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"It's crazy how you can go from being Joe Blow, to everybody on your dick — no homo."
This well-known line comes from no other than the infamous and quite controversial Kanye West on Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint III” hit single, “Run This Town.”
The phrase “no homo” is a widely popularized hip-hop phrase which is added to statements to rid the possibility of the speaker suspected of being gay.
Although widely used throughout hip-hop, I’m sure few have put much thought behind the actual meaning.
This past Monday, Duke University hosted a panel discussion,“NO HOMO: Masculinity in Hip-Hop & Beyond.”
The discussion included various reasons pertaining to hip-hop and the homophobic/masculine roles taking it over today.
The speakers included Duke professor and artist J. Bully, professor Pierce Freelon, Ph.D. candidate Treva Lindsey and Duke’s very own star in the making, Mike Posner.
In honor of its Egyptian Epoch Alpha Week, the Kappa Omicron Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. presented the discussion with hopes of getting to the origin of the phrase and its use.
“We throw that phrase around so much in our everyday lingo and it’s like, why are we using that phrase?” asked Eskinder Zewdu, recording secretary of the Kappa Omicron chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity a Duke computer and electronic engineering senior.
“Is there really some background behind that or is it just that we all got in the habit of using it?” asked Zewdu.
J. Bully, who teaches Hip-Hop and Rap Appreciation, said, “I think one of the problems is people don’t have enough identity to be able to deal with people who are different.”
Though this statement may be evidence to the mystery, we may have to dig deeper for the root of the problem.
For hip-hop to stay close to African-American customs and the streets, it doesn’t take Einstein to figure out why masculinity and homophobia are major issues in the culture.
Though artists such as rapper Nicki Minaj openly discusses her bisexuality, the visuals of the “thuggish” black man and the “half-naked” woman video model can be found in a majority of videos, proving that dominance and heterosexism have always been the stamped roles in hip-hop.
In fact, the roots of homophobia go back to black churches, where the theologically driven phobia was reinforced by the anti-homosexual rhetoric of black nationalism.
But no matter how far the phobia goes back and rappers may want to say “no homo,” some are convinced that homosexuality does remain in hip-hop.
“I think you already have propaganda homosexuality,” said Soloman Burnette, a N. C. Central University history and Arabic graduate.
“If you look at the ’80s, one can see that skinny jeans and mohawks come from a culture that was hyper-homosexual.
For now, hip-hop and associated outlets will continue to spout homophobic, hyper-masculine rhetoric.
But if we ever do get an open homosexual rapper, what might happen?
“Honestly I think that it will create such a media frenzy that it couldn’t be bad for them,” said Mike Posner, a recent Duke graduate and J Records singer.
“They would have to be calculated and done in the right way."
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