Intersection of LGBTQ and Rap/Hip-Hop Culture

Entertainment is powerful. When a celebrity comes out, whether out of their chauffeured limousine, multi-million dollar house and onto the red carpet, or out of the closet, that admired star will make headlines. Faces of entertainment are powerful in the sense that they can influence; they have paved the way for acceptance and equality for LGBTQ folk. However, the climate of the industry is not always secure. Rap and hip-hop is littered with artists who define their genre with lyrics depicting patriarchal machismo. The genre is not a safe space for music artists who identify as LGBTQ as they defy the social construction of both masculinity and femininity.

Erick Sermon, rapper of EPMD, an American hip-hop group from New York, proclaims that being gay and in hip-hop is “like a curse”. With the fear of possibility being marginalized, coming out and openly identifying as “who you are” is difficult. "When you talk about sports players, too, like we don't know if that's ever gonna happen, 'cause that's like a curse to be in the sports and be gay and be in hip-hop and be gay. You can't be on a basketball team, football team and be homo, and be rapping...and be homo. N----s will kill you" (Sermon, 2012).

With the hip-hop/rap culture stemming from African and African-American music, the deep-rooted homophobia in the black community is brought out. With lyrics like “You faggots scared ‘cause I’m too wild” being acceptable in mainstream music, the acceptance of LGBTQ folk is questioned. The tolerance of slurs against a minority group, who should instead be accepted, is ironic of the provocatively avant-garde music industry.

The hip-hop/rap music culture is not the only chauvinistic community; the intolerance is reminiscent of the experiences from people of color. Chicanos face a very binary attitude in culture as “the privilege of masculinity among Mexican men – whether heterosexual or homosexual – remains a cornerstone of patriarchal Mexican society, which is very resistant to fundamental redefinition and cultural intrusion from the outside” (Alamaguer, 1991). Homosexual men are not accepted in society, especially if they have flamboyant traits.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Filipino community is reported to be “relatively tolerant of homosexuality” and its LGBTQ community members did not feel the pressure to acknowledge their sexual identity; even if members did, they would receive “good responses from families when [people] did ‘come out’” (Manalansan, 1993). The difference in culture is the defining factor of acceptance: the intersectionality of their queer identity and culture is complementary in their society.

Rap and hip-hop does have its open LGBTQ artists. Azaelia Banks and Cazwell are defying the stereotype of the need to be very masculine or very feminine. They, however, will need to face the artists who continue the stigma of strict-male dominance in the genre, and who continue to push intolerance toward the LGBTQ community.

Music is influential, but the intersection of the human element in the genre has hindered the acceptance of multifaceted identities in one person. Duality of queerness and culture should complement each other, not hinder their people and their communities.


Alamaguer, Tomas. "Chicano Men: A Cartography of Homosexual; identity and Behavior." Social Perspectives in Gay and Lesbian Studies. (1998): Print.
Erick Sermon Denies Existence of Gays in Hip Hop. VLADTV, 2012. Web. 23 Feb 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/22/erick-sermon-epmd-rapper-gay-hip-hop_n_1294156.html>.
Manalasan IV, Martin F. "Searching for Community: Filipino Gay Men from New York City." GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. (1993): Print.