Thus, commercial rap became the medium of inane and violent bark. Rap’s growth into a lucrative business throughout the ‘90s dulled many artists’ emphasis on social injustice, while keeping the lyrical vituperation and materialism-both marketable elements-sharply honed. By the ‘70s, hip-hop emerged as an expression of the borough’s frustrations, reinforced by a dense layer of blunt machismo in response to the threatening environment that shaped it. Between the ‘40s and the ‘60s, the impoverished Bronx experienced the destruction of residential neighbourhoods to make room for the Cross-Bronx Expressway and their replacement with densely crowded housing projects. Historians believe that the vicious braggadocio permeating much of hip-hop stems from its origins in the Bronx. For any people who look into it any other way, go into the Bible and look up the story”), younger artists seem to employ homophobia with the same degree of posturing evident in the violent bravado characterizing ‘90s gangster rap. Whereas some older rappers seem genuinely disturbed by homosexuality (in an obnoxious display of atavism, Beanie Sigel told XXL Magazine “You gay, go ahead, do you… Keep that shit all the way in the closet around me. Despite this apparent animosity, which seems to be rooted in Tyler’s desire for attention, he is an outspoken supporter of his fellow OFWGKTA members Frank Ocean and the openly bisexual Syd Tha Kyd. While many weaker rappers use homophobia as a lyrical crutch, Tyler the Creator, OFWGKTA’s most visible and arguably most talented member, frequently employs it in his verses.
In the meantime, the emerging generation of rap artists still reliant on violently homophobic lyrics, such as LA’s breakout Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) collective, is adopting a curiously contradictory attitude. Indeed, a celebrity’s emergence from the closet makes a considerably smaller splash than it previously did-contrast the blasé reaction to Anderson Cooper’s admission with the furor that would have erupted had a news anchor come out in the ‘70s-while support for gay marriage extends as high up as the Oval Office. Russell Simmons, co-founder of the infamous Def Jam Records, has frequently stated that hip-hop is a reflection of the events occurring within the wider community. In part, the change stems from a growing acceptance of homosexuality in culture at-large. Earlier this year, Frank Ocean’s admission to falling in love with a man met with overwhelming support from industry and fans alike, while Azealia Banks’ confirming her bisexuality was (rightly) treated as a non-event. By 2011, a new generation of rappers had begun to express a laissez-faire attitude to sexual orientation, with the then 21-year-old California rapper Lil B releasing a mixtape titled I’m Gay (I’m Happy). The metamorphosis ostensibly began in 2005, when Kanye West spoke out against homophobia after learning that his cousin was gay (incidentally, West later told the New York Daily News that it was the bravest thing he did that year). Nonetheless, the times they are a-changin’. That means no homosexuality.” Twenty years since, against the background of a piecemeal legalization of gay marriage and the abrogation of Clinton’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, hip-hop fans don’t bat an eye at homophobia.
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Had the Beastie Boys gotten their way, their iconic 1986 release, License to Ill, would have been called Don’t Be A Faggot.* Big Daddy Kane, widely regarded as one of hip-hop’s most virtuosic MCs, issued a like-minded edict on “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy” three years later: “the Big Daddy law is anti-faggot. These quotes do not reflect the views of the Tribune. This piece contains language used by others that some may find offensive and hurtful.