Star (Kanye West) says rap is 'too homophobic'

[meganmonkey]

He said hip-hop was always about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people".

---snip---

"I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, 'Yo, stop it'."

---snip---

West admitted he developed anti-gay views when he was young after being called a "mama's boy". "And what happened was, it made me kind of homophobic, because I would go back and question myself," he said.

But he had a rethink after discovering one of his cousins was gay, he said.

more...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4165706.stm

[Caution]

1. Good for him

I don't generally listen to hip-hop (not really my thing) so I have no real idea if he is just making a broad generalization or not but at least he had the strength of character to recognize his own flaws, come to grips with them and to accept that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. Definitely a man worthy of respect.

[maxsolomon]

2. Rap is a mirror of society

watch Kayne get tagged as a Punk Bitch.

Every american male that dares to call for tolerance & empathy is slandered as a "woman". No exceptions.

[LiberalVoice]

3. Anyone that would characterize him as a "Punk Bitch"...

is probably not even worth noting. I dunno how much you know about hip-hop and rap, or the differences between the two but Kanye West is more in league with hip-hop artists such as Talib Kweli, Mos Def, and Black Thought, then with Rappers such as 50 Cent and P. Diddy(Or Diddy as he now refers to himself).

Hip-Hop is more in the realm of expressing current events, where as Rap focuses on getting alot of radio time and selling albums.

[Halliburton]

6. yeah he's one of the best rappers around

he won a number of grammies last year. he's a raps more about current issues than about clubs.

[maxsolomon]

10. i know plenty about rap & hip hop

but i'm not going to get into a discussion of the difference betwixt the 2.

the point is that this is a riskier statement than most people know. and this is reflective of american society in general. look at bush/kerry. kerry was "french", he was photographed in biking shorts. all that = not man enough to lead the country in a time of war.

homophobia is legion in rap, hip hop, dancehall, etc. and that is west's point. he risks being ostracized from the hip hop "community" by saying so. he will certainly lose cred amongst "thug" rap & dancehall afficionados. probably not so much amongst "backpacker" hip hoppers, as they are more intellectual.

chris rock made the same point: everyone has at least got a gay cousin. and it turns out kayne does.

[msgadget]

4. Good for him

and for once a quote of his isn't highlighting his perceived megalomania.

[Blue_Tires]

5. he forgot to mention

materielistic as well

[Rich Hunt]

7. ho-hum

....another hip-hop bashing thread on DU.

I wish people who have taken the time to appreciate it would comment, but instead we get stereotypes.

There's not anywhere near as much homophobia as people think.

[tkmorris]

8. Huh?

I'm pretty sure that Kanye West has "taken the time to appreciate it". There IS a good deal of anti-homosexual sentiment in the Rap community, just as there is a fair amount of misogynism. There isn't as much as many people seem to believe but it IS there. Trying to pretend otherwise is just plain silly.

[tjdee]

9. Holy smokes I find Kanye West to be annoying. But still,

his heart is in the right place I guess. I'm not really satisfied by this blurby article, because he has to have named at least *one* example. Plus, I don't know how he can say that hip-hop as a whole is homophobic (as is stated by the title), particularly because a lot of people are homophobic. It's not like rap is the homophobe's own music style.

I can't stand Kanye West. He is one of the most egotistical, megalomaniacal people in entertainment today.