Hip Hop and a Masculine Ideal

Local rapper Kyle “El Guante” Myhre recently made a post at his blog called "Conscious Rappers and Homophobia" in which he examined how many prominent rappers who often address the political in their songs also express homophobia. While futzing around with the TiVo last night, I found that the PBS show Independent Lens is going to be presenting a documentary this week about this very topic - Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhyme.

I am not familiar with the hip hop scene but, when I think of masculinity in music and the associated posturing, I immediately think of the blues. Perhaps "I'm a Man" by Bo Diddley (remade a few months later by Muddy Waters as "Mannish Boy") is the most popular example. But blues songs are full of braggadocio about manliness and the singer's wiles with the women. Homophobia, however, is noticeably absent. At least I can't think of any songs which demean gays as a means of boasting. There probably are some such tunes, but blues musicians generally allude to their prowess with the opposite sex to prove how virile or powerful they are. I suppose that most blues artists operated during a time when homosexuality wasn't mentioned publicly at all, much less in a song.

Anyway, do read Mr. Myhre's piece and watch the documentary. I hope to post something else on this subject after I've taken them both in.