I found this article that came out in the Huffington Post back in September. It addresses the issue of Homophobia which we gained some knowledge on today in class through the video. It was written by a Hip-Hop artist named Brother Ali.
The full title of the Article is, "The Intersection of Homophobia and Hip-Hop: Where Tyler Met Frank". Obviously this is in reference to the coming out of R&B artist Frank Ocean, which was also brought up in class today. I suggest that anyone who has not read Frank's "Coming out Letter" read it. It was really touching and showed a side of him that you would never expect, the link to this is included in the article.
The article also focuses on Tyler The Creator, leading figure of the group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All; the most outlandish group of teenagers in the rap game at the moment. Tyler, is infamous for using the word "Faggot" within his lyrics; a total of 213 times in the Goblin album. Brother Ali presents the hypocritical nature of Tyler, for when Frank came out Tyler was one of the first people to tweet "So proud of you!" to Frank. But how can you rap about homophobia in way that makes it seem as if that choice of lifestyle is degrading and unmanly, but turn around and smile at him like you didn't just indirectly disrespect the way he chooses to live? The article also presents Tyler's defense, claiming that he is not homophobic and uses the word "Faggot" in an alternative manner.
It is a lot more interesting reading it, than just me talking about it. I just wanted to share it with everyone since we did just discuss this today in class.
What are your thoughts on the article?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brother-ali/hip-hop-homophobia-_b_1864676.html
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