8 Times Hip Hop Has Expressed Homophobia And Misogynoir

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Black women have a love-hate relationship with hip-hop. We love the songs, but hate the degradation, colorism, misogyny and overall disrespect embedded throughout the genre. When they’re not in the booth, rappers often make their own misogynistic comments and are mostly unapologetic for it. It’s the same for the gay men, who have been the but of hip-hop’s jokes during its 40-year existence. Going through a Spotify mix and being assaulted with gay slurs and homophobic lyrics is surely disheartening.

After gangster rap emerged in the 1990s, hip-hop, which was still a fairly new genre, was slammed for its misogynistic and homophobic lyrics. Despite the protests and criticism in the early days, those two hateful ideologies didn’t die. Black women are still objectified in hip-hop but are also now more rejected. It gets tiring hearing about “bad yellow bones and red bones” all the time. I remember when I was a kid watching music videos and most of the video vixens were Black women. Now, you’re lucky to see a Black girl in a hip-hop video. Women who are seen as “foreign” are more celebrated by rappers like Future, 50 Cent and many more.

No matter how much the LGBTQ+ community asked to be respected (or just left alone) hip-hop won’t let go of it’s grudge against them either. Just last weekend, Da Baby saw it necessary to call out the gays while he was performing. He said:

If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases, that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up. Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put your cellphone lighter up. Fellas, if you ain’t s****** dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up.

Da Baby’s actions aren’t shocking, but more so another aggravating moment in hip-hop’s long history of disrespect for two of the world’s most vulnerable populations: Black women and LGBTQ people. Here’s 10 times hip-hop artists showed us how homophobic and misogynistic they really are.

West Coast Rap Emergence in the 1990s

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If there was a Mount Rushmore for misogynoir and homophobia in hip-hop, N.W.A, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg would be on it. N.W.A can be seen as the pioneers, because when they emerged onto the rap scene in 1989, they were doing everything from rationalizing the use of the word “B*****” to degrade women, boasting about them being sexual objects and being proudly homophobic. When interviewed about it, they were never apologetic. Their catalog boasted songs a like “A B***** Is A B*****,” “She Swallowed It,” “I’d Rather F*** You and” Findum, F***em and Leave.” Besides these tracks, misogynoir was nestled somewhere into almost every song they ever made. When Dr. Dre left N.W.A and introduced Snoop Dogg to the world, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. They collaborated and catapulted to the top of the charts with their blatant misogyny. Their cringeworthy tracks included “It Ain’t Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None)” and “B***** Ain’t S***,”G’z Up Hoes Down.”

Politicians spoke against it, but their attempts to get rid of these artists was totally unsuccessful. When he wasn’t rapping and producing, Dr. Dre was accused of living out some of his lyrics after women like Michel’e and Dee Barnes accused of him of physically assaulting them.

When the West won, Black women and the gays lost.

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Trick Daddy & His Breakfast Club Interview

During an interview with Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club Morning Show, Trick Daddy tried to explain that he wasn’t homophobia while spewing classic homophobic sayings.

First, he said that since he has a “sister that is his brother” and “an aunt that’s his uncle” there’s no way he could be homophobic. But then went on to imply that gay people have a certain image and therefore can’t be seen as “thugs.”

“I just don’t see a dude calling himself a thug or calling himself a killer when if he pull his pants up you can see his shape,” he said.

He then went on to say that being gay during “his era” had to be kept a secret until they were an adult.

“If you were gay, in my era, in my time, you waited ’til you were 30, you couldn’t even peep out of the closet. Your homeboys, your classmate, your teacher, your parents, your brother and sister, they would ride you like a dog. You might want to change your mind… Michael Jackson and Prince were the only borderline dudes I accepted in my life. You can’t even be borderline. I don’t get it.”

He doesn’t realize that saying that “you don’t get it” and doubting a gay man’s ability to be able to do anything outside of being feminine is homophobic. He said the way he thought was rooted in his upbringing. Though this is true, it doesn’t mean that it was an acceptable way of thinking then or now.

50 Cent Saying He Isn’t Comfortable Around Gay People

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50 Cent made it clear during an interview with Playboy that he doesn’t want to be around gay people, men specifically.

“I ain’t into f—-ts,” the Power star said. “I don’t like gay people around me, because I’m not comfortable with what their thoughts are. I’m not prejudiced. I just don’t go with gay people and kick it — we don’t have that much in common. I’d rather hang out with a straight dude. But women who like women, that’s cool.”

So because a gay man would rather sleep with a man, you both don’t have anything in common? That’s only one thing and that’s honestly none of 50’s business. When he said he wasn’t comfortable with what their thoughts are, he was most definitely being prejudiced because he made an assumption about a gay man based on their sexual orientation.

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Migos Being Shocked That iLoveMakonnen Received Support After Coming Out

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When rapper iLoveMakkonen came out as gay in 2017, the Migos were asked about it during an interview with Rolling Stone. This was the group’s collective response.

“Damn, Makonnen!” Quavo bellows after an awkward interlude. I mention support I saw online for Makonnen’s decision. “They supported him?” Quavo asks, raising an eyebrow. “That’s because the world is f***** up,” says Offset. “This world is not right,” Takeoff says. “We ain’t saying it’s nothing wrong with the gays,” says Quavo.

Quavo tried to clean it up but the homophobia had already spilled out.

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When Ice Cube Dissed N.W.A on ‘No Vaseline’

When Ice Cube decided to leave N.W.A in 1991, he dissed his former group members on a track called “No Vaseline.” Throughout the entire song, he insulted them by accusing them of being gay and having anal sex with each other and getting “gangbanged” by their then manager Jerry Heller “with no Vaseline” and even called Eazy E a “f****t.”Using homosexuality as a diss was overt homophobia and implied that Cube saw them as weak. If you can, listen above.

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Boosie’s Comments About Zaya Wade

Boosie, who is famous for given his unsolicited opinion, called out Dwayne Wade for supporting his child, Zaya Wade, who came out as gender non-conforming at the age of 12. In a viral clip, which you can watch above, Boosie yelled:

Don’t cut his d–k off, bruh. Like, bruh, for real, if he gonna be gay, let him be gay. But don’t cut his d–k off, bruh. Don’t dress him as a woman, dawg. He’s 12 years old. He’s not up there yet. He hasn’t made his final decisions yet. Don’t cut his f—ing d–k off, Dwyane Wade.

Being LGBTQ doesn’t mean the person wants to have surgery to change their genitalia. Also, gender and sexuality are two separate things. Therefore Zaya saying she is non-conforming means that she doesn’t identify as a boy or girl. It’s not related to her sexual orientation.

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50 Cent’s Preference of “Exotic Women”

Lil’ Wayne and 50 Cent, had a chat last year where 50 Cent tried to justify his preference of “exotic” women and said that Black women get angry over it.

They get mad. They get angry. You see a lot of sisters they go ‘you f*** with this kind of girl and that kind of girl?’ That s*** is exotic! That s*** look a lot different than the s*** you see in the neighborhood all of the time. That s*** look like it came off a boat. …It feels like something you can’t just get. In some kind of ways it’s interesting. But they get angry.

Of course, he didn’t see a need to apologize for these comments.

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