Da Fuck?

While we all celebrate (and dance to) LilNasX's songs, we have to keep in mind that there's a very strong current of homophobia (and flabbergasting ignorance) in HipHop and Rap. Take for example this:

“If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, put your cellphone lighter up,” . “Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone lighter up.”

DaBaby

I cannot even start to quantify the immensely stupid conflagration of death and STDs but the idea that HIV could kill someone in three weeks. The fact that this abominable tomfoolery was uttered in a venue where most people were probably Black is even more damming, as if HIV did not affect Black communities at an alarming rate. As for the comments about sucking dick in the parking lot, for a homophobe, this rapper does know where it’s at. Now, if you don't know who the fuck DaBaby is, welcome to the club. Up until recently I had no idea who he was (I knew there was a rapper in Dua Lipa's remix of Levitating, but I had no idea who the guy was because I was there for her). And apparently I was not missing anything. Literally. His fall from grace, though, has been all over the internet. Bob even wrote about him (and nailed it).

Da Idiot has backtracked on Instagram regarding his fuckup and then backtracked the backtracking, of course. But he is only a small sample of the ignorance and homophobia that run rampant in the world of Hip-Hop and Rap, which even if his music is not your cup of tea, makes LilNasX's success so much more outstanding. Having an unapologetically, young, sexy and successful Black queer man giving the finger to the music establishment is a sight to behold.  But it does come at a cost:

There’s a unique pressure that those of us who are Black, queer, and visible often shoulder, just by the very nature of our existence. It’s a heightened version of the stressor that is the old adage Black people and other folks of color have come to know like the back of our hands: “You’ve got to work twice as hard to get half as far." ... “Mentally, it’s really draining and straining sometimes,” Nas says. “The pressure of living your entire life knowing the identity of what a rapper is supposed to be, what rappers [are supposed to] do, and going out there in front of all these people, it’s terrifying. [The BET performance] was like jumping in a lake full of sharks and piranhas — and I’ve had to do that so many times within these last three years. Even coming out, that was terrifying. 

LilNasX

So that's why this post is probably more about LilNasX than about DaFuckup. Because LilNasX is helping queer kids of color realize that it does get better, that there's life after coming out and that 'artists' like DaMoron will come and go in a blaze of ignorance. Because the backlash again DaDolt has been swift and precise: it’s been against homophobia and ignorance and it’s been widespread. The fact that only men who have been accused of sexual assault or are known homophobes themselves have come on DaDunce’s defense speak for itself. I’m sure his stupidity has costed him some Benjamins and endorsements too, and that’s the only language some people understand: money. 

So go on, LilNasX with your awesome gay self and be successful and awesome. Showing the homophobes that it DOES get better is the best revenge. 

XOXO

P.S. Ludacris to Perform at AIDS Walk Atlanta 😎