Should the hip hop and LGBT+ communities form an alliance
Listening to hip hop has always been a conflicting music choice for a white gay man like myself. With its use of the n-word, misogynistic content and homophobic lyrics, it has become a sitting duck for millennial liberals to criticise. It is not dissimilar to the left’s hypocrisy on equality for all.
Political parties that align with the left are prone to being supporters of all minority groups. From egalitarians to LGBT activists to feminists. A united society is what motivates all of us. However, different communities clash although they indirectly support one another. For example, the Muslim communities across the globe are infamous for their polemic record on anti-LGBT rhetoric. However, Muslims who inhabit the western world are more than likely to vote for a leftist party that also aligns with the LGBT+ community. It is similar in the hip hop world. Hip hop is predominantly celebrated in the black music scene. The African American communities of the U.S and Afro-Caribbean population of Europe have been endlessly attacked by the right-wing media. Therefore, rappers hit back by holding conservative views to account through their lyrical content. However, they are also prone to attack a liberal individual’s stance too, particularly through metaphorical contempt against women and LGBT.
This is a topic that has forever left me perplexed. I have been a hip hop fan since my early teens. The likes of Kanye West, Eminem and Jay Z have pierced through my headphones since school days by being the soundtrack to define my coming-of-age adventures. These rap artists helped me endure stressful times and long walks to and from lectures that were a nuisance. When one of them releases a new album I am the first to listen.
What I find so fascinating is a rap artists’ extreme anger against their rivals and the world altogether. Their disdain on being unaccepted perpetuates through their mix-tapes. Rappers have always had a tough game in pushing through to a more mainstream audience. Most of them came from deprivation and are therefore witness to the exploitation of the vulnerable that defines a capitalist society.
In his early days, Eminem frequently spat the f-bomb as a slur to the gay community. His 2000 track, “Criminal”, was shrouded in infamy with its barbaric references to LGBT+ individuals. Critics and social pressure groups were seething because a well-known artist momentarily avoided any sort of backlash. Later on, Eminem was forced to defend his work in a significant televised interview by stating he has no problem whatsoever with same-sex marriage and gay men in general. Long before the years of Eminem, the rap group Beastie Boys were in a dispute with Columbia Records after they intended to call their debut album, Don’t Be A F*****. Columbia refused to release the LP unless there was a name change. The Beastie Boys eventually apologised for their “ignorant” use of vocabulary.
What is evident, however, is that a rapper’s struggle for acceptance into popular music is similar to the LGBT community’s role in public life.
The constant excoriating from the general public of both groups should spark empathy rather than factions between the two. Well-known gay artists have struggled to come to terms with their sexuality and have lived a life of suffering in a world that initially embodied homophobia. Hip hop artists, predominantly black men, have been exposed to systemic racism from the white man for decades. To encourage each other rather than critique our messages may see a super-group of social acceptance be introduced, collaborating to shift the narrative. This is shown through the coming-out of rappers like Frank Ocean and iLoveMakonnen. They both received widespread approval from their peers, with rap legend Jay Z being one of the first to congratulate Ocean. Furthermore, Tyler the Creator, notorious for his homophobic verses in his early albums, has now got fans questioning whether he used his latest release to identify as a gay man. His sexuality is still not confirmed but he has become part of the wave of progressive rappers becoming staunch allies of the LGBT world. Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, Kanye West and The Game have all expressed their support for LGBT equality.
For me, in all honesty, I will continue to listen to rap however controversial it may seem. Times are forever changing. The political and social denunciation of racism and homophobia more prolific than previous generations. I find it hard to grasp the idea that rappers such as Eminem and the Beastie Boys are homophobic artists. Eminem has been ardent opponent of Trump’s America by criticising his rollback on transgender military personnel. With the continuing approval of openly-LGBT rap artists, it is slowly but surely close to liberation. Maybe Eminem’s harsh lyrics beforehand were a metaphorical parallel of his own struggles. Although I don’t condone any violent language against my own community, to shed light on the struggles of two paradoxical groups can only assist in uniting them.
