NEW YORK - Kanye West says "gay" has become an antonym to hip-hop — and that it needs to be stopped.

During an interview for an MTV special, the 27-year-old rapper launched into a discussion about hip-hop and homosexuality while talking about "Hey Mama," a song on his upcoming album, "Late Registration."

West says that when he was young, people would call him a "mama's boy."

"And what happened was, it made me kind of homophobic, 'cause it's like I would go back and question myself," West says on the show, "All Eyes on Kanye West," set to air Thursday night (10:30 p.m. ET).

West says he changed his ways, though, when he learned one of his cousins was gay.

"It was kind of like a turning point when I was like, `Yo, this is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays.'"

West says hip-hop was always about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He adds that in slang, gay is "the opposite, the exact opposite word of hip-hop."

Kanye's message: "Not just hip-hop, but America just discriminates. And I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, `Yo, stop it.'"

West, whose debut disc "The College Dropout" won a Grammy for best rap album, will see his second record in stores on Aug. 30.

__http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050818/ap_en_mu/people_kanye_west_

thats why i love kanye so much-thats pretty cool of him to say this

NEW YORK - Kanye West says "gay" has become an antonym to hip-hop — and that it needs to be stopped.

During an interview for an MTV special, the 27-year-old rapper launched into a discussion about hip-hop and homosexuality while talking about "Hey Mama," a song on his upcoming album, "Late Registration."

West says that when he was young, people would call him a "mama's boy."

"And what happened was, it made me kind of homophobic, 'cause it's like I would go back and question myself," West says on the show, "All Eyes on Kanye West," set to air Thursday night (10:30 p.m. ET).

West says he changed his ways, though, when he learned one of his cousins was gay.

"It was kind of like a turning point when I was like, `Yo, this is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays.'"

West says hip-hop was always about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He adds that in slang, gay is "the opposite, the exact opposite word of hip-hop."

Kanye's message: "Not just hip-hop, but America just discriminates. And I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, `Yo, stop it.'"

West, whose debut disc "The College Dropout" won a Grammy for best rap album, will see his second record in stores on Aug. 30.

__http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050818/ap_en_mu/people_kanye_west_

I'm not a fan of his music, but damn, Kanye West rocks :rock:

The biggest thing that has kept me from getting into hip hop music is the blatant homophobia that is branded tolerable in the genre, with artists spewing the word "***" out like it's okay. The coolest part is that Kanye has enough respect and clout in the genre, people will listen. Tho I'm sure one or two *******s in the genre will write a diss record to Kanye and call him a "*** lover" or something.

That's really cool of Kanye. He's the coolest. His music rocks and so does he.

go Kanye! It's pretty cool that he had the courage to go out and speak his mind when most rappers woul NEVER think of saying that (even if they believed it) :)

The interesting thing is Sway, the guy who interviewed Kanye on MTV, is homophobic. He's said some negative things against gays in the past, so I was interested in his reaction to what Kanye was saying. That's a good job by Kanye. Both he and Common have been against homophobia. One, maybe two rappers will take his advice to tone it down though.

The interesting thing is Sway, the guy who interviewed Kanye on MTV, is homophobic. He's said some negative things against gays in the past, so I was interested in his reaction to what Kanye was saying. That's a good job by Kanye. Both he and Common have been against homophobia. One, maybe two rappers will take his advice to tone it down though.

thats interesting..i didnt know sway was homophobic. overall i thought that was a good interview and i might even pick up the new cd tuesday

thats interesting..i didnt know sway was homophobic. overall i thought that was a good interview and i might even pick up the new cd tuesday


Yeah, there's an actor on HBO's The Wire named Michael Williams who plays a gay character on that show. He was interviewed by Sway on the radio station Hot 97 a couple of years ago here in NYC. Here's an excerpt from an article on it:

The actor had his first face-to face confrontation with homophobia in a recent radio interview on New York City's Hot 97 with DJ and MTV personality Sway, who objected to a steamy love scene Williams had enacted with Ernest Waddell, playing Omar's on-screen lover Dante. "He ambushed me with his homophobia," recalls Williams. "He said that he was personally repulsed by the scene and said it was morally outrageous. Then I got the same thing from callers in to the show. One guy who was Jamaican called me a batty boy." (Sway later got flak for his on air behavior and, says Williams, almost got fired from Hot 97.)

So I was curious to see Sway's reaction sitting there while Kanye gives his support to gays, but I guess he kept his mouth shut this time. I admire Kanye and Common for taking a stand that isn't easy to take in the world of hip hop.

i didnt know sway did that- i dont like him anymore

That's awesome. I love Kanye West.

Go Kanye!!! I think he is awsome, and amazingly talented!

I don't like Kanye but its about time somebody spoke out about gay bashing in hip hop.

That's awesome that he had the guts to come out and say that. I'm sure Eminem will probably come out now and diss him pretty hard, but I don't think that'll bother Kanye much. Hopefully he won't stoop to Eminem's level, and retaliate, if Eminem does indeed decide to attack him. Homophobia is one of the MANY reasons I gave up listening to most rap music, so I think it's refreshing to see that someone is finally coming forth, and addressing some of these issues. Hopefully he'll next say something about the degrading of women that is done in much of rap music today. Some of the hateful stuff said towards women in rap songs, and some of the things done to women in many rap videos, is downright sickening!! It would be nice to see him, or some other big name rap star address that, and some of the many other issues that plague rap music today.

Hopefully he'll next say something about the degrading of women that is done in much of rap music today. Some of the hateful stuff said towards women in rap songs, and some of the things done to women in many rap videos, is downright sickening!!


I would agree with you as far as what the rappers put in their lyrics, though the degradation of women in the music isn't as prevalent as you might think. As far as the videos go, the women don't have agree to appear in them scantily clad and gyrating around. As long as there are women who agree to do that, those videos will be around. There needs to be some accountability on the female's part too.

I would agree with you as far as what the rappers put in their lyrics, though the degradation of women in the music isn't as prevalent as you might think. As far as the videos go, the women don't have agree to appear in them scantily clad and gyrating around. As long as there are women who agree to do that, those videos will be around. There needs to be some accountability on the female's part too.

That's a good point. I just find it sad that anyone would stoop to that kind of stuff, whether it be rappers, MTV, or the women who appear in the videos. And unless some big name steps up and says something, I just don't see things ever changing. But you're right, alot of the accountability does need to lie with the women who agree to appear in those kinds of videos. They're certainly not victims, as long as they agree to be a part of it. I definitely agree with you on that.

Yay Kanye!!!!!!!! :dance: :clap:

Yeah, there's an actor on HBO's The Wire named Michael Williams who plays a gay character on that show. He was interviewed by Sway on the radio station Hot 97 a couple of years ago here in NYC. Here's an excerpt from an article on it:

The actor had his first face-to face confrontation with homophobia in a recent radio interview on New York City's Hot 97 with DJ and MTV personality Sway, who objected to a steamy love scene Williams had enacted with Ernest Waddell, playing Omar's on-screen lover Dante. "He ambushed me with his homophobia," recalls Williams. "He said that he was personally repulsed by the scene and said it was morally outrageous. Then I got the same thing from callers in to the show. One guy who was Jamaican called me a batty boy." (Sway later got flak for his on air behavior and, says Williams, almost got fired from Hot 97.)

So I was curious to see Sway's reaction sitting there while Kanye gives his support to gays, but I guess he kept his mouth shut this time. I admire Kanye and Common for taking a stand that isn't easy to take in the world of hip hop.

why is homophobia so acceptable in rap anyways? When you see the way how artists like Bette Midler, Cher, Madonna and Liza Minnelli owe a lot of their success to being pro-gay and endearing gay and lesbian fans the world over, why wouldn't hip hop artists want that? The gay community is notoriously loyal and artists like Shannon and Taylor Dayne even credit that gays and lesbians are the only reason they're even still performing and not getting welfare these days now that the mainstream has long since abandoned them.

It's just kinda funny to see someone like Eminem say countless homophobic lyrics when he has the looks and the talent that if he decided to go both ways (the way Justin Timberlake has a somewhat harder image than he did in N'Sync but also kisses gay ass because he knows that gay men buy his posters and albums too) in appealing to both straight men and gay men, he'd only have even more fans.

One thing that sucks is that some rappers aren't as bad, but American's won't get to hear the music except for import. For example, Jay-Z is a huge superstar in the world of hip hop, in Europe he let one of his songs be remixed into a danceclub track because it doesn't really bother him if gay white men will wanna dance to his music, but of course, it'd never see the light of day in the US where the only remixes you see from hip-hoppish acts (except for the female acts where it's okay to hear club mixes from people like Ciara or Missy) are crunk mixes.

another thing that comes to mind why I don't understand hip hops tolerance of homophobia:

everyone knows Donna Summer was THE top female artist of the late 70's, and when disco backlashed in 1980, she was one of the very few to still be able to carry on with a career and score hit records. Yet in the early 80's, she found Jesus and became an outspoken Christian, and then nasty rumors started spreading around that Donna was a homophobe and made comments that AIDS was God's answer to homosexuality and the sort. These comments KILLED Donna's career, just look at her sales and charts in 1983 (when she did She Works Hard For The Money) and then her same sales and charts from 1984, after the rumor exploded. Donna has sued over the comment and has pointed out 1000 times she never said nor believes those things, but yet many gay people still refuse to support her for it.

It's kinda funny that a lot of hip hoppers take pride in being homophobic when they could be looking at Donna's chart trajectory and see that it was vicious rumors planted that she was homophobic that hurt her career for years. It's funny to see Dr. Dre say "I don't care what those people think", when it was those people who permanently destroyed Anita Bryant's career and caused Donna Summer years and years of grovelling before her career even made the slightest recover over homophobia (or in Donna's case presumed homophobia).

why is homophobia so acceptable in rap anyways?

cuz most people are homophobic or look down on homosexuals, even if they dont say it. hip hop audiences are not supposed to be soft.

why is homophobia so acceptable in rap anyways?

cuz most people are homophobic or look down on homosexuals, even if they dont say it. hip hop audiences are not supposed to be soft.

well, regardless. You'd think a lot of rappers would realize by saying "I hate gay people", they are alienating a potential fanbase. Hell, people like Britney, Justin and Christina found out that while they were initially geared to pre-teen girls, that teen and 20-something gay men became as integral a part of their fanbase, and instead of going "ewww, ******* suck" the way 50 Cent did (and I will never support him for that comment), they all embraced the fact that gays adore them. People like Eminem and 50 Cent laid down the law that they hate gays instead of even giving gays a chance to be part of the fanbase.

A great great great majority of female artists from the 80's and early 90's who have long fallen off the pop radar have come to accept the fact that it's largely gay men who have kept them from taking dayjobs. It's mostly gay men who still buy Cyndi Lauper, Taylor Dayne, Ce Ce Peniston, Belinda Carlisle and the sort these days, most fickle pop music fans are "I thought she was dead" about those. When a lot of the popular rappers of the time start fading away, I highly doubt you're going to see gay men rallying around them keeping them alive like we do Shannon, because they let it be known they don't want us on their side.

yes, they are against having gay fans.... and im pretty sure they know that they're pushing that audience away. If they dont, their image wont be the same. they wont be as tough... etc... so its almost like they have to.