Reppin’ homo-hop/gay hip-hop as a straight man is revolutionary, in light of the homophobia in hip-hop. It is also eye-raising and the cause for speculation about one’s sexuality—mine! But I’m not too concerned about that. I’m more concerned about the TRUTH! What is the truth? The truth is that homophobia is the result of a 3,000 year old religious pogrom that the world has bought—hook, line, and sinker!—A big-ass lie that we are forever cosigning in the name of our masculinity and heterosexuality. I don’t care who your favorite rapper is and how much money they’ve got and how many records they sell—If they rap homophobic lyrics they are as ignorant and uninformed and brainwashed and indoctrinated and misinformed and culturally repressed as the day is long!

You can write negative blogs about me, question my sexuality, call me names or whatever, but at the end of the day, those of you who read this will have to ask yourself who should be welcomed at the table of hip-hop and who shouldn’t and why or why not? Hip-hop is either the hypocritical bastard child of mainstream homophobia or a freethinking, new-jack revolutionary that truly speaks to all marginalized groups. (i.e. Gays & Lesbians)

I’m a real hip-hop head! I say “real” hip-hop head because a lot of y’all say you’re hip-hop, but then go on and try to define what “real” hip-hop is. All of it is REAL hip-hop—from the wackest MC you’ve ever heard to the dopest MC you’ve ever heard! From the grimiest underground rapper to the most radio-friendly pop rapper! It’s all hip-hop!

I’m Ancient School meets Old School meets New School meets Homo School! Ancient school? Yeah! Everybody wanna talk about those South Bronx rappers and the advent of rap/hip-hop with Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash and them! But let me hip you young cats and catettes to ANCIENT SCHOOL RAP. I’m 47 years old. I go back to the original rappers—the progenitors of this rap shyt! Who am I talking about? THE LAST POETS!

I was ten years old in 1970 when those brothas came out with When The Revolution Comes, Niggers Are Scared of Revolution, Black Thighs, etc. What you know ’bout dat? These brothas were rapping before many of you were born! Yeah, I hear you! Rappers have this mentality that once you turn 30ish you should stop rapping, as though you have to be physically in shape like an athlete. Ever seen Big Pun, Fat Joe, Crusher and Rick Ross? Got Jay-Z rapping, “30 is the new 20.” Phuck that! Listen up all you young folks! THE LAST POETS started all this rap shyt! Respect the architects!

When you were an embryo in your mother’s womb—while you were yet an unborn fetus—when you were a snotty-nosed bebe kid, these brothas were laying the foundation and groundwork for what would become known as “rap/hip-hop.” So stop hatin’ on the ancient and old school cats. ‘Cause guess what? One day you will be an old school rapper to a younger generation! Just keep living.

It is from their innovations in which you rappers eat. The word “rap” is not a new word, exclusive to the hip-hop generation! “Rap” has been a part of the ‘hoodman’s lexicon for many years. Ever heard of H Rap Brown—the activist? How about Jack “The Rapper” a.k.a. Joseph Gibson (R.I.P.), the pioneer of black radio? We used to lay a “rap game” on a girl in the ’70s. Check out movies like Superfly and The Mack and many other ’70s “Blaxploitation” movies and you will freely hear the word “rap” being used as an expression for talking or running game on a woman. Can ya dig it baby? The Last Poets were rappers in the purest form—without drum machines, 808s, synthesizers, sampling and heavy bass lines.

THE LAST POETS were poets, rappers, spoken-word artists and activists. If you claim to be hip-hop you need their album in your crate. I’ve got mine! And yes, the Last Poets were bitten by the cultural homophobia bug too when they rapped, “When the revolution comes …faggots won’t be so funny then.”

Ever heard of Gil Scott-Heron? The next innovator of rap music. Gil Scott-Heron is considered by many as the “Godfather of Rap.” In 1971 he dropped Pieces of a Man. His most famous song off that album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1971) has been bitten by the likes of Elvis Costello, Public Enemy, Prince, Common, KRS-One, Wu-Tang Clan, Bobby Brown, Cee-lo Green, Damian Marley, Jamiroquai and even Apple computers used Heron’s famous social statement, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. That’s what rap is about—REVOLUTION! Go back and check your rap history pimpin’! THE LAST POETS, GIL SCOTT-HERON, THE WATTS POETS, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Haki Madhubuti, Sonja Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni—these brothas and sistas were doin’ it big back in the day! Out of that Movement birthed the likes of Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Caz, Kurtis Blow and Sugar Hill Gang (the first nationally recognized rap group ca. 1979). They say “real recognize real.” Rap music is not an island! Rap music follows one continuous vein that originated from the African Griot storytellers right on down to sista Sojourner Truth who rapped, Ain’t I A Woman? to W.E.B. Dubois’ Talented Tenth to Malcolm X’s The Ballot or the Bullet to Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream to The Last Poets/Gil Scott-Heron’s When The Revolution Comes/The Revolution Will Not Be Televised to Rudy Ray Moore’s (Dolemite) and Henry Louis Gate’s Signifying Monkey to Richard Pryor’s Miss Rudolph and Mudbone to Muhammad Ali’s I’m The Greatest to Grandmaster Flash’s The Message to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power to Johnny Cochran’s If It Doesn’t Fit, You Must Acquit! to Nas’ I Know I can. James Brown, Michael Jackson, Fab 5 Freddy, Savion Glover, MC Hammer, Nelson George, Toure, Kevin Powell, Saul Williams, Buffie The Body, Karrine Steffins—this is the hip-hop story! The art of storytelling, polemics, music, dance and rhyme. The art of words!

And while I’m on this rap history tangent, let me let you know that white folks have been instrumental in the evolution of rap/hip-hop also. Here’s another piece of rap trivia—the first rap song to become a number one hit was by a white group—Blondie featuring Debbie Harry. In 1981 their single Rapture became the first rap-influenced song to reach number one on the US Billboard Charts, thus helping to legitimize the rap genre. Again—Revolution! Evolution! The wheels of hip-hop keep on spinnin’ like Sprewell rims on a Denali truck. Why wouldn’t you think homo-hop would one day rear its’ head?

So here we are today, trying to define “real” hip-hop and so-called “commercial” hip-hop. Underground vs. Mainstream. KRS-One dissin’ Nelly’s brand of rap. What bullshyt! Let me give it to you straight no chaser! Yes! I love Ja Rule! But I also love that gangsta shyt that 50 Cent raps. I can’t be swayed to hate one rapper just because another rapper has a beef with him! I love all of the genres of rap. I love the lyrical dexterity of Jadakiss, the rapid-fire flows of Bone Thugs and Twista, the sing-song rap of Nelly and the succinctness of Eminem’s metaphors. I love rap music! I love Trick Daddy’s gangsta and compassion, “Trick loves the kids” and TI’s confident swagger. I love the underground YouTube battles of Nycks, “You just mad ’cause I’m stylin’ on you!” and the worldwide acclaim of Black Eyed Peas. I love the slangulistics of E-40 and the visual creativity of Missy Elliot. Damnit! I even love the bubblegum rap of Lil Mama and I ain’t afraid to admit it! The girl can flow! Is she at least 18 years old? I was just thinking…J

I love the intellect of Common and the ignorance of Ying Yang Twins… “fifty-leven-times!” Who can match Outkast’s innovations? I love The Game’s machismo and I especially love Lil Wayne’s lyrical hunger “…Feed me rappers or feed me beats!” WOW! That nicca is on his way to becoming Rakim-esque! Kanye West has got rap spirituality and social commentary on lock! “…If the devil wear Prada, Adam Eve wear nadda…” And Bow Wow is gettin’ his grown man on. Of course, I got mad love for Jay-Z, Nas, Tupac, Biggie, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Rick Ross, Fabolous and Fat Joe. Check for dem Florida boyz! All dem Texas rappers workin’ some shyt out! And you know P Diddy is always on his musical grind. I love all the rappers! And those hip-hop sangas—T-Pain and Akon! What! I’m as ingratiated with mainstream rap as any hetero head! So don’t get it twisted! I love all the misogyny, N-word using, B-word using, H-word using, F-word using and homophobia that comes with rap music, even as I deconstruct the origin and mindset of rap lyrics and help take rap music to a better place. Why do I love it? Because rap comes from an honest place called REALITY! These young people rap about what they see and hear in their environments. We can’t point the finger at them and we shouldn’t be kicking them like a stray dog in the street because they used the B/H/N/F words! Where were we before they became famous? Who among the learned tried to pull their coattails back then? Mainstream rappers—keep doing your thing!!!!!!!!!!!! But peep my perspective!

Yeah, I’m ridin’ this homo-hop train, but don’t be confused about my sexuality! I’d love to smack Trina’s phat ass, taste Foxy Brown’s chocolate hue, force Jacki to moan “O”, make Remy Ma “lean back” and find out “how many licks does it take to get to the center” of Lil Kim’s sweet spot! STRAIGHT like that! Like DJ Quik used to rap, “I love black pussy!” I’m reppin’ this homo-hop, but I’d love to kindle MC Lyte’s fire, disturb Shawnna’s “piece,” climb Lauryn’s Hill, play with Yo-Yo’s toy, sprinkle a lil’ Salt-N-Pepa on my tube steak and be Eve’s Adam! Please understand! Don’t get me phucked up! ‘Cause it ain’t about the messenger! It’s about the MESSAGE!

I rep gay hip-hop/homo-hop because it is a legitimate genre within the rap world! I rep gay hip-hop because it speaks to the fundamental idea that hip-hop is about empowering the voiceless! The hip-hop table that I sit at has enough chairs to seat all of us—straight, gay, lesbian, BI, queer, SGL, transgender, transsexual, etc. Come on in and have a seat!

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