This Is My Rifle: Homosexuality & Hip Hop

Today, I’m taking it upon myself to tackle what is possibly the most taboo subject in Hip Hop: homosexuality. I wanna make one thing clear before I continue on with this article; I am in no way, shape or form gay. I am straight as an arrow and I have never even slightly considered entering into a homosexual relationship of any kind. If you feel like you’re not mature enough to handle reading this article without writing, “pause” or “no homo” in the comments section, please skip over this and go somewhere that better suits the mental capacity of a 13-year-old.



The reason why I’m talking about this subject today is because this morning upon opening my email, I was introduced to this little gem right here. If you’d rather not watch the video, allow me to give you a brief summarization. The video is for a song called “Imma Homo” by a rap group called Rainbow Noise, which is comprised of (from what I can tell) eight lesbians and one gay male. With lyrics like, “My ego gettin’ bigger, hate on me, hate on we, LGBT reppin’ for my f*ggot family” and “So holla at my corner, baby earner you’s a learner, beat that pussy up yeah call me Dyke Turner” (seriously, both those lines are in the song) they’re obviously not ashamed of their sexual preferences.

As somebody who considers himself fairly open minded, my first inclination was to laugh at their attempt to legitimize homosexual Hip Hop. The content of the song is so blatant and over the top that it’s almost a parody of itself. But then I stepped back for a moment and thought about the possibility of Hip Hop growing up and accepting homosexuality within its very narrow perspective.

While the artists in the video are all incredibly young (my best guess is late teens/early 20’s) I have to respect their willingness to take the huge risk of publicly embracing their sexual orientation in front of a community that still has yet to acknowledge their existence. Even though the subject matter is vulgar (even for a Rap song) and misguided, the message is a positive one. Upon further listening, you get the idea that any one of the Rappers could have taken verses from popular mainstream artists and just put a homosexual spin on it.

So is the world ready for homosexual Hip Hop?

Personally, I don’t think so. Hip Hop is one of the last remaining institutions that outwardly rejects homosexual culture. And with so much pressure on artists to project a tough, street-wise, overtly masculine image, I don’t see how homosexuality can fit inside the boundaries of the art form. In the case of a lesbian rapper, it could work because some lesbians do fit the aforementioned status quo, but it would be treated as a novelty more than anything. In terms of Hip Hop embracing a gay man, he would have to be so undeniably talented that he might as well make music in a genre that actually makes money.

But if one out of every ten men is gay, wouldn’t that mean that Hip Hop has already seen a successful gay rapper?

More than likely, yes. We’ve all heard the rumors about popular artists engaging in homosexual relationships with other men/women. And not all of the rumors have been completely false, there has to be truth to a small number of them. All of these artists, even the ones we are absolutely sure are gay, would suffer irreversible damage to their careers if they were to openly admit their true sexual orientation. Much like their polar opposites, the fake gangster rapper personas, record companies and publicists work around the clock to keep their real lives eternally private. But even being ousted as a corrections officer or a degenerate drug addict is nothing in comparison to having the veil lifted on a secret alternative lifestyle.

As a man, I’ve never understood male homosexuality. To not be attracted to the beauty of femininity is such a far-out concept that I can’t wrap my mind around it. I can relate to the lesbian mentality because we’re into the same things, but the idea of two men taking part in the same type of relationship doesn’t make any sense to me. Over the years I’ve had gay friends but none of them were the typical flamboyantly gay male you see on television so I’ve never really had to face it. Of course, you see it from time to time, but for me it’s always been a case of, “just saw it and now I’m gonna do my best to forget it”. Yes, I am ignorant when it comes to the topic of homosexuals. I’ve tried to be more accepting of it, because I hate prejudice in all its forms, but it’s one issue that I’ve never been comfortable addressing. Even as I write this I’m trying to get through it as fast as possible so I don’t have to think about it.

And that’s why I’m ending this here. Hopefully in some small way I’ve managed to create some conversation around this topic and we can all finally do away with one of the oldest prejudices on the planet, because in the words of Big Boi from Outkast, “No one is free when others are oppressed.”

(Jason James is an artist, freelance columnist and writer for RefinedHype.com. You can listen/download his most recent album, Marvelous World of Color, here and you can contact him here and here.)