LL Cool J warned fans. Everyone couldn’t be included in a 14-minute tribute to salute 50 years of hip-hop.
Original tribute was supposed to be 23 minutes and it was cut to 14 minutes…WOW…so now you understand why LL said what he said before they started… https://t.co/nLhbWnSOd1
— Dave from PNP (@ChampD1012) February 6, 2023
Beyond personal preferences, however, there was one community that wasn’t represented — members of the LGBTQ+ community. Openly gay and bisexual hip-hop artists didn’t become a commonplace in mainstream rap until 2017. That was the year iLoveMakonnen came out as gay, and Tyler, The Creator hinted at it on his Flower Boy album. Tyler later rapped about being attracted to both men and women, and has been in a public relationship with his girlfriend, Reign Judge. Taylor Bennett, younger brother of Chance The Rapper, also came out as bisexual in 2017. This was five years after Frank Ocean came out as bisexual in 2012.
Since 2017, new out-of-the-closet artists emerged in the genre, including Lil Nas X, Isaiah Rashad and Saucy Santana. Out of the group, Lil Nas X makes the best argument to have been represented in the tribute. The Atlanta rapper’s breakout single, “Old Town Road” is the highest-certified song in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America. The artist also has 16 more songs that have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 during his career. He’s a hitmaker with a résumé that should qualify him to perform in hip-hop’s celebration, especially considering the role he’s played in representing an entirely new demographic in the genre.
If Lil Nas X doesn’t come to mind when thinking of history rewriters in hip-hop, that’s the problem. Lil Nas X is often an afterthought in the genre, whereas he’s fully embraced by the pop community. It’s time the Black community, and hip-hop, acknowledge Lil Nas X and his contributions to the culture.
While yes, Lil Nas X gave the devil a lap dance and marketed custom Satan-themed Nikes, Lil Uzi Vert was included in the hip-hop celebration, and his stage name is literally “Lucifer” broken up. To close the night, Jay-Z, who refers to himself as “Hov,” short for “Jehovah” performed at a table that resembles the table of The Last Supper, which could be considered sacrilegious. The moral police should not come out only when it comes to gay men.
