The usually anti-gay hip-hop world has gone all bleeding-heart on us lately. First you have Kanye West bashing homophobia followed by Sean Paul calling for people to “free up their thinking.” You’d think this was all new, but we’ve actually had gay-friendly hip-hop for years now in the form of Homohop (yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like).
And homohop even has had its own annual queer festival.
Over the past five years, GLBT hip-hop artists have been making the trek across the bay from San Francisco to Oakland for the PeaceOUT festival. It’s three days of queer hip-hop music, spoken word and dance. Click here for more info on this year’s blowout.
Homohop has also been getting some recent play in film. A new documentary rolling out the history of the genre, Pick Up the Mic, premiered at the Toronoto film festival last month. But don’t expect the lightheartedness of Truth or Dare. It tackles “homophobia, gender identification issues, and suicide.” No plans for a release date just yet.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
But will homohop cross into the mainstream recruting even more warm and fuzzies from haters like, say, Eminem? It’s safe to say he’ll use the word “faggot” on his next album but not the way homohop’s Deadlee, “the faggot with a gat,” will at PeaceOUT.
