But this is still a genre that has never been supportive of change.”īefore the viral sensation of “Old Town Road” turned Hill into a pop star and gay icon, hip-hop was already reaching a turning point in its inclusivity, as more young black men exploring sexuality and interrogating masculinity in their work are getting mainstream attention.īut as the old guard has been replaced with a younger generation unconcerned with rigid labels and unbothered by genre, today’s rap and R&B scene isn’t as exclusively heteronormative as it once was. “We are finally starting to see queer black men celebrated in the genre. ![]() ![]() “It’s hard to be out in genres where being gay, or expressing your sexuality, is frowned upon,” added platinum rapper and singer iLoveMakonnen, born Makonnen Sheran, who rose to fame as a protégé of Drake and came out as gay in 2017. “Lil Nas X re-imagined an image of the Wrangler-wearing, horseback-riding man’s man into a young black representative of youth culture, got the attention of two traditionally macho cultures and then came out on the last day of Pride,” said Roy Kinsey, a Chicago-based librarian and rapper at the forefront of Chicago’s queer rap scene.
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