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Kerrigan · Dec 29, 2007, 11:44 PM

Is hip-hop music gay? Lyrics of popular hip-hop songs these days center around "clean white tees", jewelery, girlish Tanqueray drinks, and one's ability to rhyme words better than other guys can. Prominence in hip hop circles can hinge around one's ability to out-dance another guy, similar to how gay gangs would have "vogue" dance competitions against one another. P. Diddy and many other hip hop artists wear veritable unisex style sunglasses that recall the Jackie O. look. All of this leaves me with the feeling that hip-hop really is gay.

nonhuman · Dec 29, 2007, 11:50 PM

All of this leaves me wondering why it is you know so much about gay gangs.

Kerrigan · Dec 29, 2007, 11:51 PM

Uh uh honey don't go there *snap*

ctt1wbw · Dec 30, 2007, 12:02 AM

"Become" gay??? It always was.

Kerrigan · Dec 30, 2007, 12:11 AM

I didn't think NWA or Snoop Dogg were gay. I think something went wrong along the course of its development.

Jawbone54 · Dec 30, 2007, 12:16 AM

I don't know about it having become "gay," exactly, but it's sucked for a long, long time.

It was all downhill after "Here Comes the Hotstepper."

Rumor · Dec 30, 2007, 12:44 AM

Word up.

moonmonkey · Dec 30, 2007, 01:16 AM

Tanqueray, Bentley's and poems, sounds like they are becoming English.

Nivag · Dec 30, 2007, 05:39 AM

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

I didn't think NWA or Snoop Dogg were gay. I think something went wrong along the course of its development.

Yup, Snoops not gay, can't image a gay bloke wearing this outfit.

PlacidTubs · Dec 30, 2007, 07:52 AM

This thread reminds me of the great Sage Francis lyric:

"Homophobic rappers unaware of the graphic nature of phallic symbols, tragically ironic sucking off each other's GATs and pistols."

Oisín · Dec 30, 2007, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

I didn't think NWA or Snoop Dogg were gay. I think something went wrong along the course of its development.

It was always teh ghey. It has increasingly also become gay.

Experts predict that by next year, it will have become guaie.

dcmacdaddy · Dec 30, 2007, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by Oisín

It was always teh ghey. It has increasingly also become gay.

Experts predict that by next year, it will have become guaie.

That was a true LOL moment for me when I read your post.

Seriously, hip-hop has always been gay. Now, some of your old-school rap groups might stand apart from the bling-and-bang* trend of today's hip-hop crowd--I am thinking of old-school rappers like Public Enemy--but hip-hop music and culture has always been about material possessions and hyper-intense, hyper-aggressive sexuality as markers of social identity. And for good or for ill, those two same behaviors have long been identified with gay culture.

*where as much bling as you can and bang as many people as you can

ShortcutToMoncton · Dec 30, 2007, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

I didn't think NWA or Snoop Dogg were gay. I think something went wrong along the course of its development.

I assume I'm the only person who giggled at this connotation of gay as "wrong"?

greg

IceEnclosure · Dec 30, 2007, 12:21 PM

you people know nothing.

Shaddim · Dec 30, 2007, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

I don't know about it having become "gay," exactly, but it's sucked for a long, long time.

It was all downhill after "Here Comes the Hotstepper."

It's really classified as Dancehall. But yeah, it sucked.

sek929 · Dec 30, 2007, 02:51 PM

It's like a Hampton Beach Ikea store in here.

IceEnclosure · Dec 30, 2007, 04:13 PM

haha at theze white guys in tube socks!

abbaZaba · Dec 30, 2007, 04:43 PM

the only reason you think this is because you get your dose of hip-hop from the radio. that **** is retarded. it's simple beats with simple words that are just for making money. and yes, I'm including Puff Daddy and Jay-Z.

go pick up a Gravediggaz album or even the new Wu-Tang. guarantee you won't see any of those guys trying to 'outdance' someone

Oisín · Dec 30, 2007, 05:08 PM

go pick up a Gravediggaz album or even the new Wu-Tang. guarantee you won't see any of those guys trying to 'outdance' someone

You will still, however, be left with a remarkably crappy album.

Salty · Dec 30, 2007, 05:39 PM

I'm offended by the insinuation that hip hop is anything like me!

dcmacdaddy · Dec 30, 2007, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by Salty

I'm offended by the insinuation that hip hop is anything like me!

Yay, yet another self-centered post from Salty about his gayness. Who didn't see this coming?

Hey Salty, didn't you get the memo, no one here cares that you are gay. Get over it already.

- - e r i k - - · Dec 30, 2007, 06:12 PM

@pplejaxkz · Dec 30, 2007, 06:37 PM

"I don't know. All that rap is, is clicks and whistles." -Master-Shake(ATHF)

I think a lot of mainstream rap is really stupid, pointless and well I guess you could say it's becoming gay. I am not one to use that term that often, but pink shirts, big earrings and etc. What else is it really?

I don't think real Hip Hop is becoming gay though. Groups like; Atmosphere, Blackalicious (Gift of Gab), Jurassic 5, A Tribe called Quest. I think people like 50 cent, Soulja boy, TI who ever that is, is giving Hip Hop artists a bad name. With songs that make no sense and are just a bunch of bad language and aggressive remarks.

pooka · Dec 30, 2007, 06:45 PM

I'm going to have to go with "quite gay". I was at a bar last night filled with twenty-something aged college kids. To see a room full of cracker ass crackers singing along with such crap and making attempts to shake their nonexistent asses pretty much qualifies as shite.

Kerrigan · Dec 30, 2007, 07:10 PM

Haha, yea. I was at an album launch party (non-rap), and they had live band karaoke. Eventually, a skinny white guy wearing Bapes (effeminate pink hip hop clothing) and a hat with the size-sticker still on it, came to the stage and started rapping some song called "Rat Scratch Fever (Eat more Beaver)". I wanted to kill him.

This brings to light another phenomenon I hold in contempt: white rappers. But maybe that's for another thread.

chris v · Dec 30, 2007, 07:21 PM

So, the question is "does rap music prefer to have sexual relations with music of the same sex?"

I'm sorry -- I guess I don't follow.

Kerrigan · Dec 30, 2007, 09:35 PM

Not very good at making logical inferences involving common colloquialisms, eh? I'm sorry for you too :-p

chris v · Dec 30, 2007, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Not very good at making logical inferences involving common colloquialisms, eh? I'm sorry for you too :-p

Well, I know by saying "Is Rap Music Gay?"

you really mean "Is Rap Music Bad?"

which means, most likely (I'm PROJECTING!1) that to you, gay=bad.

My question to you is what does it matter who sleeps with who, so long as both ADULT parties are happy about it? Huh?

I s'pose I'm just sick to death of "gay" being used as an insult.

Question: Is Emo-Core Music straight? Or is it bi?

Ratm · 10:26 PM

Here's how you find out. Go up to a black guy that's about 6 ft tall and ask him that very same question. Let us all know how long it took for him to rip your balls of and turn you into his bitch. A little white(?) bitch like yourself, so hairless and soft...yummy!

****ing idiot!

When you look back and see the origins of Rock, yeah they took it a step further. Glamor Rock...LOL

moonmonkey · Dec 30, 2007, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by Ratm

Here's how you find out. Go up to a black guy that's about 6 ft tall and ask him that very same question. Let us all know how long it took for him to rip your balls of and turn you into his bitch. A little white(?) bitch like yourself, so hairless and soft...yummy!

****ing idiot!

When you look back and see the origins of Rock, yeah they took it a step further. Glamor Rock...LOL

Are you trying to say Black people are aggressive?
If you are I find that very offensive.

Kerrigan · 11:04 PM

I know, that was a pretty racist post, saying that black people are easily agitated, that they somehow have animal-like strength, and then he called me a "little white bitch". Do you, Ratm, actually think African Americans are like sex-starved prisoners that want to have sex with hairless, nubile white bitches? Do you think that I, by virtue of being white, am not actually 6'2" and an athlete, as I am?

Do you think that your racist stereotypes are in any way constructive to a light hearted discussion on popular hip-hop culture? This is a thread about girlish rappers like P. Diddy and making fun of their excesses as they can be perceived to mirror trends in popular gay culture. It is also a talking point in critical black music magazines that the state of hip hop culture is increasingly divergent from its origins, so its ridiculous to say that black people will attack me if I suggest that hip hop is gay, in the idiomatic sense.

Kerrigan · Dec 30, 2007, 11:09 PM

chris v: The two gay people participating in this thread haven't taken any offense at the opprobrious use of the word "gay", so I'm guessing you're expressing some unjustified liberal guilt on their behalf

chris v · Dec 30, 2007, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

chris v: The two gay people participating in this thread haven't taken any offense at the opprobrious use of the word "gay", so I'm guessing you're expressing some unjustified liberal guilt on their behalf

I guess so -- I'll stand down, as I don't much like hip-hop, whatever its orientation.

Jawbone54 · Dec 30, 2007, 11:49 PM

If hip-hop is gay, rock is bisexual, and jazz is into "swinging"...

...where does that leave Barry Manilow?

Face Ache · Dec 31, 2007, 12:14 AM

Facing the morning
Crying on a breeze.

Oh Mandy.

dcmacdaddy · Dec 31, 2007, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by Face Ache

Facing the morning
Crying on a breeze.

Oh Mandy.

I hope you had to Google those lyrics, cause otherwise, we've got a third poster in this thread who is gay.

Tyler McAdams · Dec 31, 2007, 01:23 AM

Originally Posted by Nivag

Yup, Snoops not gay, can't image a gay bloke wearing this outfit.

Can you imagine a high one? Snoop's not gay he's high... look at those eyes. Can you actually tell what you're wearing that stoned?

Face Ache · Dec 31, 2007, 01:39 AM

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

I hope you had to Google those lyrics

You'd better believe it, buddy.

Kenneth · Dec 31, 2007, 03:49 AM

I thought you meant the recent B2K and Chris Stokes' sexual abuse case.

Oisín · Dec 31, 2007, 04:23 AM

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

opprobrious

Bravo. I just learned a new word.

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

If hip-hop is gay, rock is bisexual, and jazz is into "swinging"...

...where does that leave Barry Manilow?

Hopefully far, far away, in a hole under a stone somewhere, together with Luther Vandross.

Originally Posted by Ratm

Here's how you find out. Go up to a black guy that's about 6 ft tall and ask him that very same question. Let us all know how long it took for him to rip your balls of and turn you into his bitch. A little white(?) bitch like yourself, so hairless and soft...yummy!

****ing idiot!

When you look back and see the origins of Rock, yeah they took it a step further. Glamor Rock...LOL

ShortcutToMoncton · Dec 31, 2007, 08:44 AM

...well, the guy has a point. Rock "became gay" decades ago.

greg

besson3c · Dec 31, 2007, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by Nivag

Yup, Snoops not gay, can't image a gay bloke wearing this outfit.

Maybe he's just going bowling?

Oisín · Dec 31, 2007, 09:21 AM

Going by the hat, it looks more like he’s off for a swim.

wallinbl · Dec 31, 2007, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by Kerrigan

Is hip-hop music gay? Lyrics of popular hip-hop songs these days center around "clean white tees", jewelery, girlish Tanqueray drinks, and one's ability to rhyme words better than other guys can. Prominence in hip hop circles can hinge around one's ability to out-dance another guy, similar to how gay gangs would have "vogue" dance competitions against one another. P. Diddy and many other hip hop artists wear veritable unisex style sunglasses that recall the Jackie O. look. All of this leaves me with the feeling that hip-hop really is gay.

I'm pretty sure you just described MC Hammer. So, I guess not much has changed.

IceEnclosure · Dec 31, 2007, 12:29 PM

II L, II L 2 Quit.

sek929 · Dec 31, 2007, 01:30 PM

Any mainstream music is 'gay' but there is plenty of awesome hip hop out there if you'd bother to look for it.

scaught · Jan 1, 2008, 01:43 AM

Originally Posted by sek929

Any mainstream music is 'gay' but there is plenty of awesome hip hop out there if you'd bother to look for it.

MTV is the only place I look for for current and interesting musics! Kurt Loder, plz tell me the name of the new hot groups! Spoon feed me!

ghporter · Jan 1, 2008, 09:11 AM

It was my impression that the term "ultra-materialistic" applied to most "successful" rappers in the last, oh maybe 5-10 years. There is little innovation in the hip-hop I hear, and the "artists" seem to go straight for spending tons of money on an outrageously conspicuous consumption lifestyle. I particularly like it when an "artist" uses lyrics that talk about being poor and downtrodden and then spends $100k on personal jewelry. Way to show that you know what you're "singing" about, eh?

scaught · Jan 1, 2008, 09:55 AM

Oh wow. I posted some poor drunken sarcasm a few hours ago. Well liquor does that to me.

Hey. We have this thread all the time. People post the "all rap talks about is bitches, hos, nigga this, blablabla". The defenders of hip hop show up to try and show them the way "Please, go back and investigate some artists from the past! A tribe called quest's 'midnight marauders' is a great album! Please give it a chance! For a more recent foray into good and interesting hip hop please try Talib Kweli's 'Ear Drum'. There are many more examples for you to peruse if you care to." It always falls on deaf ears. People love to post the criticism more than being proved wrong.

ghporter · Jan 1, 2008, 11:06 AM

scaught, I have to ask something. If you have to look back at "artists from the past", if you have to point out what now seem to be obscure artists and their work, what does that say about the genre today? I think it says that it's been taken over by (dare I say it) hacks and formula artists who put out cookie-cutter pieces that have the requisite number of negative statements about urban life, women, "the system" and so on, because people will buy it. I remember country music going through a phase where everything was "modern," including overproduction on every song (does every love song require an orchestra?) and formula out the wazzoo (check out David Allen Coe's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" for a great lampoon of that formula-bound era). After that came "the new traditionalists" like Randy Travis, who got back to what the genre was about, and things settled down. The point is that until fans stop buying drivel and start demanding real art, the formula hacks will prevail.