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What Would It Mean To Hip-Hop If Kanye West Was Gay

• 26th Jan 2011

This post is not meant to have some cloaked meaning, actually saying I think Kanye West is gay, it’s just something that I feel could spark an important debate about Hip-Hop and its behaviour towards homosexuality. Comments sections on blogs often contain references towards Kanye being gay, typical statements finish with the line …’No Homo’.

The general attitude to gay men in Hip-Hop is to dismiss the person and basically end the music career that they worked hard towards. This does not totally mean that all Hip-Hop enthusiasts are prejudice, a lot of the hostility comes from the lie that they had been sold. For example, do you remember the rapper Chingy?? He had a massive smash hit with the track ‘Right Thurr’. His rap persona was based on a young man, partying and bedding a lot of women. The funny thing is, he was rumoured and exposed to be dating a transsexual by the name of Sydney Star, which effectively ended his career as fans felt they were lied to. Saying that, Rick Ross was exposed for being an ex correctional facilities officer when he claimed to be a Cocaine kingpin and, if anything, he has become more popular; his music is exceptional though.

Moving on, more recently, former B2K member Raz B (remember Bump Bump Bump?) has made a number of shocking allegations that he was molested by Marques Houston (Roger from Sister Sister), his younger brother Omarion and Ray J (Brandy’s brother who made the infamous sex tape with Kim Kardashian). In addition he has attempted to out Bow Wow which has sparked ugly internet videos surfacing on You Tube.

I digress, getting back to the main story, what if Kanye was gay. Would he still be as successful? I believe he would, I believe he is already one of the most controversial rappers to ever have grasped the mic and this is without a gangsta rap persona. I think it would open the door to more rappers feeling comfortable about their sexuality and the final thing I think would benefit is that more people would expose themselves to Hip-Hop.

I asked a friend, who is heavy on opinion and I thought could equally spark a good debate, Jay Norton, he said “It's an audience thing, and a community/society thing – One rapper can't change an audience, and Kanye coming out probably wouldn't change hard-core rap fans opinions should they be homophobic. Look at someone almost equally as big – 50 cent. He wouldn't last a second if he told the world he was gay I feel. Becuase he relies on that audience. While a big rapper like Kanye coming out might shed more light on the gay community – I'd argue any celebrity could do that… And Kanye would be one of the only rappers who could sustain a career beyond – whether rappers followed suit or not. None of the others would be so lucky I reckon”. A good argument indeed.

Hip-Hop already transcends so many walks of life, from black men in America to me, a white working class man, and beyond, so why can’t gay people be part of this movement too. Kanye’s extreme fashion sense and witty humour coupled with his ability to make the best music heard in years. Multiplying this by the fact he changes the game anyway when he releases a new album, would result in an epic proportion of comments sections on blogs being clogged up with opinion, complete drivel and messages of support.

Admittedly his popularity in certain circles would wane but, on the other hand, he would develop an army of new fans. Hip Hop would be changed forever and as a result and more importantly Hip-Hop would be dragged into current times and not the dark ages as it is now (like football). I would like to think people would be more educated and likeminded but until a situation like this happens I guess we will not know.

I'd like to thank Jay Norton for his input on this subject. Jay is a very talented Liverpool singer and for more information you can follow him on twitter @JayNortonMusic and his official website jaynorton.co.uk.

Remember to follow me on twitter @alexgrantohg for more musical musings, next week, Can Tinie Crack America?