In the past week, Frank Ocean debuted a critically acclaimed hip hop album titled "Channel Orange" that is expected to sell over 100,000 copies. However, this achievement has largely been overshadowed by his announcement days earlier that he is gay in a lengthy love letter to the man who helped him come to this realization a few summers ago. He said that sharing his sexuality with the world would clear the way for him to enjoy the success of his album and show the world he is proud of himself. The announcement was essentially unprecedented in that it made him the first famous gay male hip hop artist.
As a hip hop artist, Ocean is clearly aware of the stereotypes that exist about the community. Hip hop music is stereotypically depicted as being awash in explicit sexuality and showy displays of masculinity. As a member of the hip hop collective Odd Future, Ocean and his contemporaries are keenly aware of this reputation. Odd Future drew criticism for over-the-top lyrics that were often violent, sexist, or—ironically—homophobic. Odd Future member Tyler the Creator has repeatedly stated that in spite of his propensity to use the term "faggot" in his lyrics, he is not homophobic at all. It would seem that Frank Ocean takes Tyler the Creator's answer for face value, as does the group's producer Syd Da Kyd, who has been openly lesbian for some time. Such an answer suggests that Tyler the Creator has crafted a transgressive approach to lyricism, flagrantly displaying some of the uglier sides of rap music. Clearly, hip hop culture is in transition period. At the same time, the past year has seen a debate over whether the black community holds disproportionately strong homophobic undercurrent, a controversy which led the NAACP to officially endorse marriage equality this May.
Because of the precedence of Frank Ocean's announcement, he will likely serve as the gay role model in hip hop/rap for some time to come, a role that does not come without considerable pressure due to the culture into which this announcement was made. The article "Gendered Relationships on Television: Portrayals of Same-Sex and Heterosexual Couples" by Holz Ivory et al discusses the underrepresentation of LGBTQ individuals in the media, and that when such portrayals are present, they are highly stereotyped. Ocean's announcement has clearly subverted stereotypes about rappers being heterosexual, but clearly homosexuals are still underrepresented in rap music (because most articles on Frank Ocean refer to him as being the 'first famous gay rapper') and in essentially every other form of media. Still, Ocean has taken the first (and perhaps most difficult step) in the direction toward sexual diversity and equality.
Jeneen, I'm so happy you mentioned Frank Ocean. I have been listening to "channel ORANGE" all week!! I can't stop. and of course I'm relating everything I hear to this class...
ReplyDeleteI think this album is absolutely awesome. So full of powerful messages, emotion, and innovation! I think it's very interesting how this album mixes songs that are both heterosexually oriented, as well as a few that suggest a homosexual orientation (though the 2 songs that are directed toward another man are far less explicit!). Clearly, the hiphop world is not ready for an album that is entirely driven by a homosexual desire. It is evident that the gender norms of Kim et. al (2007), and the heterosexual love themes stated by Bader (2007) are still very prevalent.
What is the most disappointing is that critics of Ocean are saying that he is using his "outing" as a publicity stunt! It seems the world is not ready to accept the reality of a gay R'n'B artist, saying that there's just noooo way it can be real!
On the flipside, supporters of the album have said that Ocean has an "artistic vision that reaches beyond the gender of his desire." (Roberts).
So with all that being said, I think this album is amazing, regardless of its hetero/homosexual themes. Ocean's outing should not affect what people think of the quality of his music...but obviously it has...
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-0711-frank-ocean-20120711,0,2389007.story
I just started listening to Frank Ocean about a year ago and this news was surprisingly not shocking to me for a couple of reasons.
ReplyDelete1. I read an article a while back about the "down low" Hip Hop and R&B community and how famous rappers and singers were secretly homosexual or bisexual. I always had a suspicion given the time we are living in where homosexuality is more socially accepted and welcomed. However, the Hip Hop world is very much so still a hetero-normative society that does not allow much breathing room for homosexual artist to succeed. If anything I was more shocked that he decided to come out so early in his career where he is still making a name for himself. At the end of the day it was a great marketing tool for him whether he intended it to be that way or not because of the massive amount of support that he has received since the news has broke.
2. The Odd future group that he associates himself with is all about being different and challenging social norms. Their music is not ordinary Hip Hop and is sometimes called alternative Hip Hop. Also the group does not fall into the stereotypes of the typical rapper. They are rowdy, resistant, but yet intelligent and creative. They do not flaunt certain brands of clothes, jewelry or cars, they are simply themselves.Taking all of that into consideration, it was a lot easier for me to understand why one of their members would identify as homosexual.
A new development that I have found is that he actually identifies as bi-sexual and not completely homosexual as the letter expressed and it is within some of his lyrics on the "channel ORANGE" album. I find this to be interesting seeing how we discussed men who identify ans bisexual in class today and the stereotypes that bisexual individuals tend tend to fall under.