The Passion of the Weiss Guide to the “Gay Rapper”
The “gay rapper” is the rap version of the Bigfoot myth. Unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo have flown around the hip-hop community since the first time Kurtis Blow decided to pose half-naked on an album cover (well, that and the fact that his name was Kurtis Blow.) But the mill really started churning when the Source did their infamous Gay rapper expose in the 90s and has continued in full force ever since, with nary a single rapper ever actually coming out of the closet.
Now, according to this story in Gawker, they’ll be outed whether they like it or not, via a tell-all confessional from a former MTV executive named Terrance Dean, who allegedly will reveal that “homosexuality is a reality at nearly every level of Hip-Hop, [a genre with] a prominent gay sub-culture…a world that industry insiders are keenly aware of, but choose to ignore.” Like Ja Rule.
Whether the book is true or not, next month should prove very interesting. I’m willing to bet that at this very moment, there are a whole lot of rappers on the phone with their “Kosher” lawyers, preparing a mess of lawsuits and furious denunciations of Terrance Dean. Who they are, we’ll just have to wait and see. But based on rumors and speculation bandied about over the past decade, I’ve compiled a totally unscientific short-list to who might be named. I have absolutely no idea whether or not any of these rappers are gay, nor is there anything wrong with it if they are. If by chance you find something deeply offensive, may I recommend getting a sense of humor. Hopefully, one better than my own.
Ja Rule
Odds Ja Rule Will Be Named: 4:1
Why: Album covers that may have been the genesis for the phrase “homo thug,” the infatuation with ecstasy, the homoerotic fascination with trying to be 2Pac. And of course, the insanely homophobic rants about “MTV shows that promote homosexuality…My kids can’t watch this sh-t. “Dating shows that’s showing two guys or two girls in mid-afternoon. Let’s talk about s**t like that! If that’s not f**king up America, I don’t know what is.” I do. Ja Rule’s music.
Lil Wayne
Odds: Even
Why: The above photo. Giggles when drunk. Has claimed via song that not only does he kiss his daddy, but that his drink is pinker than the easter bunny and that his dreadlocks swing down his back like Rapunzel. There aren’t enough “No Homo’s” in the world to qualify that last statement.
Dr. Dre
Odds: 3:2
Why: I always found the “Real Compton City G’s,” video very convincing. Also, am I the only person who found that Game song, “The Doctor’s Advocate” really really weird? Drunk late-night melodrama, Busta Rhymes carrying the Game off to bed, Dre caught in the midst of this wacky love triangle? Also has always shown a fascination with “deez nuts.”
Any Female Rapper
Odds: 1:3
Why: Because female rappers are the WNBA of the music world. Everyone from Da Brat to Trina to MC Lyte, Missy Elliot to Latifah has been accused of being gay. Plus, an ex-girlfriend of mine told me that she once got hit on outside of a nightclub by Latifah and for the purposes of this story, I’m going to believe her.
Erick Sermon
Odds: 4:3
Why: Long-rumored to be the original gay rapper, Sermon himself the nickname, “the green-eyed bandit.” Also seemed obsessed with giving people the bozack, and those Jane stories always seemed of the “my girlfriend’s in Canada” ilk.
Puffy & Mase
Odds: 2:1
Why: Because Superhead, the infamous video vixen wrote in her book how Puffy and Xzibit took her to a gay club. Because he actively uses the phrase “manservant.” Because of the pictures from this thread on dancehallreggae.com (ah, the wonders of Google search); and of course, that whole Mase getting caught with a transvestite hooker thing. To say nothing of the fact that the label is called “Bad Boy.”
DMX
Odds: 5:1
Why: Has never actually been photographed with a shirt on. In a genre plagued by rampant homophobia, few rappers are more virulent than DMX who in addition to letting people know that it is dark and hell is hot and that “his dogs bite,” expressed his feelings about gay people on “Where Da’ Hood At” by declaring that he shows “no love to homo thugs/even if we squashed the beef, I ain’t touching your hand” and that “I don’t fuck with niggaz that think they broads.” Which didn’t stop him from appearing on last year’s “Touch It Remix” with Busta Rhymes where he delivering 16 bars about murdering “faggots.” I assume he does this after he plays them “How it’s Goin’ Down.”
Cam’Ron
Odds: Even
Why: The song “He Tried To Play Me,” the purple fur hats, the strange and unaccounted for relationship with a man named Freekey Zeekey and before that with Mase. Moreover, Cam’ron started the “no homo,” trend, a phrase that while being fun to say ironically, is actually one of the more ridiculously stupid things ever coined. Think about it, if you have to add “no homo” after every statement you drop that could possibly be taken out of context, there is a high likelihood that you are probably a little too worried about your own sexuality. Pause.
50 Cent
Odds: 5:1
Why: In spite of the fact that he made hip-hop homo-eroticism an art form, 50 also has a nasty streak of homophobia, once telling Playboy that “I ain’t into f—-ts…I don’t like gay people around me, because I’m not comfortable with what their thoughts are.” But judging from his steroid-addled, baby-oiled body, there is a substantial chance that Dean might reveal what happens inside 50’s “Disco Inferno.”
Busta Rhymes
Odds: 3:1
Why: Loves the P.T.A., sun-dresses, garish colored-clothing and once wrote a song called “hot fudge.” Further arousing people’s suspicions is Busta’s extremely nasty strain of homophobia which he unleashed last year on a gay fan on Miami trying to get his autograph, an incident in which Rhymes declared, “I hate fucking faggots.” All in all, it can cause anyone to re-evaluate the meaning of the song, “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.”
April 24th, 2008 at 12:38 am
i remember reading somewhere that latifah came out of the closet recently.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:17 am
I had an epiphany last year about DMX and 50 Cent being gay.
Listen to “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot” right now–90% of the album is about men; what DMX will do for his men, what he has done to other men, what men should expect to see from him, all the men he mourns…all of this gayness is hidden with the words “dog” and “n*gga.” And “How’s it Goin Down” has ALWAYS struck me as completely unbelievable ever since I was 14. Even then, I didn’t feel comfortable hearing DMX pretend to have an interest in women.
Same goes for 50. When he makes his chick songs, it sounds forced and invalid, like he’d rather be buying bra-strap wifebeaters at Barney’s rather than having to talk to a woman.
Watch the Harlem World video “I Like It.” Mase is gay–anyone who agrees to shoot a rap video at a multi-colored, glossy big top/carnival is not playing with house money.
Kanye really said it best a while back in regards to Jim Jones and Beans calling him gay, “Fam, if I was gay, I would do whatever I could not to bring any attention to that in this culture. I wouldn’t wear regular fitting clothes and scarves and backpacks. I’d be making threats, rocking baggy jeans and tims saying I would kill a gay guy.”
April 24th, 2008 at 8:24 am
We need some hip-hop slash fiction
April 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am
As someone who grew up in and around the industry and knows a bunch of shit dating back to the 80’s that I assured a lot of folks I was taking to the grave with me let me just say this: You’re 3 out of 11 (and one of the categories you named has MULTIPLE names…some that you would say “Word?” and others that you’d go “Duh!”).
I remember when I first found out that this female emcee I had a crush on for years wasn’t really that into guys. Boy was that a sad day in that eye opening summer of 1988.
LOL.
One.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Funny ish, Weiss.
Some more evidence for Sermon:
-calls himself “The Rap Goddess”
-frequently sings along with the female parts of samples
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xesLLxNEX8
That being said, I don’t really care if a rapper is gay or not. It would be nice if hip hop wasn’t so homophobic, but there’s still a lot of humour inherent in trying to find the closeted ones.
Latifah already came out tho’.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
What about Luke? dude is trying too hard…
April 27th, 2008 at 12:13 am
blank stare.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Agreed on “no homo”. It’s simply one of the most inane things you can say. I always instantly lose respect for the person that uses it.
April 27th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I’ve always assumed Latifah was lesbian (not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course) since she did that “remix” of Get At Me Dog for a Clue tape from around ‘98, dropping the line: “Get off my tits and tell your bitch to come here”
Here it is: http://33jones.com/mixes/queenlafreestyle.mp3
April 28th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
@ Fresh:
Sorry to be a Hip Hop know it all but that song was “Name Calling” and it was performed as Cleo, Latifah’s character from “Set It Off” who WAS a lesbian. Oh yeah, it was also ghostwritten by Apache (”Gangsta Bitch”).
But yeah…she’s still a lesbian.
One.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:55 am
I never knew it was ghostwritten by Apache, but I did realize it was supposed to be as Cleo. I still always got the impression that there was more than a little bit of an autobiographical approach to her acting/rapping in that role.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I have learned in life that anything has a 50-50 chance of happening.no pun intended… Or is it!
May 14th, 2008 at 3:15 am
[…] jeff weiss brilliantly stated in his half-joking “guide to the gay rapper”, “the ‘gay rapper’ is hip-hop’s version of the bigfoot myth.” due to […]