Why You Shouldn’t Listen to “Queer Rap” (And What You Should Listen To)
Essay by Kamden Hilliard
As a part of Sarah Lawrence College’s concert series, we brought L1ef. For those of you who don’t know, L1ef is one of the "queer rappers" you may have heard about. For those of you who should know better (aren’t defining rappers by sexuality), L1ef is just dope as fuck. A short primer: if you liked Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop,” maybe you wanna hear the original beat on L1ef’s “WUT.” Getting the picture?
During the concert I balanced not dying in the moshpit with trying to touch L1ef as much as possible. I can now report that I’m alive and I grabbed his hand five times.
“Why is it such a huge deal, dude?” my straight friends wanted to know. And it's like this: two years ago, I was a major hip-hop head and self-hating queer. Unfortunately, those seemed to propel each other. Mainstream hip-hop was almost a farmer’s market for homophobia. The first time I heard a L1ef track, it was like defying physics. No one rapped this way!
This yuppie’s talking blah blah. He wants to Bink my Jar Jar
He’s twinked out. I’m like nuh uh. I’m laughing at em like, haha
I’m an emperor. Wanna see me in my new clothes?
Mother of the house. Care to see me in a new pose? (Wut, 2012)
For me, L1ef was a revolution. There were other points along this narrative, though. For a few months after discovering L1ef, I started repping “queer rap.” At the time, I considered it a new wave of politically motivated rap. I saw a slew of queer rappers as part of one movement, one thing. Kind of like a gigantic Wu Tang. With more vogueing.
This was all after the release of Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange. I felt that Frank made a political motion. But then the same friend also noted, “I don’t give a fuck as long as his shit stays hot.”
I had things to consider.
Queue Danny Brown. Danny Brown is not queer. Danny Brown is, however, sick as fuck. From XXX to Old, Danny B.'s been killing the game, though he’s not conventional by any means. His vocals sound strained, as if they’re pushing at the ceiling. His style is…unorthodox. The production is very rock and roll heavy (see XXX’s “30”), and aesthetically removed from mainstream rap. My attraction to Danny Brown, I realized, was extremely similar to my infatuation with L1ef. L1ef wasn’t exciting because he was gay. L1ef was exciting because he was different, he was something completely new. Just like Danny Brown.
So instead of listening to “queer rap” or “alternative hip-hop,” I just look for things that are different. So, without anymore intellectual masturbation, I present—not a list of queer rappers you should be listening to—but a list of very different kinds of rappers in the game. Put away your Drake, A$AP Rocky, and Flo Rida. Check this stuff immediately:
Cakes Da Killa
Make a n*gga take a course in rimming
Eat my shit like a feast and don’t forget the trimmings
Scuba gear surfboard sun bleached linens
And this kitty so good got the pope repenting ahhh (Goodies Goodies)
After 2013’s The Eulogy and it’s widely excellent reviews, it’s hard to say Cakes is “emerging.” While The Eulogy is a mixtape, he’s recently released the Easy Bake Oven EP, which is—by all accounts, this writer’s included—insanely good. If you haven’t heard this dude yet, fix it. Perfect starting track: “Keep It Coochie.” Strap in.
Azealia Banks
You know what your bitch become when her weave in
I just wanna sip that punch with your peeps and
Sit in that lunch if you’re treating
Kick it with your bitch who come from Parisian
She know where I get mine from, and the season
Now she wanna lick my plum in the evening
And fit that ton-tongue d-deep in (212)
Signed to XL Recordings at 17, only to move to Interscope a few years later, Banks has been ripping it for years, though she’s only been really recognized in the last few years. Her single “212 ft. Lazy Jay" was featured in Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring. After releasing two mixtapes, extended play 1991 and Fantasea, she’s coming through with her first studio album Broke With Expensive Taste (hopefully this summer, it’s been crippled with delays). If you don’t know “212,” it's a great place to start.
Big Dipper
You in the corner doe eyes like bambi
You can call me thumper lets start with a handy (Drip Drop)
This is Das Racist, but gayer, and raunchier, more of a persona than a rapper. That’s not shade. That’s the best way I can explain THIS Tumblr and his music videos. He’s out of the same Chicago of K West and Chance, but I have a feeling they hit different clubs. His new mixtape Thick Life rolled out a few months ago, and it’s not getting tons of hype, but I feel like it’s close upon us. Where to start with this dude? Two places, equally weird. Equally perfect: “Skank” and “Drip Drop.”
Mykki Blanco
Maybe she born with it, maybe it was Maybelline
All white Blanco give your heathen ass a christening
N*ggas so greasy in the daylight, he glistening
"Oh this fag can rap" yeah they saying that they listening (Wavvy)
The last track on Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Price/ss bangs open with: I am a warrior princess, accepting the hybridity of my being. The track is called “Mendocino California,” and details the character’s realization that they’re an alien. And no, that is not the weirdest thing about this album. It’s hilarious, gorgeous, offensive, sensual, masculine, feminine—pure Mykki.
If you have no clue what I’m talking about, that sucks. Also, you need to check out “Haze.Boogie.Life,” then “Wavvy.”
The NEW Mac Miller
Dreaming of places, my own personal creations
If there’s a party in heaven I plan to leave wasted
Retracing my steps way back to Biblical times
We-we all gon’ end up meeting at the finishing line (Star Room)
I’m not talking about the Best Day Ever or Blue Slide Park Mac Miller. I’m interested in the Faces (2013) and Watching Movies With The Sound Off (2013) Mac Miller. The New Mac Miller fucks with Earl Sweatshirt, Ab Soul, and Tyler, The Creator. This Mac Miller is pithier, psychedelic, and making some sick stuff. Also, check out Larry Fisherman (his pseudonym beat smasher). But if you still don’t know who I’m talking about try this on for size: “OK ft. Tyler, The Creator,” then try “Youforia.”
Short story long: don’t listen to queer rap. Don’t listen to rap. Don’t listen to ‘genres.’ Listen to stuff that bangs. Exciting tracks. Start here.
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Kamden Hilliard tries to study writing and psychology in New York. He succeeds. Sometimes. He is: a poor sleeper, recipient of fellowships from Callaloo and The Davidson Institute, contributor for Elite Daily and an avid hiker. He tries to keep busy. In the past he’s been a poetry editor and editor-in-chief at The Adroit Journal, and other lovely places. His poems have appeared (or will appear) in Requited Journal, *82 Review, Bodega, Specter, and other journals. If Kamden wasn’t writing, he’d be very sad—or a scientist.
I adore this song and video but I feel like I would enjoy it more if his voice was high enough in the mix that I could actually understand more than half the song
