California rapper Lil B, "The Based God", has been an internet hype for several years now. He has gained notoriety for his eccentric take on popular hip-hop, which can be heard on his ridiculously long discography, currently over 35 free full-length mix-tapes in just over two years. On these tapes, absurd songs like "Look Like Jesus", "I'm Bill Clinton" and "I Got AIDS" can be found. As proven by these song names, Lil B is not taking himself too seriously, but that hasn't stopped him from lecturing at NYU and trying out for the Wolverines basketball team.
While performing at 2011's music festival Coachella, Lil B announced the title of his next release, I'm Gay. Reception was mixed, mostly because Lil B is a straight man. Backlash arrose not only from the LGBT community, but from those who were once fans of Based God. Death threats began to surface, "I'm gonna bash your head in," "you faggot," and 'I'm gonna kill you." were several cyber threats directed towards B.
Openly gay BET blogger Gyant Dinwiddie responded to B's title with "I don't want to take anything away from what I think he's trying to do...I really do feel that it is less about social evolution, and it's more about making a name for yourself and selling your project."
Check out DMX's response to hearing about I'm Gay.
In an interview with CNN regarding the record, Lil B defended the album with this:
CNN: What were you thinking when you named the album "I'm Gay?"
Lil B: It was something that was going through my mind for a while. I feel like I'm man of the people: meeting people, respecting people and accepting people. I hope that I can turn some of my fans that might be homophobic or supporters that might be homophobic and say, "You know what, we're all one people. This is love." It's just respect, and I did that to bring people together and bring more love and to spark the minds of people and not let words and judgments and stereotypes stop you from loving.
How do you feel about Lil B's bold album name? Does it mock the LGBT or is it genuine and progressive?
This album by Lil B is one of his projects that to me - just "tests the water" of what major broadcasters of today that people tune in to and how long it will last.
ReplyDeleteTo me, he is just trying to pass the message that the media is not responsive to positive, or sensible messages.
I know for a fact that there is another reason as to why he is doing this, besides the fact that this is "just him."
I do not think he intended to mock the LGBT community, however the community may feel that it does - til they see this blog post of course.
I like it, Leo.