Russell Simmons has hailed Frank
Ocean's coming out, calling him a catalyst for acceptance of gay
rappers.
“The fans are more tolerant,”
hip-hop mogul Simmons told gay glossy Details. “A catalyst
with courage like Frank Ocean making public statements like that can
flourish.”
Ocean, 24 and a member of the
collective Odd Future, has been credited as the first mainstream
hip-hop artist to come out. He released his latest album, Channel
Orange, shortly after his announcement.
However, Andreana Clay, the author of
The Hip-Hop Generation Fights Back, told Details,
“There's always been a 'queer' presence in hip-hop.”
“[T]here are artists like Andre 3000
and Lil Wayne, who vacillate between challenging and upholding a
hypermasculine identity – these performers have helped create a
space for 'out' identities in the mainstream,” she said.
Details
goes on to profile other queer rappers, including Mykki Blanco, Le1f,
Nicky Da B, House of Ladosha, Cakes Da Killa and Big Dipper.
A video for Cakes Da Killa's Mussy
Mayhem, in which he raps, “I got the kinda ass; Turn a saint
into a homo,” is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.