Hip-Hop & Homophobia

Over the weekend, news was released that New York's DJ & Radio Personality Mister Cee was arrested for being caught with his “exposed, naked and erect penis” in the mouth of a man by the name of Lawrence Campbell in a parked car at 4 a.m. (not 4 p.m. as originally reported) last Wednesday (March 30) two blocks away from the Holland Tunnel on Manhattan’s West Side. Campbell, who goes by the moniker Brookle-Lynne Pinklady on his Facebook page, was found with his “mouth and lips in an up-and-down motion consistent with oral sex. (XXL News) As soon as this report was released to the public, the internet went bonkers over if it's true or if the reports were falsified and just another way for the police to slander Hip-Hop Artists and DJs. As, I heard about the incident Monday morning while listening to "The Breakfast Club" on New York's Power 105.1, one of my favorite on-air personality's, Charlamagne Tha God made a very big point about Hip-Hop & Rappers being in the closet, that made me think how the Mister Cee incident being true or false isn't the only issue, but Hip-Hop & the issue of Homophobia is. I believe it is a double standard in Hip-Hop because on one hand Hip-Hop is supposed to speak for the people and have no boundaries of race, age, sexuality, etc. but on the other hand it seems OK to use words like "Fag" or "Gay" to describe a man that is considered weak or doing something that isn't considered "Manly" in rap lyrics. When a cancelled Wale concert performance happened during D.C.'s 2010 Black Pride Weekend, Wale mentioned "Hip-hop music knows no race, no color, no age, no gender, no sexuality, none of that .... But I will say, in this business, sometimes you get aligned with people who don't understand that, or who don't necessarily have the same belief system as you do (Wale--Rhymes With Gay)." In the article, they mention how Wale's statement could be an actual sign of maturity in Hip-Hop, but is Hip-Hop really maturing??? Personally, I don't know if it's maturing but more just evolving to be more understanding that Homosexuality exists and that it's perfectly fine. With the emergence and popularity of artists like Kanye West and Nicki Minaj speaking out on how they feel about Hip-Hop & Homosexuality, Hip-Hop is becoming less and less homophobic. However, along with artists like Kanye & Nicki and Hip-Hop Activists like Cornel West and Byron Hurt still speaking on Hip-Hop's issues with homosexuality and other issues such as violence, sexism, and masculinity, Hip-Hop may mature after all.