You might remember back to the rise of Tyler the Creator and the piece I wrote concerning homophobia within music. Looking back, the piece with thin in its references and lacked a cutting blow to our friend Tyler. Yet my point still stands, as a group of music lovers, I don’t think we challenged Tyler about his abusive and bigoted vocabulary enough.
A year goes by and we have a new Prince of Hip-Hop, A$AP Rocky, and it seems a remarkable change in doctrine to go with it. Below is a transcription of an interview he did with Spinner and his attitude to homophobia within hip-hop.
It’s an exciting attitude to hear from the new generation of Hip-Hop, but with cats like Tyler the Creator still as popular as ever, is it enough?
“I don’t give a f— about your business. Man, if you’re gay we can be friends. If you’re straight, we can be friends…I really don’t give a fuck and I don’t think anyone should care about what another man’s preference is…As long as you’re a great person and, y’know, you don’t bother me and make me uncomfortable, then let’s be friends, dude. [Hip-hop] needs to stop being so close-minded because that will just cause the genre to fail. Look at pop. Pop doesn’t discriminate against people. Look at Lady Gaga, y’know what I mean? Who the fuck makes the rules for hip-hop? Who the fuck dictates who’s cool and who’s not?”
