Rap music saw an influx of promising new acts in 2019, but one rookie in particular effortlessly stood out from the rest. Georgia native Little Nas X took the internet by storm with his debut single, “Old Town Road”. The Billy Cyrus-assisted remix not only earned himself a number one hit but also went on to become the longest-running Billboard Top 100 track for 19 consecutive weeks, dethroning the previous record held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. Quickly the teen had become a cultural figure, earning himself millions of online followers, lucrative business deals, and more. In June of the same year, Lil Nas X’s debut EP 7 dropped across all digital streaming platforms. Nine days later, Lil Nas X came out as gay.
As a bisexual man from Texas and a lover of Hip-Hop, I was elated that this country/Hip-Hop crossover hit was created by a member of the LGBTQ+ community because, for a moment, it felt as if my lived reality had now ascended into the mainstream. Unfortunately, LGBTQ+ Hip-Hop artists do not receive much coverage from Hip-Hop outlets, despite garnering much support from their communities. So, to see “Old Town Road” continue to chart weeks after Lil Nas X came out, gave me hope that Hip-Hop would finally be more welcoming toward queer artists.
Prior to “Old Town Road,” things were looking up for LGBTQ+ representation in major Hip-Hop publications. In 2016, queer rapper Young M.A. released a track called “Ooouuu,” and on a particularly memorable line, they allude to receiving cunnilingus from a woman (“You call her Stephanie/I call her Headphanie”). Sure, some may find this rather vulgar, but cishet men have been rapping about oral sex for decades. “Ooouuu” peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became a favorite of artists like Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé.
But still, coverage of LGBTQ+ artists by Hip-Hop publications remains minimal. Lil Nas X’s latest single “Holiday” has become inescapable on pop radio, however, the track has not received much if any coverage by major Hip-Hop publications such as XXL. On the other hand, magazines like The Source have continuously provided coverage on artists like Lil Nas X, Young M.A., and more. To be clear, a few articles will not absolve the fact that homophobia is still omnipresent in Hip-Hop. Rappers Boosie Badazz, Cam’Ron, Pastor Troy, and Yung Miami of City Girls have all made highly questionable comments about the LGBTQ+ community over the course of the past year. This rhetoric is harmful to queer and Trans- fans of Hip-Hop music, who really just want to be able to enjoy the music without feeling that they’re being endangered or invalidated.
Although as a bisexual person, I personally have never felt like I was missing some form of representation in Hip-Hop, seeing the genre embrace more openly gay and Trans- rappers would mean a lot to other LGBTQ+ Hip-Hop fans.
The landscape is slowly but surely changing, but if you were to ask you to name 10 openly queer or Trans- Hip-Hop artists at the top of your head, without conducting a Google search, would you be able to complete this task? Honestly, I don’t even think I could. There’s no simple solution to stamping out homophobia in Hip-Hop but a good start would be to provide LGBTQ+ Hip-Hop artists equal coverage as their cishet counterparts, position queer artists in a way that demonstrates their talents, and employee more LGBTQ+ writers onto the staff of Hip-Hop publications who can properly cover LGBTQ+ artists.
Hopefully, 2021 will lead to a discovery of more LGBTQ+ Hip-Hop artists and more of these artists becoming household names. Who knows? Maybe an LGBTQ+ rapper will grace next year’s XXL Freshman List. In the words of Nicki Minaj, “I think the world is getting more gay friendly, so is Hip-Hop too.”
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