated as legit. Its a big show to keep the profile of the ‘club’ in tact.
I have no evidence but there are rappers fucking each other as I write this piece. But like most things created by humans it is camouflaged by the spewing of hatred for the gay community.
The Hip Hop/Rap industry is to the hetro lifestyles what the vatican is to Catholicism. Its all a lot of glitz and glamour, pomp and circumstance to show the on looker it is what it says it is. But in reality it is filled with sodomizing members of the same sex.
I truly understand what you are all saying. However i think we have to wonder what is the main reason why hip hop hates gay ppl.
throughout many years, i always felt that hollywood send representing the gay society have done such a great job At making it look like the gay identity consists of: being fem and acting like women.
for example. i really don’t see the link between drag queens or walking around half naked has to do with gayness. however every time i went to a gay club in the states, there had to be some drag queen show near the end.
and every time there is a pride parade, there has to be some kind of men dressed like women or some of them be half naked.
i personally don’t like such scenes. and please correct me if I’m wrong but
i just don’t see how gays can be respected when that’s what they are associated with.
and i think that hip hop is against that whole scene too.
that’s why i loved this site from the start. it exists to debunk the stereotypes people have on the gay identity .
Thats hollywoods way of welcoming in other minority groups. It makes the masses feel more comfortable w ‘diff’ ppl if theyre ushered into the situation comically fulfilling every stereotype. Then after a few times, this character starts to show, ‘hey, i know im ________, but as you see in this episode, i have feelings, struggles, great days, n bills to pay, just like u’!
As for the lumping all of us under 1 big umbrella called lgbt, i agree. I dont know how much i have in common with a butch white lesbian from des moines, but who am i? But as for ppl getting that we’re all not 1 monolith, well, we’re still trying to get them to get that about black ppl, so…
I had to come back to this article because it got me thinking…one thing that was not brought out in the article or comments was the impact of the record labels in this mess. Aren’t they complicit in the manufacturing and dissemination of “what’s hot” and “what sells”? To me their hands are the dirtiest because it seems that they portend to know what people want to see and hear..what would make us groove.
Most people who scoff at the hip hop industry are called lame or that old school term “square”. These people demand that the music be more socially aware but their message falls on deaf ears…mainly religious and old school types.
Could it be that we are truly conditioned the way that Willie Lynch described to the slave owners? Have we gone so far that we are being destructive with ourselves and our children without even realizing it? Is the mentacide and oppression that has been engrained in us for centuries causing us to keep blinders on…not just with the way hip hop hates gays…but how we really hate each other?
Am I off in left field here?