When it comes to openly gay rappers, who's the first person who comes to mind for you? If your pick is white, bald and has a song called "I Seen Beyonce At Burger King", you're probably not alone. With groups like Deep Dickollective having been around since 2000 and plenty of other up-and-coming black queer rappers, why does the mainstream gay media's depiction of the homo-hop scene look so… well, lightly colored?
Don't try to give me some Michael Lucas bullshit about homophobia in the black community. There are plenty of black gay rappers out there with songs just as sexual as Johnny Dangerous' "Hotline", as seen above. And if we're going with the whole "sex sells" theory, some of these guys are exponentially hotter than Soce or QBoy. I mean, has anyone seen Last Offence?
I'm not saying that someone like Cazwell does't deserve the attention (even if his lyrics are mostly vapid and indicate no sense of talent). There's an aspect of hip-hop that's all about marketing yourself, and he obviously excels in that respect. To assume that's the only reason he's more successful than most black rappers would be preposterous. I'm not pointing any fingers, but I think it might have to do with the gay media and blog world's bias towards whiteness. What do you think?
Note: I am not saying that all of the rappers appearing in the above video are necessarily white. I know nothing of their individual racial backgrounds, but I think it's pretty clear that none of them actually look black.
– Dewitt
Well, you mentioned homophobia in the black community as not being it…so what about the obvious counter: Racism in the LGBTQ community. Let’s face it, unintentional or otherwise, it’s there.
Who cares about rappers! White or Black! Trash!
^^^^^
Wow you are one ignorant Queen!
Not being into hip-hop, homo-hop or rap in general the vid above is actually kinda sexxxy.
The question was raised, “Why does the mainstream gay media’s depiction of the homo-hop scene look so… well, lightly colored?” It’s not like there are many representations of gay black men from any walk of life represented in the gay mainstream media. To understand this omission, one need only peruse the profiles of many white men on this site. One thing seems to stick out like a sore thumb for those that are paying any attention. I like to call this observation the “White and Off-White Preference.” You know how it goes. “I’m only interested in whites, latinos, middle easterners, asians, native americans, etc…” Notice anything missing from that list? How about black men!? To be both black and gay in America is a double whammy for those that experience it day in and day out. While most of us will agree that racism does exist. None of us will ever identify with actually possessing racist attitudes and beliefs – that goes for people on all sides of the color divide. Media is simply a mirror. It reflects all parts of us, even the ones that we would rather ignore. The fact of the matter is that mainstream gay media, like most other American institutions, is mostly controlled by middle-aged WASP men who do not identify with any images other than those that look back from the mirror. This does not go to say that white men are unable to identify with minorities. I’m simply stating that until we start to see more minority-owned gay media vehicles, we will continue to see reflections of those that hold the purse strings. Being black in itself largely means being misrepresented or altogether omitted from most media outlets. Add to that the gay factor, and you have a minority within a minority, unable to find representations, false or accurate, of ourselves in any form of media outside the tiny few that we control. To echo one of my favorite entertainers, Alec Mapa, the thing about being a minority in America is that you hardly ever see yourself. You know you exist. You know you’re everywhere, but you hardly ever see yourself represented in any kind of media. For an interesting analysis of this same subject, watch “Noah’s Arc” Season 2 on DVD. Alec Mapa provides a commentary during one of the first episodes, along with Partik-Ian Polk, that covers this very same debate.
this is a very good question to raise
okay , it was hot until dilbert (third rapper) chimes in.