Thursday, Jul. 16, 2009
Homo Hop
Pick Up the Mic
Pick Up the Mic Gallery
“We’ve gotten these opportunities. We have to tell these stories while we’re here,” says Jaba Kalamka in “Pick Up the Mic,” a documentary by Alex Hinton that explores the world of queer hip-hop. Some see Kalamka as the godfather to the homohop movement and he embodies the part well. He is a founding member of the group Deep Dickollective, founder of Sugartruck Recordings and Peace Out, the first public festival of the genre.
Author and TV/radio host, Herndon L. Davis says “gay hip hop artists must confront and overcome overt homophobia within the music industry all while running the risk of being solely characterized by their sexual orientation versus the most important factor of all, their talent.” I use the word genre loosely. Are artists like Kalamka, Dutchboy, Katastrophe, Tori Flix, God-des, Tim’m T. West and QBoy exploding in a new genre or simply finding their voice in the larger hip-hop music world?
Either way, they’re definitely not staying silent. “Pick Up the Mic: The Revolution of Homohop” was released last month on DVD and explores the homohop movement and its growth into a global community of out artists. The film is shot over a three-year period, chronicling the lives and careers of more than a dozen LGBT rappers in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston and even the Ozarks. It explores the passion behind these artists, the struggles they face in a straight-male dominated industry and the power that can come from a collaboration of socially conscious individuals fighting for their right to succeed.
The film also looks at artists like Dutchboy, the founder of Rainbow Flava, the first queer hip-hop group to reach out to others through the internet; Katastrophe, winner of 2005’s OutMusic Producer of the Year Award; Minneapolis-based Tori Fixx, former gospel singer Money of Houston; the outrageous Johnny Dangerous and more.
While watching the film, I’m reminded of the comments by Gene Simmons regarding American Idol winner Adam Lambert’s coming out. Simmons said that he felt Lambert killed his career by talking about his sexual orientation. As this film points out, the fact that these artists are gay is not the issue, but their gay lives are an important part of the stories they tell through hip-hop. Much like a gansta rapper talks about gang life and gang culture, homohop artists talk about gay life and gay culture. “I’m filling a certain niché,” says Johnny Dangerous. “The whole stigma of rap is to keep it real and be true to the game and the art and all that. So a lot of people look at me and be like ‘oh man, he just fucked everything up for himself because he’s telling everybody first that he’s gay’ …”
Either way, the time for gay voices to be heard is now, and possibly through homohop it can be heard across previous societal gaps. The audience is there. Whether it’s Cazwell, the popular club boy with a straight-friendly sound; God-des, the lesbian whose style has been compared to platinum-selling rap artist Da Brat; or the trangender Katastrophe, it seems only a matter of time before “homohop” hits the mainstream.
“Queer boys doing hip-hop is a revolutionary act.” These are the words of homohop pioneers Deep Dickolective, formed by Kalamka, West & Phillip Atiba Goff. The group has since dissolved citing creative differences and a desire to work on other projects. For more information about “Pick Up the Mic” and the homohop movement, visit www.pickupthemic.com.
jenny says what?
In case you missed the huge internet fiasco following S.C. governor Mark Sanford’s affair, the satirical Web site www.thediSCust.com, whose tag line is “Because in South Carolina, we expect more than just the truth,” reported that Jenny Sanford blamed gay marriage for her husband’s recent infidelity. The story quotes Sanford as saying, “Of course I’m not saying Mark is gay. But he may as well be.” The article, which was mass-distributed over the internet via sites like Twitter and Facebook, reports the somewhat believable comments were spoken by the first lady of South Carolina. “The moral decay in this country has claimed another victim and this time it was my family,” continues Sanford according to thediSCust.com. “Our marriage was perfect until these laws started passing around the country. Clearly the slow dissolution of the sanctity of marriage in America seeped into Mark’s psyche until he no longer felt compelled to abide by our vows.”
Whether this upsets you or simply makes you laugh, the most shocking thing about the story is how quickly it spread as truth. I was getting emails and phone calls about it pretty rapidly. Even though my first reaction to it was “how could she say that?,” I wasn’t really shocked with the possibility that the story was true.
The story, however, along with the Web site itself, is all a big hoax, much like news reported on the more popular www.TheOnion.com Web site. The scary part of this story is the fact that it spread quickly across the nation as truth following years of similar bigoted statements by South Carolina politicians and newsworthy folk.
marriage update
The nation’s capital started recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states earlier this month, bringing the issue to the forefront of our lawmakers’ lives. Washington, D.C., city council passed the law to give married same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples by a 12-to-1 margin in May. It stops short of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couple in the district, but does recognize those marriages issued in other states, thus building momentum to the fight for marriage equality.
This presents an ideal stage to show the country, especially lawmakers across the nation, that same-sex marriage doesn’t threaten traditional marriage values. In a recent interview with The Christian Science Monitor, Molly McKay of Marriage Equality USA, a leading same-sex marriage advocacy group, said “Washington, D.C., is symbolically a really important place for a marriage-equality win. I think that it is really important that that happens around the social environment where our elected officials are located.”
The American viewpoint on same-sex marriage continues to change. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll found earlier this year that 44 percent of Americans now said that same-sex marriage should be legalized. Nearly 6 in 10 people ages 18 to 34 agreed, while only 24 percent of people 65 and older think so, showing a major age divide in the fight for marriage equality.
out & about
Sunday, July 26 – Model, fashionista, partier and pop culture icon Amanda Lepore makes an appearance at Club Kryptonite on July 26. Part of her world tour, this will be Lepore’s first appearance on the Grand Strand and likely first in South Carolina. World famous for her appearance, aided by multiple plastic surgeries, Lepore has served as the advertising face for Heatherette, M.A.C. (cosmetics) and more, has lent her musical talents to gay rapper Cazwell and the film “Another Gay Movie,” and most-notably has appeared in much of photographer David LaChappelle’s work. She has been called the Marilyn Monroe of transsexuality. General admission tickets are $10 and VIP tickets, which include a meet-and-greet with Lepore, are $20. Club Kryptonite is at 2925 Hollywood Drive, Myrtle Beach. For more information, visit www.club-kryptonite.com or call 839-9200.
Till next week, have fun and be safe.
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