Can Hip-Hop Handle Lil B’s ‘I’m Gay’ Album?
by Ann Powers and Tavia Nyong’o
the prolific, Internet-obsessed Bay Area rapper, announced at Coachella that he would call his next album I’m Gay – a provocation that extends past the comfort zones of many rap fans. Lil B is known for assuming alternate identities (previous releases include the songs “I’m Miley Cyrus” and “I’m Charlie Sheen”), but this was his most surprising move yet. GLAAD questioned his motives – was this a prank, or a stealth macho move akin to other rappers’ use of the phrase “no homo?” Lil B’s response – surprisingly serious and empathetic – was to express “major love for the gay and lesbian community,” despite apparent death threats.
This isn’t the first time gay culture and hip-hop have come into contact, but since Lil B is a rapper right on the fringe of the mainstream, and he’s putting himself in the middle of the genre’s long-term conflict over homosexuality, Ann Powers wrote to Tavia Nyong’o, professor of performance studies at NYU and blogger at Hear is Queer to talk about where his decision might take the debate.
Tavia:
Very interesting developments lately at the spot where hip-hop culture meets sexual politics.
This would all strike me as an isolated stunt – claiming that you’re using “gay” as in “happy,” as Lil B did, sounds kind of like something my grade-schooler would do. Except that it’s just one of several recent events within hip-hop that suggest the scene’s tolerance toward sexual difference may be growing. Big Freedia, queen of the New Orleans “sissy bounce” scene, released her first EP and is bringing her “go homo” anthems nationwide on a successful tour. Hardcore rap’s pop star 50 Cent issued a surprisingly empathetic defense of Mr. Cee after the radio personality was caught en flagrante with a young person who may be transgender. And the Pacific Northwest collective Rainbow Noise caused a Youtube stir with its jammin’ cut, “Imma Homo.”
Hip-hop, long assumed by most to be a stronghold of homophobia, suddenly seems (more…)
