Angel Haze: Being gay in hip-hop is still really stigmatised
Rapper Angel Haze has spoken out about homophobia within hip-hop, saying that a ‘stigma’ still exists around gay people.
The 22-year-old rapper previously said she identifies as pansexual.
Last year she released rap track Same Love, a reinterpretation of Macklemore’s rights anthem.
She told XXL this week: “Being gay in hip-hop is still really stigmatized.”
“There are so many people in this world that are closet homosexuals.
“I guess I’m ‘out’, but people ask me what my sexuality is all the time and I always tell them that it doesn’t matter.
“You don’t deserve to go through that and you don’t have to let that define who you are.
“I was so reluctant to do ‘Same Love’, because I get so caught up on people thinking of me as a queer rapper, I don’t discuss my sexuality in my music.
“But I’ve always said to myself that an artist is a person who has something to say and isn’t just a part of the noise.
“Adele is one of those artists for me. So are Frank Ocean and J. Cole, people who have something genuine to say and won’t just add to the room full of chatter.”
Listen to her version of Same Love below:
