Gay Rappers: Myth or reality? An interview with gay rapper, Jenro
Global Hip Hop: Find out more about global hip hop stars Zdon Paporella, Paul "Play" Dairo and 2Face Idibia and the hot new Afro Beat music in our Black Press Africa Project. To hear the podcast interview with Zdon, visit http://www.blackpressradio.com and search keyword: "Zdon" or "Nigeria."
(Hip Hop Violence.com) - She's been in the rap game since she was 10 years old, but now Jenro is ready to take her career to another level. But first, she must even the level the playing field between the music industry and gay rappers.
In the first ever look into the life of a gay rapper, Jenro speaks exclusively with Black Press Magazine and answers the question: Gay Rappers: Myth or reality?
"Three out of 10 rappers are gay," says openly gay rap artist Jenro. "There's definitely a lot of pressure on rappers to not come out. It's time. We all go through struggles through our race, through our gender. Gay people cannot come out without being harassed. They can't speak their minds with even being killed. It's important to be out because it's important for young people to see that," Jenro said.
"I'm first generation born here. It's out of their range to be lesbian or to be gay. I feel really lucky because my mom herself really accepts me and I think that's all I really need." said Jenro.
Industry experts agree.
"Hip-hop's one of the most homophobic of all musical genres. There's an excitability in our culture around issues like homosexuality, transvestites and so on," wrote Professor Michael Eric Dyson, author of "Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur."
"As wonderful and outrageous and avant garde as rap is, it's never meaningfully challenged any of these boundaries… the hip-hop community isn't suddenly going to embrace these folk [gays/lesbians], but they're going to have to make their peace with them one way or another," said Dyson.
Is hip hop turning Black women gay?
The issue surrounding girl-on-girl action in hip hop is nothing new, but now critics are suggesting that hip hop has bred a new crop of Black lesbians causing many groups to get more active. A recent special on bisexuality that aired on the VH1 network suggested that hip hop was responsible for the new trends. More and more Black-oriented books are focusing on bi-sexual characters including author Anna J's "His Woman, My Wife."
After sex-laced videos have become the norm on networks like BET, civil rights leaders are calling for Black authors to place Parental Advisory notices on their books. In this exclusive, unedited interview with Black Press Magazine, sexpert author Anna J takes on the critics in defense of author rights. My Woman, His Wife author Anna J tackles Black lesbianism in this racy Essence bestselling book.
"For most couples, inviting someone into their bedroom is totally out of the question. Any normal woman would flip if her man even thought about trying a threesome with another woman," said Anna J. "Jasmine is that woman, and more. It's not until her husband James pressures her into having a threesome that their once "happy" lives get turned into nothing but drama."
Despite the racy topic, Anna J doesn't feel that parental advisories are needed on books with adult content.
"When the same people who like to see girl-on-girl action on videos, they like it but when they see if in real life, they don't like it," said Jenro. "It's hypocritical. The dudes want to get in but when they see it in real life they get mad."
During a recent interview with R&B singer Ray Lavender, who performs under the moniker "Ray L" on Akon's Convict Music label, he confessed that he lost his girlfriend to another woman.
"I'm a man, I can say that I caught my girl cheating on me with another man," said Ray L. "I opened the door, I heard moaning. For real, I'm fend to kill somebody. Then I get closer, I heard groaning. But in the door and see my girl with a chick. That's when I found out that my girl got a girlfriend." Instead of getting mad, Ray L says he decided to write about his experience for his new song, "My girl got a girlfriend."
This topic and other issues regarding the way women are treated in hip hop will take place at the upcoming Hip Hop Journalism Summit and Emergency Hip Hop Violence Townhall. To hear the full interview with Jenro about gay rappers visit http://www.blackpressradio.com and use keywords: "Gay rapper" or "Sex." To hear the State of Hip Hop: The Podcast" search keyword: "State of." To get email updates, send an email to [email protected].
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Judges, Sponsors and Panelists wanted for Hip Hop Journalism Summit and Black Press All Star Awards
We're looking for a few good people who will conduct pre-, during and post-event podcast interviews, write articles on the Hip Hop Journalism Summit and Black Press All Star Awards event that will be held on Sept. 19-20, 2008 and help promote the event as part of the media sponsorship commitment. The Hip Hop Journalism Summit and Black Press All Star Awards is currently accepting application for individuals who want to be apart of the panels, sponsorship list or judging selection committee to help determine the winners among the submissions comprised of newspapers, magazines, websites, publicists, authors and others in the Black media industry. To be considered, send your bio, weblink and photo to [email protected] by March 31, 2008.
