Homosexuality in Hip Hop

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Hip hop artists are automatically seen by the public as “hard.” The baggy clothing, tattoos, explicit lyrics, sex and overall machismo are all staples of the hip hop image, especially for men. The young people have a fascination for the “tough” look, the street life, it’s what sells records.


Now imagine the flip side. Some consider it taboo and some didn’t even know it existed. It’s Homosexuality in Hip Hop. Yes, it’s real and yes it’s all around us. The music industry is not ready to expose this secret lifestyle to the public eye openly. More and more, artists are expected to fit the ultra machismo image that is hip hop. Since its inception in the late 1970’s this genre of music has crossed many boundaries and evolved to what it is today. Now there are successful Latino rap artists, females have also gotten into the rap game. Hip hop is even crossing musical boundaries as it is now influenced by various types of other music genres. But has hip hop begun to accept homosexuality?

When LL. Cool J takes his shirt off and licks his lips, its not just women who are watching. From California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger calling his opponents “economic girly men” to rappers insulting each other with slurs like “bitch n*****” these double sided insults don’t only disrespect women but also support the stereotype of masculinity in our society. In hip hop, the lifestyle is all about masculinity and being the toughest of them all, anything less must be GAY.

The image entertainers portray significantly impacts the youth. Manhood is often times called into question as well as sexuality. If you are not ultra masculine then you must be soft or gay. Filmmaker Byron Hurt states “I would always defend hip hop. But the more I grew and the more I learned about sexism and violence and homophobia, the more those lyrics became unacceptable to me and I begun to become more conflicted about the music that I love.”

"When LL Cool J Takes his shirt off and licks his lips, it's not just women who are watching"

These images affect the way our communities view men. Terms like “Homo Thug” and “On the Down Low” have become popular in recent years. These are all communities within our community as a whole. “Down low” men follow the street life to the extent of over compensating homophobia, most leading double lives. But common lets face it. In the music industry, there are more gay/bi faces than what is shown. When you break the industry down, you see its true colors. Do we really think Da Brat is straight?

There is a side of hip hop, however that is receiving limited exposure but gaining in popularity. It’s the openly GLBT Hip Hop scene. Caushun was the frist openly gay rap artist whose career quickly ended among major contraversy after being signed with Kimora Lee Simon's Baby Phat record label. Los Angeles based rapper Deadlee has been innovating queer advocacy since his inception. He was part of the first ever Homo Revolution Tour. The tour consisted of various openly gay hip hop artists, visiting many cities in the US and exposing the side of hip hop no one knew about.

The hip hop scene is getting closer and closer to accepting homosexuality but we have to be realistic about it; it’s going to take a lot.. It’s like the saying goes. “We cannot cover the sun with a finger but we can reach out to the community one voice at a time.” Homosexuality crosses all borders; like music. We have celebrities “coming out” more and more over the years and people have responded well. The next genre to follow will be in the hip hop/rap scene. Who will it be? When will this be? I guess time will tell. In a recent interview with the author of “Hiding in Hip Hop,” Terrance Dean tells Clik Magazine writer, Darian Aaron that a major hip hop artist will come out of the closet and change the face of hip hop forever within the next year. He would not divulge any names so we will have to wait and see who it will be.

In memory of Larry King, 15 year old kid shot and killed in his school because he was gay.

**Photos are displayed purely for illustration of the topic and in no way denote the artists's sexual orientation.**