DaBaby steps: is hip-hop finally conquering homophobia?
After seeing the online backlash to rapper DaBaby’s recent homophobic and misogynistic onstage remarks, Bugz Gutta was “shocked and grateful”. Born William Bailey, the up-and-coming New York MC, a proudly out black gay man, is still adjusting to such positive outcomes. He dubs himself “hip-hop’s Omar from The Wire”, thanks to his prior life of crime and the years he spent behind bars, enduring verbal, physical and sexual abuse before finding peace and success as a musician. He hopes the fallout that DaBaby has faced “sets an example. So people realise it’s not OK to put hate and harm out there.”
Last week, DaBaby ranted on stage: “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, Aids … that’ll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cellphone lighter up.” The rapper, whose 2020 album Blame It on Baby became his second US No 1 in less collaborator Dua Lipa, the Roots’ drummer Questlove, Madonna and Elton John all decried him; US radio stations dropped his version of Levitating from playlists. After the Lollapalooza festival and others DaBaby from their lineups, he apologised more soberly , but has since deleted that apology.
