We’ve never been big fans of the whole “what people do in the privacy of their homes” argument, but there’s no denying Beyoncé’s babydaddy has an influencial voice in the African-American and hip-hop-listening communities. Last night on CNN, Jay-Z spoke, among other things, about his support for President Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality.
“I’ve always thought it as something that was still holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple… I think it’s the right thing to do, so whether it costs him votes or not—again, it’s not about votes. It’s about people. It’s the right thing to do as a human being.”
We’re right there with you Jay. The only problem, as a commenter on Buzzfeed pointed out, is all the homophobic rhetoric in your lyrics. (Has he recanted that stuff? We’re not up on the latest doings in the rap world.)
Here’s a sample:
“Faggots wanna talk to Po-Po’s, smoke em like cocoa” —Nigga What, Nigga Who
“’…cause faggots hate when you getting money like athletes” — Heart of the City
“Too many faggot niggas clocking my spending/Exercising your gay-like minds like Richard Simmons” —22 Two’s
“It’s crazy how you can go from being Joe Blow/to everybody on your dick, no homo” —Run This Town
“You’s the fag model for Karl Kani/Esco ads” —Takeover
There’s also the story about how Jay bitched out Chelsea Handler’s gay pals backstage at Coachella in 2010, asking “Why are all the faggots here?”
How about we take this to the next level?
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Ron Jackson
What, who is a Jay-Z?
/shrug
w.e.
Here’s the deal, idiot boy. When someone supports you, it’s generally not a good idea to kick them in the teeth.
Jose Rodriguez
@w.e.: Actually, here is the thing, what you say and what you do should align. When they don’t, people need to point that out. When a kid hears you say “faggot” in a song, it does way more damage than any benefit you have saying “let them get married, don’t discriminate”. Also, calling the writer an idiot is not helping anyone either.
Daez
Please, I can guarantee we can find more racist shit said by gay people than we can homophobic shit said by black people.
Daez
I can guarantee we can find more racist stuff said by gay people than we can homophobic stuff said by black people.
Daez
Like, gays are never racist?
Andrew
Give Jay a break, and appreciate the fact that a macho, African American superstar rapper just said he supports gay marriage.
ousslander
i guess he evolved like using the term bitch to describe woman. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt, rare for me, but if he keeps writing and rapping such lyrics then it was just BS
jason
When someone supports you, it’s also useful to know if they’re stringing you along or if their words are actually going to lead to legislative change. Keep in mind that politics is the art of words. People can say things that really don’t mean anything.
mike128
I’m not sure why but I want to believe Jay-Z. I think he and Beyonce are generally decent people and that he has been changing and evolving as a person over the last few years. Let’s see how this plays out before we assume anything. Gay-affirmative voices within black culture are an important thing for us as a community.
Brandonrooks27
As a fan of both Jay-Z and this website let me correct a few things…A Jay-Z song but not his lyrics, actually Kanye West said this: “It’s crazy how you can go from being Joe Blow/to everybody on your dick, no homo” —Run This Town
Further more everyone evolves, a man who views the world at 50 the same way he did at 20 has lost 30 years of his life. The African American community has some coming to terms to do when it comes to gays in general, because they are everywhere. Especially in their churches. His last two albums have had no, I repeat NO use of the f-word so…lets move forward until he takes a step backward.
tj
@Brandon Rooks
I agree with you. We can’t ask people to change then call them hypocrites when they do.
Aiden
Something tells me that if Jay was white this whole story would be about how hot and brave he is.
mkriley2006
I would like to clarify, that though I don’t always agree with the lyrics, a faggot in rap music, is not the same as in the real world. When he’s calling people faggots in lyric, it’s like calling them some other derogatory name. He’s in fact calling straight men fags in most of those lyrics. It’s a name that he’s used against his haters. Secondly, I think it’s fantastic that he is agreeing with Obama. He speaks for a majority of African American’s in our country, and he might even be changing some of their minds about gay marriage.
Gerry Myers
Since when did this fool end up speaking for any person of color? The only influence this bourgeois fool has is to sell more of his sh*tty records. Why should anyone listen to a former thug and crack dealer about his opinion about anything ! F*%k him !
jose
the run this town lyric isnt his, that was kanye west, i dont know about the others though
Oh, ok
“Beyoncé’s babydaddy has an influencial voice in the African-American and hip-hop-listening communities.”
Stopped reading here for many reasons:
1) There is no “African-American community”. We don’t all meet up in a single state for a town hall or barbecue. We don’t all share the same opinions, we aren’t all apart of the same sub-groups, we aren’t all of the same class, we aren’t all of the same social standing, and we don’t all freaking know each other.
2) There are black people who are gay. When people say “gay community” they mean white and leave out the majority of the world’s population of gay people. Non-white people make up 75% of the world, white people are a minority. Gay white people are a minority of a minority. Saying African-American community is ignorant, lumping gay black people into the play pretend community, and excluding us from the “gay community” is even more ignorant.
3) Hip-Hop is a faux-music genre(it’s literally not even a genre), it can’t have a community. That’s like saying the country music community or the classical community. At the end of the day you mean BLACK which is hilarious because most of the people listening to hip-hop today are white.
Furthermore I don’t need to read this dumb article to know it’s just dry-humping old outdated lyrics Jay spit ages ago and has long since grown beyond.
Ironically no one clings to things white homophobes said even a year ago. When are you going to start attacking them? WHITE homophobes are the ones who have been sinking billions of dollars into hatred, dominance, and the destruction of others since this nation began.
Go ahead and slap someone in the face for saying they changed their opinion of gay people. Meanwhile the ones you protect will keep putting up millions of dollars into funding campaigns against anyone they dislike or deem unworthy.
Must really burn your goddamned biscuits that your real enemy is white and not black. Yet you’re still willing to ignore them so you can have a go at darkie. Can’t roll my eyes hard enough. Just have to laugh it off.
Aussie Col
@Brandonrooks27: Agree with you entirely. Let’s not diss an ally of this stature and demographic. I said homophobic stuff at school and denied who I was… 20 years later I have totally different views and ways of expressing them.
Aussie Col
@tj: agree absolutely
Aussie Col
@Oh, ok: At first I thought you were being as dismissive as some others, but I think I get it now. I’m not sure I will ever understand the race issue as a White Aussie, but I can appreciate that some very stereotypical and condescending comments were made. I don’t agree entirely with the white homophobes comments being forgotten, but you have made some points that made me think. Thanks.
Aiden
@Oh, ok: Especially calling him her baby daddy when they’re married.
Belize
@Oh, ok: “Ironically no one clings to things white homophobes said even a year ago. When are you going to start attacking them?”
LOL. Your play on the race card is delusional. Of course, your selective memory wouldn’t be as funny if the likes of Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachmann and Newt Gingrich didn’t exist. Are you suggesting that those people, AT THE VERY LEAST, are NOT white, homophobic or both? GIVE. ME. A. BREAK.
Also speaking of clinging to things, let’s look at Dustin Lance Black since there was a recent feature on Queerty on the man. Granted, he is gay and he is not a homophobe, but even until now, EVEN THOUGH HE IS WHITE, people still cling on to those bareback photos.
Give it a rest, child.
Belize
@tj: Very well said.
Oh, ok
@Belize: Stopped reading at race card. Try being original.
Frank
@Belize believe what you want, but Oh ok is right. It seems like black people, are always getting singled out for homophobia in America despite the fact we are not the ones crafting anti-gay laws or funding anti-gay agendas across the country. I think this is something that has overtime created level of apprehension in the mainstream gay community toward black people, in particular black males, and it shows sometimes in the way we are treated. I’ve been living in Europe over four years now, and I can tell you it’s like night and day the way I’m perceived here vs in the United States.
only here for the truth
in his defense those lyrics are veeerrry old. & the run this town lyric is actually kanye wesy *side eye*. though it’s COMPLETELY WRONG to use the f bomb i think the way he uses it is more as an insult to masculinity than harm (either way it’s not cool) i actually believe him…only it does come off as a ploy because we all know jay z & obama are friends. only time will truly tell
Slaughter
@Queerty. Lazy ass Journalism. Sometimes I understand why some people dislike gay people.
Dirk
i don’t think the lyrics the writer pointed out are specifically “Anti-Gay”.
chris rock explained on one of his comedy specials how “fag” and “faggot” aren’t necessarily always a gay slur. and how it applies to even straight men sometimes. it gave me a different perspective of the word for sure.
Viv
I honestly think Kay z generally supports gay rights. I don’t think he means to be insensitive, he just doesn’t realize it. When he says the word “fag” , he doesn’t really mean gay men. He just mean guys who don’t act like men to him. Like guys who snitch, uses other people money, or pretty boys who use their looks whom isnt necessarily gay. Many people use the world “fag” but usually never use it in its true offensive definition. They even had a campaign to stop these things. To stop using the word “fag” as a teasing name to loosely call a friend or whoever. Also the lyrics from run this town mean from being a struggling nobody to being rich and famous. It was kanye west. In honestly Jay Z , kanye , and that crew supports gay rights, all human rights in general but will probably be insensitive and maybe even a little skittish.
hamoboy
@Belize:
The race card came into play way back when Beyonce’s HUSBAND was called her “baby daddy”. If rappers aren’t supposed to denigrate gay people by clinging to offensive stereotypes, then surely the (WHITE) gay media shouldn’t denigrate black people by glibly referring to stereotypes like this.