You gay...

When you listen to hip-hop one may find a common denominator. Hip-hop is fueled by masculinity. Yes, people may argue other factors that contribute to the aurora of hip-hop. You have sexism, violence, and materialism among other adjectives to describe the music. One underlying factor is its masculine nature. With this said, can a homosexual artist survive in a culture where being gay is deemed taboo? It is ironic for me to have doubts. I am a homosexual female who believes that a gay male in hip-hop will have battles being a musician based on his sexual interests than his music. I was recently asked to help in a marketing plan for an unknown artist. The music was sub par but the artist’s image is extremely sellable. However, he is gay. This factor immediately raised red flags. For one, I personally believed that the artist needs a lot of marketing dollars and a distinguished marketing team behind him. I also thought that a key figure in the music industry was needed to break his music (i.e. Lady Gaga). Without this, I thought there was little to no hope to get potential fans to pay attention to his music and not his sexuality. Being a gay male does not make you less masculine than any heterosexual male. I often joke with my straight friends who have a stereotypical view on gay men. I say, they have to be tougher because people are constantly challenging their man hood. Yet I still am unsure if a gay male artist can exist in hip-hop. I’m pretty sure there are a number of homosexual males within the culture. However, they put on a façade to relate. Maybe it is time to show that you don’t have to be the stereotypical “sissy” gay male. There are plenty of homosexual men with high masculinity that would have people in disbelief.