David Bowie Made Me Gay

by Darryl W. Bullock

  There have been a number of out-gay rap and hip hop acts, but very few of those have managed to cross over from their appreciative but small LGBT audience into the mainstream. Britain’s QBoy began his career as part of gay hip hop trio Q-Form and released his debut solo EP, Even the Women Like Him, in 2004. In the summer of 2005 the producer, rapper and DJ organised PeaceOUT UK, Europe’s first ever gay hip hop festival, and in 2011 he played a live set at the Glastonbury Festival. As of April 2017 he was DJing weekly at London’s Heaven club, playing regular dates across Europe and promoting his current EP Qing. Nineteen-year-old out-gay rapper Karnage is quickly building a reputation on London’s grime scene after issuing a brace of singles in 2016. In Oakland, award-winning California hip hop act Deep Dickollective (D/DC) were openly, unashamedly queer: ‘we didn’t want to be coy. We didn’t want anyone to be able to get around queerness, to get around sexuality or race. We wanted that to be foreground, we didn’t want them to make any mistake when they were listening to it,’ co-founder Juba Kalamka told the press.3 Kalamka was an early member of the influential 1990s crew Rainbow Flava, along with Minneapolis-based gay rapper Tori Fixx. The two men pioneered ‘homo hop’ or ‘queer hip hop’, terms coined by D/DC’s Tim’m T. West.

  Although the band folded in 2008 after issuing five albums, Kalamka is still active in the black and LGBT communities today. Juba’s label, Sugartruck, also launched the career of San Francisco’s trans rapper Katastrophe (Rocco Kayiatos), named Producer of the Year at the Outmusic Awards for his debut album Let’s Fuck, Then Talk About my Problems. ‘Poetry is about fallibility,’ Katastrophe’s label boss told the San Francisco Chronicle. ‘He’s got a little bit of both. He’s got swagger, and he’s got “I’m a sensitive guy” at the same time.’4 Not everybody took homo hop seriously: in 2001, the US media started to sit up and take notice of a young rapper from Brooklyn called Caushun, who claimed to be ‘a hairdresser for the stars by day’ (influenced, perhaps, by Monti Rock) and ‘one of the very few openly gay people’ in the hip hop scene by night.5 Unfortunately, despite some major magazine and television coverage, it was all a scam: Caushun’s real name was Jason Herndon, and he had been hired by songwriter and producer Ivan Matias as a prank.

  Gay rapper Joseph Thomas Lee, better known by his stage name Deadlee, scored two critically acclaimed albums, his 2002 debut 7 Deadlee Sins and Assault With a Deadlee Weapon (2006) and was feted by the mainstream media in the States – including Rolling Stone magazine – for his sound, which blended hip hop with rock, and for his lyrics which tackled subjects such as race, class, sexuality and police brutality. In 2013, the year he changed his name to Joey LeMar (after he married his partner, the couple combined their surnames, Lee and Martinez), he told 429 Magazine:

  Homo hop was just a catchy phrase to bring light to out LGBT rappers who are basically just doing hip hop as it was meant to be done. Hip hop was always about the struggle and the realities of life. The problem is it became mainstream and taken over by big corporate music companies who controlled the content. Sex of the hetero variety, violence, and money became the standard. Homo hop was one of those things we used to highlight homos who were being left out of hip-hop, but the name became a crutch. There is no real homo hop genre, it’s just hip-hop. We were a very cohesive group all striving for the same thing. Like life, we all went in different directions but I think our impact was great. I get hit up weekly by new out rappers who thank me for opening doors. My producer at the time told me I was about 10 years ahead of everyone with my ideas and I see that now. We planted a seed and I see the fruits [of our labor].6

  In January 2017, New York-based rapper ILoveMakonnen, whose debut single, the 2014 release ‘Tuesday’ was certified platinum and has been viewed on YouTube almost 140 million times, came out via Twitter, saying that ‘I can’t tell u about everybody else’s closet, I can only tell u about mine, and it’s time [to] come out’. ‘The best decision I ever made in my life was coming out of the closet,’ he says. ‘I feel so much better and happier that I can truly just be me!’7

  In New Orleans, a city that LGBT musicians had been calling home for decades Big Freedia has become known as the Queen of Bounce, a local take on hip hop. Known as Freddie Ross but preferring the feminine pronoun for her stage persona, Big Freedia (pronounced Free-da) has become an American sensation, performing bounce, known for its ‘call-and-response’ style and booty-shaking dance – a move that begat the twerk. It’s music to bounce to, based on repetitive sampled beats (a favourite source is ‘Drag Rap’ by the Showboys which, sadly, has nothing to do with Showgirls or with drag in the style of Gladys Bentley or Julian Eltinge), and although Big Freedia may be the biggest star of the scene, she began her career performing alongside Katey Red. Katey is universally acknowledged as both the first out-trans rapper and as the artist who gave birth to sissy bounce. Several musicians in New Orleans, notably Katey and the lightning-speed rapper Sissy Nobby, use the s-word defiantly; in much the same way as other people in the LGBT community have reclaimed the word ‘queer’, New Orleans’ sissy bounce performers have taken the meaning of the word ‘sissy’ and turned it on its head. Very few people would dare use the word in a derogatory fashion in the presence of the fierce and intimidating Sissy Nobby or the 6′ 2″ Big Freedia.

  Unfortunately, despite a clutch of visibly out artists and vocal support for the LGBT community from some of the biggest players, the urban music scene is still a no-go area for many LGBT musicians: in 2014 US rapper T-Pain spoke out about homophobia in the industry, claiming that certain rappers will not work with the R&B singer Frank Ocean – who two years previously had admitted that he had fallen in love with another man – because of his sexuality.8

  A new breed of singers scorning ‘batty boys’ dominated reggae. The Jamaican dancehall hit ‘Boom Bye Bye’ by ragga star Buju Banton incited violence against gay men and rightly caused outrage, so much so that the backlash almost destroyed his career: his shows were cancelled across Europe and throughout America and he was dropped from the line-up of Britain’s multicultural WOMAD festival in 1992, due to be held in Brighton, England’s gay capital. In a very clear message from the organisers that homophobia would not be tolerated, his spot was filled by Boy George.9 A campaign, Stop Murder Music (the term ‘murder music’ had been coined by British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell), was set up to highlight artists that produce music that encourages violence against the LGBT community and to encourage people to boycott their records and concerts. In 2007, the organisers of London’s Reggae in the Park concert were forced to cancel the event, which was to have featured Jamaican singers Sizzla Kalonji and Vybz Kartel, following intense lobbying by gay rights group OutRage! The Stop Murder Music campaign led to many singers signing the Reggae Compassionate Act (RCA), agreeing that ‘there is no space in the music community for hatred and prejudice, including no place for racism, violence, sexism or homophobia’. Banton signed, then distanced himself from the RCA: the year that he signed the act (2007), his microphone was switched off as soon as he began ‘Boom Bye Bye’ at New York’s CariFest reggae festival. In 2004, Banton had been charged, along with 11 other men, of breaking into a house in Kingston and attacking six men believed to be homosexual. One of the victims lost the use of an eye in the beating, but charges against the singer were dismissed in January 2006 because of a lack of evidence. Jamaica is still referred to as ‘the most homophobic place on earth,’10 where murder and mob violence is an almost everyday occurrence, and gay rights activists have been forced to flee their homes: lawyer Maurice Tomlinson received death threats after local newspaper the Jamaica Observer published an article about his wedding to his Canadian partner, and the couple were forced to relocate to Toronto.11 Homeless LGBT people were, quite literally, living in the gutters: dozens of young LGBT people lived in a drainage gully in New Kingston after being driven from their homes for being gay. Local police repeatedly raided the site and eventually sealed off the gully, leaving the youths homeless
again.12 Yet despite all of this, in 2015 the country held its first Pride day; the following year events lasted for a whole week. As Dane Lewis, Executive Director of prominent human rights group J-FLAG (Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays) says: ‘We not hiding anymore, but we still have dancehall artists who feel as though they are required to have a least one song with homophobic lyrics in their repertoire. A lot of that is down to peer pressure: they feel that if they don’t then their own sexuality will be in question.’

  Very few Jamaican artists have dared to speak up on behalf of the LGBT community, as Dane Lewis explains. ‘The only one who has been very public has been Tanya Stephens,’ he says, talking about the singer who has urged her fellow artists to be more socially responsible. Tanya’s 2010 song ‘Still Alive’ deals with discrimination against people with HIV, and it was used in a television campaign dealing with the issue. In 2011 Jamaican-born reggae singer Mista Majah P released Tolerance, an album that included songs supporting same-sex marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples, as well as attacks on homophobic bullying. His most recent album, Gays Belong in Heaven Too challenges discrimination in the church, as well as including songs about LGBT rights in Uganda, Russia and Jamaica. The singer says:

  I wanted to challenge the homophobia of the churches, especially in Jamaica. The first thing most of them say is that to be gay is wrong because the Bible says so. Because people can use the Bible as an excuse to bash and hate on the LGBT community then these so-called Christian church goers take these words and infect the population with hate and homophobia, using God as a scapegoat and front man to get their message out there.’

  The heterosexual singer has received death threats for his pro-gay stance:

  I was told I cannot come back to Jamaica because I am a traitor for speaking out about the treatment of gay people. The reaction from other reggae musicians is very hateful and discriminatory towards me and the LGBT community. They think I am a traitor because I want to change the culture of hatred toward gays. I have not gotten any support from any reggae artist: I was threatened by Sizzla’s manager with a lawsuit for one of my videos [‘What if Bounty Killer and Sizzla Are Gay?’]. Bounty Killer and Sizzla are the two most homophobic reggae artist in Jamaica, that’s why I leave my focus on them. I am trying to cut off the head of the snake, and I have got insults and death threats from these reggae artists, their management and fans.13

  Mista Majah P, who now lives in San Francisco, says that his adopted home has helped change his attitude towards LGBT people

  in a very positive way. While living in Jamaica I used to see gays from afar with no interaction and only knew what I knew either from hateful reggae songs, homophobic pastors in the church or the general public who hated the very sight of anyone gay, who they would attack and spout hatred. Since living in the USA and the San Francisco area I have had the chance to walk, talk and interact with LGBT people, have gay friends, attend festivals and interview people from the LGBT community. I now know that what is sung about in reggae and talked about in Jamaica is totally bogus … the gay community is very loyal and honest which makes me very proud to call a gay person my friend and glad that I am helping to kill that lie.

  There are LGBT artists in Jamaica, but the local music industry has colluded to keep their stories out of the media. ‘The music industry is so fickle; people are hesitant to speak out but we’ve heard comments from other artists,’ Lewis reveals. ‘They know who is gay in the industry and they have no issues working with them so it’s a sort of unspoken tolerance that has been building up. The Stop Murder Music campaign has done a lot to help shift the landscape.’ Life is still tough, but for LGBT people in the bigger towns and cities at least there is some kind of life. ‘We have a very vibrant underground scene,’ Lewis explains, ‘people who know where the parties are – and we have proprietors who are willing to host us or rent us space. That’s demonstrable of the shift that has taken place … Social media has also provided an avenue for people to connect, and Pride is really important. Visibility is critical, especially in terms of encouraging other people to make personal connections.’

  Anti-gay legislation in Russia – the Russian federal law ‘for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values’ was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin on 30 June 2013 – has seen a vicious crackdown on LGBT rights and calls from religious leaders and community groups for Russian media and music fans to boycott Western artists such as Elton John. When gay artist Tom Neuwirth won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014 as his alter ego Conchita Wurst, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky called his triumph ‘the end of Europe,’ adding that ‘there is no limit to our outrage. There are no more men or women in Europe, just it.’14 At a press conference, Conchita told reporters that the win ‘was not just a victory for me but a victory for those people who believe in a future that can function without discrimination and is based on tolerance and respect.’

  Conversely, many of Russia’s best-known (and, thanks to state-sponsored television, most widely publicised) popsa acts – a kitsch, heavily synthesised, cartoon-like pop music – are either openly gay or adopt camp personas and are huge stars. Your average Popsa singer’s antics seem entirely at odds with Russia’s denial of basic LGBT rights. Popsa’s biggest star, the former dancer and choreographer Boris Moiseyev, is a gay man who is reputed to be a close friend of Vladimir Putin.15 He has angered gay rights activists in the country for speaking out against Pride events being held in Moscow, and both LGBT groups and religious organisations have picketed his shows. For a number of years, he claimed he was going to marry an American businesswoman and was a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, specifically the wedding of Elton John and David Furnish, saying that ‘this irritates people, and gays shouldn’t irritate’.16 The dichotomy of a gay singer protesting against gay rights is less surprising when you remember that this is the country where holding Pride events or even simply speaking out in defence of gay rights can land you in jail. Russia’s biggest female rock star Zemfira is widely reputed to be a lesbian, and has been close to actress Renata Litvinova for a number of years, but given the country’s stance on gay rights, it’s unlikely that either woman will willingly open up about their relationship any time soon.

  Russia is also the country that gave us t.a.T.u., the girl duo who shocked Middle America with a lesbian kiss. Although the two girls – Julia Volkova and Lena Katina – were shown kissing in the rain in school uniforms during the video for their international hit ‘All the Things She Said’, they have since claimed that neither woman is lesbian and in fact it was all for publicity. They are still the most successful Russian musical export of all time, with international sales in excess of 25 million and, until feminist trio Pussy Riot grabbed headlines after the women were jailed for daring to protest against Putin’s links to the Russian Orthodox Church, were the country’s best-known act internationally. The same year that t.a.T.u. hit the big time, the Russian techno duo Ruki Vverh! (Руки Вверх!) released the song ‘He Kisses You’, a nice enough dance number about yearning after an old flame who has moved on. The song’s video features footage of a man carefully applying make-up contrasting with film of another man and a blonde woman getting very friendly with each other. Two thirds of the way through the video, the young man removes the blonde woman’s wig – revealing that she is, in fact, the man we saw applying make-up. In 2012, t.A.T.u.’s Julia Volkova teamed with singer Dima Bilan to provide Russia’s Eurovision entry ‘Back To Her Future’; Bilan had won the contest four years previously with the song ‘Believe’, having come second in 2006. Bilan has never opened up about his sexuality, but that hasn’t stopped men claiming to be former lovers crawling out of the woodwork, or magazines and internet gossip sites speculating on his current partner. The same is true of Sergey Lazarev, who represented Russia at Eurovision in 2016: it’s clear these men have to keep their private lives private if they are to continue t
o enjoy the level of celebrity that they do in Russia, yet both have spoken guardedly about their support for LGBT people and Lazarev has performed at Moscow’s premier gay nightspot, BoyZ Club. The mainstream Russian media shies away from talk about the sex lives of celebrities; Bilan, Lazarev, Moiseyev and the ‘king of Russian pop’ Filipp Kirkorov are simply assumed to be metrosexual – or, like Liberace and Johnny Mathis, sexless. Kirkorov and Bilan have at least been among the few Russian celebrities to speak out against the country’s ban on ‘homosexual propaganda’, despite being accused by Russian media of being ‘prone to mannerisms and kitschy attire that have earned them accusations of being “closet gays”.’17

  ‘It’s a very difficult life for homosexuals in Russia,’ Pussy Riot’s Ekaterina Samutsevich told The Independent. ‘[This law] will make life for non-traditional sexual orientation just simply hell and there will be no protection because at the moment the only protection is the law, and this law has very abstract provisions’.18