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Underground > Radio & Music >

HE is the Gay rapper

16:02 / 25.08.01

No, really.

I remember reading this on the webzine a month or two back, and wondering why no-one had actually been an 'out' rapper. I know all the shit about why they shouldn't - macho culture, blah, not tolerated, blah blah - but still figured that someone would.

Well guess what?

Someone has and I missed it. Bugger.

However, being a good little wooly liberal, I was reading my Guardian after work today and read about this guy called Caushun.

Apparently, he has even trademarked the term 'The Gay Rapper.'

His work has already caused a bit of a ruckus in the Hip-hop community - his track 'Gay Rappers Delight' names quite a few rappers that he would like to get it jiggy with. You can hear it on the GayHipHop.com page here.

Other articles on him are here, and here, plus a short piece about him and Eminem having a beef here.

I only have one problem with all of this - he doesn't actually seem to be that good a rapper.

[ 25-08-2001: Message edited by: JB again ]

No star here laces

22:17 / 25.08.01

Duh. Of course he can't rap. He's a faggot.

Jeez, get with the program.

jUne, a sunshiny month

23:40 / 25.08.01

quote: Of course he can't rap. He's a faggot.

"when i'm in need of 14527 level of humour,
i do as my favorite Ty, i go to barbelithdotcom.
barbelithdotcom, what a site."

Graham the Happy Scum

13:19 / 26.08.01

There's gotta be more than one, though. I mean, an artform with much of its musical basis in the fields of funk and electro cannot entirely be devoid of gay performers.
(I mean, hell, Dre from Outkast is certainly pushing the boundaries, even if he is het from all reports.)

I would say though that any rapper unremarkable in any way aside from being gay is not going to make it. The one that'll crossover will probably be someone who is supermacho and yet supercamp in Village People stylee, friendly with the ladeez but only wants to ball the blokes. And has seriously lethal rap battles with the likes of Enimen. Or something like that.

14:58 / 26.08.01

Originally posted by Tyrone Bongolaces:

Duh. Of course he can't rap. He's a faggot.

What a charming post.

I shall respond in the same way by pointing out he's black, and black people have riddim, don't they?

For Fuck's Sake...

16:47 / 27.08.01

Here's a Village Voice article on homosexuality in Hip-Hop culture.

Tyrone: If that was meant to be a joke, it fell rather flat.

jUne, a sunshiny month

09:27 / 28.08.01

quote: Tyrone : If that was meant to be a joke, it fell rather flat.

well, at first i was thinking the same.
one sec after, i just remembered that i was on barbelith, land of all freedoms, and of all 145627 level of bad bad bad sense of humour.

one of my favorite pals is really into hip hop, he's so much into this shit that i cant' imagine he's gay. seems obvious to me that all these lyrics ARE the flat stuff.
well. now, Tyrone is probably old enough to defend himself... or maye it wasn't a joke at all ?

Ganesh

09:46 / 28.08.01

Well, I thought it was quite funny - and I'm a poof, so I overrule you all.

(Just in case people take me seriously too...)

09:56 / 28.08.01

I think Tyrone was not, say, poking fun at gays but rather, poking fun at a stereotype that essentially precludes gay rappers at this point.

And now that we've deconstructed the joke, let us move on.

Um, maybe it's like the "Monie Love" and "MC Lyte" sorta thing. I mean for a long time there were no female rappers. One of the reason Salt n' Pepa appeared so baddass when they came on the scene (well, in my 14-year old eyes at least) was because they were lady rappers.

And then there were no white rappers, but along came the Beastie Boys and Third Bass and now we're stuck with Eminem because of that.

(By the way, if you ever get a chance to look at Eminem's 'art book' describing his songs and why he wrote them, you should. It's just so wrong and it's HILARIOUS.)

So it's probably just a matter of time. It took a while for queercore to come on the scene but it did.

All you need is a GOOD gay rapper, and the doors will be open..

No star here laces

09:56 / 28.08.01

Thank you cherry.

Ganesh

09:56 / 28.08.01

(Mini 'Brass Eye' furore, there...)

14:23 / 28.08.01

quote:Originally posted by Tyrone Bongolaces:
Thank you cherry.

Pleasure.

..and while we're on the subject of gay rappers, I was thinking about this whilst riding the bike last night. It's rather true that gays and lesbians are excluded from MOST forms of rock n' roll. And if they DO come out, they're canonized or ridicule.

Let's take Melissa Etheridge. PLEASE (nyuk nyuk). I mean, I CANNOT BLOODY STAND HER ANNOYING SONGS but everyone loves her b/c she's out about being a dyke. Here's what I say: Yeah yeah yeah, you're a lesbian, now how 'bout writing a good song!

And then there's K.D. Laing who's another canon saint of gay rock - at least she actually shows some talent.

But thinking about it, I can think of more gay girls who rock than gay boys. Other than queercore and more pop dance things like Wham! (My boss when I worked at my favorite cafe ever used to reminisce "Oh remember Wham!? It was just so cute. When they broke up you knew George and Andrew'd been fighting, and when they got back together you knew they'd made up..").

But let's take more hard-rock stuff. I can only think of the guy from Faith No More, my man Bob Mould and the queercore movement when it comes to gay guys who rock hard. Am I missing something here?

I think it just comes down to that machsissmo so prevalent in hard rock and rap.

And let's not forget how misogynist rap is. Bitch bitch bitch, ho ho ho, fuckin bitches as opposed to loving them (and being proud of that), etc.

Right there that's something that I believe prevents males who don't fit the macho breeder stereotype (gay men) from joining in. Gay men love dick, and bitches love dick, and we know how well they're treated in hip-hop.

I'm not sure if I'm even on to anything, just thinking about it.

Thoughts?

16:38 / 28.08.01

What's this 14527 level of humour? I don't understand.

(The reference, that is, rather than the charming joke itself...)

Ganesh

19:02 / 28.08.01

I found the Guardian article interesting, partly because the 'homie-sexuals' interviewed articulated such seeming-contradictory views in such an explicit manner: "You can't fuck no faggots. I will only do a man if he got a wife or girlfriend. I like to fuck men for fun but I ain't gay and I ain't trying to love some damn man. I got a son. I don't want my family exposed to that kinda nasty shit." is a fairly typical quote.

The whole 'fucker = straight/man, fuckee = gay/woman' thing is an old, old myth. In some ways, the 'homo-thugs' interviewed were more honest than most: they, at least, actually admitted to having sex with men. There's still a basic, underlying hypocrisy at play, though; the 'crime' is redefined as being a faggot ie. acting like a woman. I'm pretty sure there's a good proportion of 'em like to be on the receiving end too...

It's interesting that Caushun's trying to succeed as an openly gay rapper; there is, as they say, a 'window'. Not sure he's the man to do it, though.

20:24 / 28.08.01

It's kind of like, "Yeah, I'm gay, but I'm still a MAN..." Because perhaps because the world of hip-hop is so ultramacho.

So it's OK to be a gay rapper if you're "straight-acting"?

Ganesh

22:25 / 28.08.01

I suspect the rule still applies that one must be 'straight acting' to the point of identifying as straight ("but I like to fool around with other brothers") and claiming to always be the fucker, never the fucked. Being penetrated, it would appear, is the sole province of 'bitches' (male or female).

Caushun's defiantly 'faggoty', judging from the interview; I just don't have particularly high expectations of his actual rapping.

Anyone heard him?

Regrettable Juvenilia

22:25 / 28.08.01

There's a link to some snippets of his stuff above, G...

He's not very impressive, so far, but then it's hard to tell from those samples. I suspect he will be something of a sacrificial lamb: huge media attention based on his sexuality rather than the music, massive backlash, career and life FUBAR. Then ten years later, a bunch of really good gay rappers will come along and everyone will say how much better they are.

No star here laces

13:20 / 29.08.01

I think its all to do with being hard and strong. If a new mc came along who was clearly very hardcore, in the sort of MOP mold, and then came out as gay that would probably go a long way to changing attitudes in hip hop.

But at the moment gay=weak, and weak=no respect, and caushun certainly isn't going to change that. It really doesn't matter whether he can rap or not. He could be the next biggie, lyrically, and it wouldn't make a jot of difference, the real hurdle is around image. And I doubt many mcs around today have a strong enough image to be able to come out and still sell records...

Ganesh

21:51 / 29.08.01

Yeah. Someone up in the Conversation commented on 'gay' being used as an all-purpose insult meaning 'crap' or 'loser' or 'lame' or whatever. I wonder whether Brian Dowling winning Big Brother will cause any kind of shift in that view? Y'know, he was the epitome of 'faggoty' but he won the damn thing. Graham Norton winning BAFTAs etc. is much the same.

We need more incredibly camp (ie. extremely 'gay') individuals being good at what they do - ie. not 'losers'...

16:06 / 04.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Cherry Bomb:

But let's take more hard-rock stuff. I can only think of the guy from Faith No More, my man Bob Mould and the queercore movement when it comes to gay guys who rock hard. Am I missing something here?

Jello fuckin' Biafra.

There's also kinda Michael Stipe and even more kinda Evan Dando, but they're not that hard, and not that gay (in that they've been romantically linked to women).

jUne, a sunshiny month

18:01 / 04.09.01

quote: Cherry Bomb: Am I missing something here?
Grant : Jello fuckin' Biafra.

biaffra was ? oups, i didn't knew it at all.
maybe i've missed something.

10:17 / 05.09.01

gay boy ric is another american rapper, haven't heard him. i have an album by out dyke rapper cyryus which i really like, it's pretty mellow.

and what's this about uncle jello???

No star here laces

10:38 / 05.09.01

Elemental Magazine once ran a hilarious (unintentionally) piece entitled "Are you going to stand up for hip hop or bend over?" lamenting the existence of some gay 'rainbow' rap group in California that not only contained gays but gay whiteys and chinese lesbians!!!.

12:00 / 05.09.01

so, i'm curious, does going to prison have anything to do with this? i don't mean "prison turns you gay" or anything like that, but i was thinking more along the lines of the whole gangsta scene and how breaking the law and going to prison makes you a hard man. i was wondering if that fit into the equation anywhere.

(of course, breaaking the law and not being sent to prison makes you even harder....)

autopilot disengaged

12:19 / 05.09.01

i think it's maybe an interesting parallel with the whole culture of violence celebrated by the worst elements in hip-hop.

if that feels like any action can be justified by turning the blame on the victim (for being weak) - then the passive partner in a sex act can be similarly tarred.

stupid, bully-boy bullshit.

like graham says, it'll happen. someone'll come along and rewrite the rules.