Hip Hop & Sexual Freedom
Dropping Bombs
Last week bombs were dropped on Hot 97, and not because Funkmaster Flex had an exclusive track from Jay-Z, or because Kendrick Lamar schooled rap again on the art of the game, but because Mister Cee, longtime DJ and host of the station’s “Old School at Noon” program, decided to step down from his post (only to be reinstated the following morning), after allegations surfaced that he attempted to pick up a transsexual in New York City .
Yah. It was a big week. A big week for Hip Hop and a big week for a broader society that has yet to really deal with evolving twenty-first century sexual identities. While homosexuality has been “mainstreamed” with even Jay-Z becoming an advocate for gay marriage, the transgendered space has been less traversed, not discussed outside of queer or academic circles, period. During the on-air interview in which he was reinstated, Cee shared that he loved women, but occasionally “craved fellatio from a man that looked like a woman….” That Hip Hop was having these conversations in the public domain and on-air was mind blowing.
What became clear during this historic radio moment (yes, these are indeed still possible), was that there was little language to express this new sexual identity and it was Hip Hop that was stepping up to create one, or at least a conversation. Cee, then having said enough, went back on the air for his show at noon. He did not comment on the matter; he played a sampling of R&B, dancehall, and mainly Hip Hop, but offered, “I’m speaking with the music today.”
Boom.
Wow. This music that had previously diminished any non-heterosexual lifestyle, and culture that went on a virtual witch hunt for the “gay rapper” just twenty years ago, was now able to speak for him. Damn. I always said Hip Hop would save the world. But these leaps, I did not expect. He had flipped the script, the beat, and bodied the doubters. “Ego rap” was now re-contextualized to allow Cee to stand on his own and remind people that he was Big Daddy Kane’s DJ, had worked on Biggie Smalls’ demo, and was probably the only reason anyone over thirty still listened to Hot 97. Bow down. (Did I just say that?) But really, he was and is a part of a culture that defines us, and we could not deny him without denying ourselves.
The homie, Jon Caramanica at the New York Times says it was the radio station that afforded him this opportunity, but I would like to give credit to Hip Hop itself, a genre that allows the individual to express himself, but only through a sampling of and identification with a cultural web we all share. Ebro Darden, the station manager affirmed, “They just want you to play their favorite song.” A song they would not have known had it not been for Mister Cee.
It is this irrevocable connection that steadied Cee, and allowed this proclamation as he let the music speak, “I’m back where I belong.” For sure, Mister Cee. The mix of braggadocio, beauty, and humanity he played that afternoon seemed to say, “you do not have to love, worship or emulate me, but you will respect me.” His set was a work of art.
Hip Hop looks for those that will tell you on no uncertain terms who they are, be it son or daughter of a revolutionary or the streets — from the trailer park, the projects, Canada or Strong (Long) Island. We just ask that you come correct and with respect. I am glad that Mister Cee finally showed us what he was made of.
While the transgendered community seemed on the defensive and Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black worried about a backlash and “erasure of trans identities” as Cee was labeled simply “gay” or “straight,” Cee did not budge. This week he released a public service announcement for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, extolling not only his newfound “sexual freedom” — bringing these blurred lines of sexual identity and longing to the fore — but also expressing the need for sexual responsibility, and the importance of practicing safe sex. Not quite a sexual revolution, but the times they are certainly ‘a changing. Give thanks, and thank you Mister Cee.
