Is 'No Homo' Actually Making Hip-Hop More Gay?
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- chanelleberlin
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In his newest article, Jonah Weiner from Slate.com talks about the rise of the phrase 'no homo' in hip-hop music and culture and its effects. To him, while the use of the phrase is hardly radical, the fact that it allows hip-hop artists to make homosexuality part of the conversation at all by encouraging them to come up with clever rhymes that use is still worth something.
He writes: "No homo tweaks [the 'down-low'] dynamic because it allows, implicitly, that rap is a place where gayness can in fact be expressed by the guy on the mic, not just scorned in others. In the very act of trying to "purify" an utterance of any gayness, after all, the no homo tag must contaminate it first—it's both a denial and a flashing neon arrow.... There's a sense in which no homo, rather than limiting self-expression in hip-hop, actually helps to expand it..."
He writes: "No homo tweaks [the 'down-low'] dynamic because it allows, implicitly, that rap is a place where gayness can in fact be expressed by the guy on the mic, not just scorned in others. In the very act of trying to "purify" an utterance of any gayness, after all, the no homo tag must contaminate it first—it's both a denial and a flashing neon arrow.... There's a sense in which no homo, rather than limiting self-expression in hip-hop, actually helps to expand it..."
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- tags:
- Hip Hop, Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Slate Magazine, 1 more
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UrbanGypsy
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Well, I never thought I would see a picture of Camron with a crossdresser!
"Yo this is no homo"
YES HOMO! :D
- 2 years ago
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UrbanGypsy
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couldntfindausername
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Interesting article. The main thrust of the argument seems to be that moving from a vocabulary which essentially ignores the existence of LGB people to one which includes them [even in a less than desirable fashion] is a step forward; the shift opens up a path to dialogue.
I don't know to what extent it's plausible, but it is interesting.
- 2 years ago
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couldntfindausername
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guy_gunaratne
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it's INSANE how much deep analysis this phrase is getting!
Almost as insane as that picture.
Fruity.
- 2 years ago
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guy_gunaratne
