LOVE TO HATE YOU

The Lauryn Hill Syndrome: We Rate The Antigay Lyrics Of Other Musicians

Lauryn-Hill

So Lauryn Hill is bankrupt and put out a lousy last minute effort to bring in cash that’s been panned and yeah it’s full of confusing lyrics that have to be decoded but not so much that lots of people think her rant comparing “girl men” to “serial criminals” is pretty much straight-up homophobic. She’s bending over backwards to explain herself out of the controversy, but at some point you’re just like “blah blah blah” and tune out, ‘cause who really gives a shit about your explanation. You broke it, you own it. Bitch, please.

Anyway, that’s the predictable course for a lot of these offensive lyrics stories. Song drops, lyrics offend, artist explains. Just how offensive are they, though, on the face of it? On the following pages you can be the judge, serial criminal.

1. Katy Perry, “Ur So Gay,” 2007

“I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf / While jacking off listening to Mozart / You bitch and moan about L.A. / Wishing you were in the rain reading Hemingway / You don’t eat meat / And drive electrical cars /You’re so indie rock it’s almost an art / You need SPF 45 just to stay alive / You’re so gay and you don’t even like boys.”

She broke up with the guy she’s writing about and she was upset!

3/10 offensive.

2. Lil Wayne, “Georgia Bush,” 2006

“Got money out the ass / No homo but I’m rich.”

This song was about dogging George Bush post-Katrina, so points for Wayne there. Plus, “no homo” is so politically incorrect that it’s funny, and the guy is way more scared of people thinking he’s gay (cause look at him) than he is actually hating on the gays.

4/10 offensive

3. Britney Spears “If U Seek Amy,” 2009

The title is supposed to phonetically spell out “Fuck Me” or alternately “If You See Gay Me.”

This level of subtext for Spears was a revelation.

0/10 offensive, 10/10 delightful

4. Eminem “Elevator,” 2009

“Sorry Lance, Mr. Lambert, and Aiken / Ain’t gonna make it / They get so mad / When I call them both fake its.”

Totally hilarious and 9/10 offensive.

5. Beenie Man, “Damn,” 2006

“Well I’m think of a new Jamaica, me come to execute all of the gays.”

Nothing funny about this lyric or “murder music” in general. After many of his concerts were boycotted by LGBT activists, Beenie released a video statement (above) offer his attempt at an apology.

10/10 offensive.

6. Brad Paisley, “I’m Still a Guy,” 2008

“Well love makes a man do some things he ain’t proud of / And in a weak moment I might walk your sissy dog, hold your purse at the mall / But remember, I’m still a guy /…/ These days there’s dudes getting facials / Manicured, waxed and botoxed / With deep spray-on tans and creamy lotiony hands / You can’t grip a tacklebox / With all of these men lining up to get neutered / It’s hip now to be feminized / I don’t highlight my hair / I’ve still got a pair / Yeah honey, I’m still a guy”

In this song Paisley is banging on metrosexuals, not homosexuals, and plenty of “no cologne” gays would prolly agree.

2/10 offensive

7. Bruce Springsteen, “Incident on 57th Street,” 1973

“…all them golden-heeled fairies in a real bitch fight.”

Springsteen is a poet, and that’s a great line.

0/10 offensive.

8. Goodie MOB, “Fly Away,” 1998

“Ain’t no due process/For boys that become girls or verse vica/Field n—as control this/Pin the hollow point tip on this gay rights activist…”

Straight-up, murderously homophobic.

10/10 offensive

9. Common, “Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For the World),” 2000

“You couldn’t hang if you was a poster/Posin like a bitch for exposure/It’s rumors of gay MC’s, just don’t come around me wit it/You still rockin’ hickies — don’t let me find out he did it …”

Or what are you gonna do, Common? Whatever.

8/10 offensive

10. Immortal Technique, “Natural Beauty,” 2011

“And men who don’t even like women control the business / That’s why the women look like men and the men look like bitches …”

Ignorant, but he might have a point. Unfortunately, that album art with the AR knocks him back up the scale. 7/10 offensive


11. Saigon, “Our Babies 2 (It’s a Crazy World),” 2012

“Look, the other day/I seen a girl acting like a boy/Then I seen a little boy acting like a girl / People try to tell me it’s just a way of the world!/It’s a crazy world!”

True that. 2/10 offensive

12. Brand Nubian, “Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down,” 1992

“Oh yes, I’m the bad man, and the bad men wear black/And if it comes to droppin’ bombs, yo—I’m with that/Though I can freak, fly, flow, fuck up a faggot/Don’t understand their ways/I ain’t down with gays …”

Asshole. 10/10 offensive

13. Mos Def and Talib Kweli, “RE: Definition,” 1998

“Cats who claimin’ they hard be mad fag/So I run through ‘em like flood water through sandbags…”

Not that it’s an excuse, but Mos Def was young when this came out, (before his solo breakthrough Black on Both Sides in 1999) and he’s done a lot of good work since and is socially active and all, and he can act! Using “fag” or “gay” this way in 2013 would just be tone-deaf and we don’t expect he would.

But still: 7/10 offensive

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated