I’m not exactly sure if this counts as art, but since it was in the arts section of the New York Times I feel like it’s okay to do so.
On Wednesday one of hip-hop’s most influential producers and radio personality, Mister Cee, resigned his position at Hot 97.1, a hallmark hip-hop radio station. Mister Cee had been on 97.1 for 20 years where he bridged the new school rap with the old school hits for all his listeners. Mister Cee was the reason Notorious B.I.G. got his chance because he was the one who passed on Biggies mix-tape to Combs. Mister Cee was Bid Daddy Kane’s D.J., and Mister Cee was an affiliate of Juice Crew. With a list like that it required something very catastrophic for Mister Cee to resign; however, that wasn’t the case.
In 2011 Mister Cee was arrested for sexually interacting with a male-to-female transgender prostitute. The problem wasn’t that Mister Cee was arrested with a prostitute but that he had sex with a transexual. Mister Cee’s resignation came at a time where he was constantly bashed for his sexuality while his family and friends were incessantly taunted for his sexual preferences. Mister Cee just couldn’t take it any more. It was a difficult decision, but Mister Cee stated ‘“I am tired of trying to do something or be something that I’m not,” Mister Cee said. “I’m tired. I’m tired.”’
Truthfully, I’ve always been a little weirded out by homosexuality, but I’ ve learned to accept it and see it as something that is none of my business. I fully support gay rights and see it as a basic right because gay people don’t have the choice to change their sexuality nor does sexuality alter the world in any way. In Mister Cee’s case he was living in a world that is far more radical and against gay rights: the hip-hop world.
With raps and songs that often times use gay as a derogatory term and who see it as an insult, it wold be hard to consider expressing being a homosexual. Especially with many musicians being of African or Caribbean descent, where homosexuals are quickly killed and rid of, the whole community is a very scary place to express ones self.
I feel bad for Mister Cee because he is in a position where homosexuality can and has changed his entire life for the worse; however, Mister Cee does have some support in his corner, albeit nothing than can seriously change people’s views. His biggest supporter would be Frank Ocean, singer and rapper of super group Odd Future, who wrote a song expressing his admiration for a man. There are also others who have voiced concern in support of gay rights such as Jay-Z, ASAP Rocky, and Kanye West.
My question to you guys is why do you find that homosexuality is so much more intense in the black community and in the hip hop community? I don’t mean to say that all black people are homophobes, but that we don’t really see black homosexuals in the news, media, or any other places.
Homosexuality is a theme in hip-hop that is often bashed at by some of the artists throughout the community. The gangsta-rap of the 1990s made hip-hop cold, violent, and a type of music that appealed more to men. Homosexuality, much like feminism, was often teased at and critiqued by rappers. In the case of homosexuality, the late-1990s rapper DMX was one of hip-hop’s greatest homophobes. In his song, “Where the Hood At”, DMX even says: “I show no love, to homo thugs/Empty out, reloaded and throw more slugs/ How you gonna explain f@#$%^ a man?/ Even if we squashed the beef, I ain’t touchin ya hand.”. This is just one out of many examples of the rap community being hostile to homosexuals. I feel bad for Mister Cee too because it goes to show that the rap community has not evolved from old ways. I have hope that with big name artists like Jay-Z and Kanye West, the rap community will see that it has to become more accepting of people of different backgrounds, gender, and sexual orientation.
I dont believe that homophobes are much more common in the African
American communities. Although I do believe that times are changing. When Hip Hop began it was normal to bash gays. It was common in hip hop songs and accepted. Now, in the very near past, many laws were passed supporting gay rights, and I believe this is why you see less lyrics about gays in hip hop songs, and in fact more lyrics supporting them.
Being gay is becoming accepted in the US and all around the world. I feel we are now in a stage of everyone stating their opinions, but it is going to become more and more normal as time goes by. I definitely feel bad for Mister Cee for not being excepted due to his sexual preferences. He has had many great accomplishments and did not deserve all the hate. He simply was living his life the way he wanted to, which everyone is entitled to.
The black community has for a long time emphasized the notion of masculinity and the wrongness/sinfulness of homosexuality though in recent years there seems to be a shift (eg. Jason Collins). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/lee-daniels-gay-black-men_n_3785373.html
In addition, I think that not seeing many black (male) homosexuals in ads (for LGBT for instance) and in the media has the double effect of making it seem as though there are few black homosexuals out there which in turn leads to these folk to remain in the closet which has the effect of making it seem that people such as them don’t exist.
However, seeing as how African-Americans endured years of racism simply for the color of their skin it would seem ironic that they would openly embrace their homosexuality as well and endure twice the discrimination. And being in the hip-hop community just adds more pressure for you to be a straight male because of the deeply rooted hate for homosexuals (eg. DMX, Busta Rhymes) and its derogation of women and in relation; sex with women. Having women hanging off your arm was a sign of success and masculinity; to shatter that image and replace it with a man is still a largely inconceivable notion in hip-hop, even today.
I think its fine he is trying to find himself sexually, but he needs to be true to himself. He knows what he wants but wants to separate himself from it. He wants to be with transgender people which is fine, but he wants their to be an emotional distance. He doesn’t want to be emotionally involved which is why he seeks out prostitutes. Maybe he believes that if he pays and doesn’t do it just because he wants to be with them, he isn’t “Gay” as he said in his interview. I don’t think he is necessarily classified as gay either, he knows what he likes more than anybody else in the world and should be self aware enough to know his actual sexual preference. Maybe it is more along the lines of the forbidden fruit, that it is socially unacceptable to do what he is doing and he gets a thrill out of it. Nonetheless, I am impressed with his openness in the interview and how he handled himself in the entire process. A lot of respect goes to that man for being brave enough to own up to everything he did so completely. I cannot imagine going on public radio and having this discussion with someone about something so personal, but thats one of the downsides to being a public figure, is that your personal business is everyones business. Honestly I hope he can continue his career and his life as he wants and he does not have to hide his feelings anymore, but deep down I fear he will not.
The way I see, this is an issue with human nature and our incessant need to classify. Who cares if Mister Cee is gay, straight, or bi? Why is this world of such complex thinking so black and white when we classify human sexual orientation? It makes no sense and it is quite upsetting the hypocrisy that exists today. Mister Cee is a man who is struggling to find who he is yet his true idea of himself conflicts with his cultural values of what is right and wrong. The Hip Hop industry has long encouraged an alpha male lifestyle with most rappers talking about overcoming obstacles with pride. For example, Akon’s “Soul Survivor” talks about dodging the authorities while still trying to make a living. The conflict is that culture says that to be the alpha male, one needs to heterosexual. Sadly, Mr. Cee’s challenges are dismissed as trivial and even offensive to the culture. However, I do feel the industry is changing with more and more hip hop artists endorsing the LGBT community. It will take a long time for the public to accept Mr. Cee for who he is, but we, as the open minded people should learn to understand that the world is not that simple.
I feel that a large part of the problem is, in fact, the lack of media representation for black members of the LGBT community, and media representation for the black community in general. In fact, this is a topic that gets discussed frequently by many of the blogs I follow that are dedicated to social issues such as this. Just think: whenever you see a gay couple on television or in advertising, what are a few common traits you notice? They’re almost always cisgender males (meaning they were born male, identify as male, and are not transgender), they’re almost always middle- to upper-class, and finally, they’re almost always white. I can think of two shows that have at least one gay couple/character on them, Glee and Modern Family, and both shows fit the criteria I just listed. The numerous pro-LGBT ads I can think of also fit this criteria most of the time.
Hip-hop is not an exclusively black genre, but many prominent black artists that come to mind off the top of my head are part of hip-hop culture, and I can think of at least a handful of them whose lyrics include homophobic messages. Going back to what I said earlier about media representation and lack thereof for the black community (just think of every show or movie you’ve ever seen that wasn’t created by/for black or even just non-white people, and notice how few characters aren’t white), it seems to me like these artists would become the idols and celebrities that young people look up to.
I think that homophobia seems intense in hip-hop culture given the woeful lack of proper representation for black members of the LGBT community and the large numbers of prominent black celebrities in hip-hop who not only have homophobic messages in their lyrics, but serve as idols and role models for many young listeners. In short, I think it serves as good evidence as to why diversity in the media is still so incredibly crucial.
No one should have to experience the discrimination Mister Cee has faced and is still facing. Although it’s been extremely rough for him to have to hide his identity and be in denial due to his culture and lack of acceptance in the hip hop community, I’m glad he’s been able to find a support system through it all. I agree with Christine’s argument concerning African Americans being reluctant to admitting their sexuality in fear of further discrimination beyond their skin color, and I think that idea explains why there might be a lack of openly gay African Americans. In addition, our society in general has become more accepting and open minded. A lot of rappers and hip hop artists acknowledge societal changes and move along with them, which may explain why many are easing on the homophobia that used to accompany many songs. Now, hip hop artists are rewarded for rapping about accepting homosexuality, such as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who won a VMA for their single “Same Love” in the category of “best video with a social message.” So clearly, the message is changing. In fact, Mister Cee may even inspire a few other black artists who are struggling with their sexuality to follow in his footsteps and not be afraid of who they are and how it will affect their career.
I find this article very interesting and I’m glad you chose it. I enjoy rap and hip hop, and I often myself jamming in the car to Hot 97. I’m a big Frank Ocean fan, and I really admired his decision to tell the public about his relationship with a man. I definitely think if he had done this 10 years ago, he would have received a much different response from the hip hop community. While there is still a lot of bashing going on against homosexuals in rap – if you look up the word “faggot” on rapgenius.com, tons of songs come up – I think the industry is moving in the right direction. A perfect example is with Macklemore; his song, Same Love, which promotes equality, has been sitting on the top of the charts for some time now.
It’s very sad that Mister Cee had to face so much backlash over the fact that he was with a man. He had a major influence in the hip hop community. Without him, would the world have come to know Biggie? Why should it matter if Mister Cee is gay? Does that make his opinion about music less valid? Clearly not, because he’s had such a powerful impact on the community, and he’s been gay the whole time.
I think the rap world is moving in the right direction, but unfortunately, maybe not quick enough. Hopefully there will be more people in the near future following the footsteps of Frank, Macklemore, and other supporters like Jay-Z and Kanye.
In my opinion, I don’t have enough information or general knowledge to even have an opinion on whether or not the black community is overly homophobic as a whole. To stay on the topic of the problem with coming out, I think it has more to do with the fact he is famous, rather than the fact he is in the black community. The fact that he obtained his fame through being apart of groups whose music talked a lot about having tons of women is what really made it a mess for him. If his music, and the music he supported, didn’t talk about having women and doing things with them, there would of been a lot less heat over his affiliation with a transgender. Although there was still controversy, Frank Ocean wasn’t very explicit in his songs about women, nor were his songs ever gloating about the amount of women he got with. For this reason I think it was easier for Mr. Ocean to come out and still have respect in the Hip-Hop World. The vagueness associated with Mister Cee had more to do with the negative view put on him. He had friends and colleagues who knew him to be very excitable for women, so to here his now flip-flipping answers seriously damaged the support they gave him. By the time he came out, or was found out, he was already at or past his peak of fame and had built a career off the very thing he lied about. Frank Ocean was still on the rise, and he wasn’t yet defined in either sexual direction.
Whether a secret is positive or negative, the longer it stays hidden the harder it is for it to be accepted. Even though his sexuality one way or another isn’t negative, the fact that Mister Cee hid it from everyone made all those that thought otherwise feel duped and lied to. I believe the anger of the public was more at his unwillingness to commit to a “side” of sexuality than the fact he committed to the less popular “side”.
Jake Greenberg
I agree with Jake on this. I don’t believe that the bashing against Mr. Cee for him being gay (if he is) or his homosexual tendencies was because he was part of the black community. I did some research and according to the Williams Institute at UCLA, African Americans more than any other race were more likely to openly identify as LGBT based on a survey. Although this is only one study, it does provide some evidence against the notion that the black community is somehow more homophobic than any other race. I believe that the backlash against Mr. Cee was rooted in his position in the hip-hop community. As other commenters and Edward have mentioned, the hip-hop community has historically be homophobic with slurs against homosexuals rampant in their music. I believe the reason for this is the super masculine image that has evolved from hip-hop culture. This image prompts misogyny and the sexual objectification of women. Homosexuality would directly contradict this image of masculine men objectifying women so it became common to bash homosexuality and homosexuals.
I concur with kparakkattu. If humans weren’t humans and so irrational, there wouldn’t be so much judging, pigeonholing, and stereotyping. It’s like abortion politics. Who should really care other than the parties involved? It’s ultimately nobody’s business. I did a bit of googling and according to Gallup Special Report: The U.S. Adult LGBT Population conducted by the Williams Institute reported blacks as more likely to self-identify as LGBT than any other racial group in the U.S. I mean, how do we know if the idea that African Americans are more homophobic than other ethnic groups in this country is not a result of popular media? Just because there’s more emphasis on this stereotype doesn’t mean the quantity is actually disproportionately greater.
In the end, who can truly stop any homosexual about making rap music about his sexual orientation other than himself?