Fri. April 22, 2011
San Francisco, CA -
Brandon McCartney, the 23-year-old Berkeley, California-based rapper better as Lil B, said he's received a less-than-friendly response from fans and the Hip Hop industry to his decision to name his new album, ‘I'm Gay.'
As GoPride.com first reported, Lil B informed the crowd at Coachella, an annual music festival in California last weekend, that he was about to shake up the music industry with the name of his new album.
"I'm gonna do the most controversial thing in hip-hop," said Lil B. "Ya'll heard it first. And I'mma just show you that words don't mean s--t. I'mma make an album called 'I'm Gay,' right."
Lil B later explained the title did not define his sexual preference, but rather brings into relevance the influence of words, but in an industry filled with homophobia the rapper says the response has been mostly negative.
"People been hitting me up like, 'I'm gonna bash your head in,' 'you faggot,' 'I'm gonna kill you,' " said Lil B in an interview with MTV News as he drove to a show at the Mezzanine in San Francisco.
After his announcement last weekend, fans were left wondering if Lil B's controversial album title was a publicity stunt or declaration. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) responded with skepticism, yet hope that the rapper actually considers himself as an ally to the LGBT community.
"I got major love for the gay and lesbian community and I just want to push less separation and that's why I'm doing it," Lil B told MTV in response to GLAAD's statement. "I hope GLAAD sees that I'm taking initial steps to break barriers."
MTV News noted that Lil B isn't the first rapper to stand up for gay rights, Chicago's Kanye West has also tried to curtail anti-gay rhetoric in Hip Hop music.
'One-hundred years later, people gonna thank me, because people are going to be free,' Lil B concluded.
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