A UK rapper is sharing his thoughts on homophobia in the music world.
Mr Strange is a UK rapper who says he’s the first of his kind in the UK drill/trap scene. Unfortunately, as he shared with BBC 1Xtra, that has created a target on his back for homophobia and anti-gay hate.
“I’ve had people message me saying they came out after watching my video,” he said.
Mr Strange has noted how there are many fans and fellow artists who have accepted and welcomed him. But, he’s noted how no one in the drill and trap rap world are among them.
“Fans are becoming more accepting, but the scene as a whole needs to catch up. The artists themselves,” he shared. “A few artists have messaged me with praise, but nobody who does drill or trap rap.”
Even worse, Mr Strange shares that he’s not surprised by the reality of homophobia in the rap world.
“I’m not blind to the fact there’s a lot of hate that comes with being a gay rapper, so for me to expect another rapper to endorse me and potentially jeopardise their career? I can’t ask that of them,” he said.
He then added, “There’s always that chance of streams going down, of tickets not being sold. Nobody wants to be the first person to endorse something that could potentially ruin their career.”
Unfortunately, homophobia in the rap community, and in the black community as well, is a common occurrence. One that affects both gay rappers and listeners. As Lil Nas X shared last year, he grew up feeling stifled when it came to his sexuality. Unfortunately, Kevin Hart was in the room and expressed confusion at the topic.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7PZ9wNFex8/
As we wrote back then:
“Then when the 20-year-old rapper tried to explain that he came out after fighting the expectation to ‘hate that s**t,’ Hart asked, ‘Hate what? Why?’
‘Come on now. If you really from the hood, you know,’ Lil Nas X responded.
The rapper then shared that he decided to come out when he did so as not to get attention soley for being gay. But coming out after he’d already come out on top, the rapper feels that ‘It’s showing, like, it doesn’t really matter.’”
Meanwhile, there are some who believe that hip hop and rap worlds are changing. For instance, openly bisexual rapper Taylor Bennett expressed in 2018 that rap is gayer than many think.
“Hip Hop is gay as f*ck,” the artist stated while on the radio show The Breakfast Club, “but also know that there’s a lot of Black people that never had the opportunity like me to come out. That’s what I want to do is I want those motherf*ckers to feel comfortable.”
It’s thanks to openly LGBT rappers like Taylor Bennett, Lil Nas X, and Mr Strange that the world is changing. Hopefully thanks to them, there will be a future where gay youth and rappers won’t be met with hate and ridicule.
Source: BBC News
