Hip Hop Monday #11: Intentionally Misinterpreting Some Rap As If Being Gay Was Considered Good By The Rapper

June is Pride month and, given that Tyler saying ‘faggot’ got plenty of attention, both on this blog and whilst out talking to real humans, I thought I would do something annoying and facetious to celebrate. Now, we all know that being gay is neither good nor bad, but many famous rappers from the murky, unknown times before Odd Future invented homophobia tended to, surprisingly, use homosexuality as a jigsaw piece that would pretty much immediately imply a bunch of negative connotations. As the title of this post implies, I will be cherrypicking quotes from rap songs and reading them as if the rapper considered homosexuality to immediately imply a bunch of positive connotations.

Nas – Halftime (Illmatic, 1994)

Versatile, my style switches like a faggot
But not bisexual, I’m an intellectual
Of rap I’m a professional and that’s no question, yo.

Halftime is the best song on Illmatic, Illmatic is Nas’ best album and Nas is a god-tier rapper (to the extent that when he drops new songs, after more than a decade of doing the opposite of what he did on Illmatic, people still get excited), so this is a very high profile place in the context of hip hop history. Nas plays the difference between heterosexual and homosexual relations against each other to show how different he is, and how aggressively versatile. He is “not bisexual” – this perhaps implies that he is an all-or-nothing rapper, never operating in the shades of the spectrum, but always in black and white, concrete ideas that have conventional, understood meaning to a broad sector of society.

50 Cent – In Da Club (Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 2002)

I’m that cat by the bar toasting to the good life
Yo that faggot ass nigga trying to pull me back right?

A number one song on the Billboard Hot 100, this is another very high profile example of what we are talking about. In these lines, 50 Cent is celebrating his success, but perhaps to excess. His level-headed homosexual friend pulls him aside and convinces him to calm down and not fall victim to the trappings of success as so many have before him.

Lil Wayne – A Milli (Tha Carter III, 2008)

On some faggot bullshit
Call him Dennis Rodman

Lil Wayne’s rap ‘n’ bullshit is in a homosexual style, underpinned by the fact that he kissed Birdman on the lips once. He warrants comparison to Dennis Rodman, who is not gay but occasionally cross-dresses. Everyone is created equal.

Lil B – I’m A Fag I’m A Lesbian

…fuck knows.

A Tribe Called Quest feat. Brand Nubian – Georgie Porgie (Low End Theory outtake, 1991)

Call me homophobic but I know it and you know it
You’re filthy and funny to the utmost exponent
So never will I do it – disrespect my mommy
So go and hide your salami

This unreleased Tribe song, held back by the record label because of how universally positive it was about gay people, is actually entirely on the subject of homosexuality. Yes, even your favourite ‘sound’ rappers, called “the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s,” by AllMusic, were on the pro-gay tip.

So next time you’re kicking it to Can I Kick It? and reminiscing about the time you reblogged tumblr posts about Tyler being the devil, think on that.

Hip Hop Monday #1: Odd Future, Kanye, Freed Weezy

I’m starting a series. Two actually, this one and one on Fridays called Lo-Fi Fridays. I would imagine that, in particular, nobody was sitting at home going “man, I wish there was a regular weekly feature on rap music on Those Geese Were Stupefied” but I’m listening to a lot of it, I want to try to write about it, and I need a good excuse to write regularly. So here it is.

Odd Future – Sandwitches

Odd Future had their first show outside America on Friday, in London. It went well. Per Tyler The Creator, founder, leader, producer and best rapper amongst them:

@fucktyler It Just Hit Me. I’m In Fucking London. What The Fuck? Just Performed A Sold Out Show, With Mosh Pits And White Kids That Know Lyrics. WTF.

Also this:

@fucktyler Just Took My First Shit In Another Country.

Tyler The Creator is obviously an excellent rapper, and he’s also got Eminem levels of charisma. And he does his own beats. There is no reason why he (and Odd Future) won’t be doing stupid shit at MTV Awards ceremonies within two years. It sounds hard and “real”, if “realness” is important to you in your rap music these days (do you believe Drake? he still loves that girl?) but it’s also just mental enough to endear itself to people who can’t square themselves with mainstream hip hop without irony. Like Eminem. Maybe a little rougher though.

I’m goin’ harder than a midget jumpin’ over me.
Chronic youth, I’m shovin’ blunt wraps in bitches’ ovaries.
Punches to the stomach where that bastard kid’s supposed to be.
Fuck a mask, I want that ho to know it’s me.

Not for kids.

There’s a distinct vibe off Tyler that he’s waiting in a green room to be the biggest rapper in the world. It’s not just because he’s great, and his buzz is building. He actually spends quite a lot of time talking about it, with Wu-Tang pride and no little sense of entitlement.

Nigga had the fuckin’ nerve to call me immature.
The fuck you think I made Odd Future for?
To wear suits and make good decisions?
Fuck that nigga.
Wolf Gang

Odd Future’s also called Wolf Gang (and Golf Wang). Tyler’s also called Wolf Haley. It’s a whole world to buy into. He also raps about rape quite a lot. Back to that another time.

Kanye West, Pusha T, Big Sean, Cyhi The Prince & J. Cole – Looking For Trouble

Kanye’s doing this Good Fridays thing where he puts loads of boring rappers on songs and puts them up on Fridays. They’re mostly crap. This new one is also kinda crap. The first two verse are okay, but it’s well-noted by Noz that Big Sean’s verse is way louder than the rest of them, and also Big Sean, do not rap about other people asking you to sit “at the throne”. C’mon, man. Dignity. And then minutes later J. Cole, much touted, says “never say I’m better than Hov but I’m the closest one.” He’s not. But c’mon, at least avoid the subject.

Lil Wayne got released from jail. He said this.

@liltunechi aaaaaaahhhhhhmmmmm baaaaakkkkkkkkkk

And also this

@liltunechi Ha ha ha ha ha

Because Lil Wayne is legitimately insane. I spent about 8 hours all told listening to Lil Wayne’s 100 Greatest Songs (also Noz) on Complex Magazine‘s site, to celebrate the freeing of Weezy, who I never cared that much about before. Guess what? A Milli’s number one. Guess what else? It’s probably the only Lil Wayne song I’ll intentionally listen to, ever again. But, for one long string of freestyle-esque words over a beat that’s nothing but one note of sub bass, it’s pretty remarkable. This is not news.

Lil Wayne – A Milli

Hi, Hype Machine. Next week this will not be stuff you care about.