Wed. August 11, 2021
By Jerry Nunn
Hip Hop music, also known as rap, is composed from a rhythmic speech that is chanted and was formed from culture in the '70s. At times throughout history, it has grown to be misogynistic and homophobic. The only way to combat this is to have a wide representation of artists performing the genre of music and using their platform to make a difference.
Along comes DaBaby, formerly known as Baby Jesus making him already problematic, with ignorant remarks about HIV and gay fans at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami, Florida.
He was scheduled to play at Lollapalooza in 2021, but was taken off the roster. Plenty of other rappers were on the lineup that were quite impressive.
Gay rapper from Madrid, Spain, Tristan Simone started the party by playing first on Thursday, July 29. He talked backstage after his set on the Grub Hub Stage. He stated his first inspiration was T-Pain's “I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper), “It was a melody that changed my life forever!” He started making rhymes at 12 years old, when he came out of the closet, and is now 24. He went by the name Arthur the Pleasure to be the opposite of Pain!
He was the third rapper ever accepted at the Berklee College of Music, where he made hip hop with jazz artists. He explained that he likes to involve politics and history in the music he makes and said he's always been open about being gay. “I speak of heartbreak and drug abuse through the lens of my gay experience. I don't feel I am experienced enough to speak for the community yet, but one day I will. Being the only gay guy in a room full of rappers can be terrifying. When I grab the mic, then they know I can rap!”
He moves back to Madrid from LA in September to start a new album that is focused on reinventing flamenco.
Singer/rapper Contradash played at the BMI Stage on Friday, July 30. He remembered the first time he heard Lil' Romeo rapping about dancing that it made him want to do it also. In the music scene now he said that everyone pulls ideas from Lady Gaga and Soulja Boy to Lil Peep and The Killers. “Everything comes from everywhere!” His track “White Lies” was produced by Russ Chell, who worked with Lil Nas X. The California rapper stated, “Props to Lil Nas X. He is killing it. He is getting people talking!”
Video games, such as Call of Duty, eventually led into his making music videos for himself at the beginning of his career. A Night Lovell song called “Contraband” influenced the creation of his stage name. He mentioned planning on dropping new songs every four weeks this summer.
Newly signed rapper to the scene Toosii played the Lake Shore Stage on Sunday, August 1 and talked backstage a bit. His inspirations were his father and brother, who were both musicians. He went from homeless to working with Capitol Records. He explained that his track “Sapiosexual” is about someone infatuated with intelligence.
He was excited to see Young Thug play at Lollapalooza, but had no comment about the DaBaby controversy, although he had worked with him in the past on the track “shop.”
Rap collective Brockhampton certainly did, check out gay frontman Kevin Abstract's tweets sometime if you need a good laugh! They put on a dynamic set at the Bud Light Seltzer Stage at Lolla that same Sunday afternoon.
Female hip hop artists putting the boys to shame at Lolla included Megan Thee Stallion and Princess Nokia. They both put on strong live sets and held their own at the T Mobile Stage.
Fans will be watching to see where their careers go in the future. Hopefully, they will all be careful on how their platform is used and not make statements that could possibly hurt or disparage others. These artists have powerful and important things to say!
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