Rap is changing. The immutable rules of the genre and the conduct of its participants loosened considerably in the last decade. Sitting in the crux of this generational gap is Lil Nas X.
Prior to coming out, the rap world—barring a few outliers—was almost unanimously fond of the plucky newcomer. Post coming out? Lil Nas X has somehow unified the alt-right and the hip-hop old guard through their deeply entrenched homophobia, all while dominating the Spotify charts. As a studious fan of hip-hop, I'm a little shocked by the alarmist pearl-clutching of the "Old head" contingent in the genre that refuses to accept Lil Nas X. It's not like he's the first gay rap artist.
Fellow hip-hop historian Murs created a video highlighting the numerous gay rap stars since the genre's inception. Murs carefully examines his biases around gay artists in hip-hop while providing a comprehensive walk through the most prominent "Homo Hop" MCs in the video. All around, the video is an informative look into the history of one of hip-hop's previously ignored subgenres.
