N.W.A

• Addressing claims of homophobia, the rapper wrote on Instagram: “I didn’t write the line about gay people.
• … I got love for all people.” He continued: “To me [by] ‘queer’ I don’t mean someone who’s gay.
• As rap music approaches its 50th anniversary in August, I believe it is increasingly embracing challenges to – and debates about – homophobia.

The history of homophobia in rap music

• Indeed, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, high-profile rap groups such as N.W.A and artists like DMX similarly used pejorative language against members of the gay and lesbian community.
• Perhaps the most famous rapper using homophobic lyrics is Eminem.
• Throughout this controversy, there was only a muted response from the rap community itself.
• Indeed, researchers who studied the link between rap music and resistance among young men of color to coming out found that it influenced some gay men’s decision to conduct any same-sex practices on the “down low” to avoid revealing their sexuality.

The start of change in rap community

• For example, in 2005 Kanye West apologized for his past homophobia and even urged fellow artists to cease using lyrics that degrade the LGBTQ+ community.
• These individual actions did not end anti-gay expression in rap, but it does, I believe, show progress among those in the hip-hop community.
• However, many present-day male rappers wear tight-fitting clothes – a fashion choice once considered “gay” and therefore demeaned in the rap world.
• Moreover, such outfits are created by gay fashion designers, a point that Offset acknowledged while defending himself against claims of homophobia.

Out of the closet and onto the mics

• Even more telling, I believe, is the growing number of mainstream LGBTQ+ rappers.
• Over the past decade, there has been a rise in the number of successful gay and lesbian emcees.
• Albeit the music of openly gay Lil Nas X is more pop than rap, it has sold over 1 million copies.
• Even 50 Cent, no stranger to homophobic lyrics, praised her on Instagram: “Young M.A the hottest s*** out right now.

Still room for growth in rap music

• But it does show that hip-hop has evolved to a point at which self-reflection and conversations are taking place on past and present instances of homophobia.
• That’s not to say that anti-gay beliefs don’t persist in the music of some.
• And at least for now, rap artists are called on it – increasingly by members of their own community.

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• OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TNT Recordings and the Solo Piano Group (SPG) today announced the release of a second single from Shock G, founder of digital underground who passed away in April 2022.
• "Round Midnight" is another example of the diversity of Shock G's talent and the musicians who influenced his talent," stated Atron Gregory, Shock G's manager and business partner.
• Here's a quote from an interview that Shock G did with the Tampa Bay Nightlife TV in 2011 discussing his music: "I decided just rhyming wasn't enough.
• Gregory assembled and released the first album from SOLO PIANO GROUP, MELLOW MOODS, in 2020 which includes a series of relaxing recordings from accomplished pianists from around the world."

• Here's a link to hear "To Zion" which will be available on all digital platforms.
• As a rapper he was known as MC Blowfish, Humpty Hump and various other names.As a musician he was known as "the piano man.
• "The piano wasn't the first instrument he studied; however, he never saw a piano he didn't want to play.
• "When I told Shock G that TNT Recordings was about to release the first album by the Solo Piano Group, he told me he wanted to participate but didn't want to be the first pianist," stated Gregory.