I chose the theme of my mixtape to be “Queer Hip-Hop Artists of South Africa” to not only introduce Queer artist of South Africa to the world, but to celebrate who these artist are and what they represent. Traditional hip-hop music isn’t known promote the LGBTQ community and culture, and there was a time when being queer and a rapper was not a thing. As society is becoming more accepting of the LGBTQ community, artists like Frank Ocean and Lil Nas X have come out and embraced their sexuality. This playlist highlights artists like them, who have embraced who they are, and created bomb music!
The first song featured in my playlist is “Pose” by the fierce, Angel-Ho! In the song “Pose” Angel Ho is rapping about how bomb he is, which makes this song an automatic confidence booster! Like any other rapper, Angel loves to gloat, but his lyrics focus more on his desginer clothing, his looks, and other astetics like nails and make-up. My favorite line in the song is “had to flex, not sorry. It’s not unusual.” But, if for some reason you can’t understand every line he’s saying, the music video for “Pose” makes up for that. The music video starts off as if you are in a video game creating your character, and what better character to create than a baddie like Angel-Ho?! Once the Angel-Ho character is created, the “game” begins featuring many different looks from Angel-Ho. What I love about Angel-Ho is he embraces who he is, in all aspects of his art- especially visually. Angel can be seen in makeup and wigs in most of his music videos. He has always openly expressed who he is in his music, and “Pose” is another banger, and a good example of how fun and creative he is!
The second song on my playlist is “Liddy” by the one and only Dope Saint Jude! Dope Saint Jude is the first Queer South African artist I had heard of, and me being a queer artist myself- I had to check her out! I instantly LOVED her raw, creative, and silly style. I also loved that she incorporates alot of her sexuality into her music because that is nothing to be ashamed of! Her song “Liddy” is a fun song about her and her friends getting lit (partying)! The video depicts this by showing her and her friends drinking, smoking, going into stores, laughing, etc. The main reason I chose this song though, is because of her representation of the LGBTQ community in the video. The video clearly shows queer woman, just being themselves, not hyper-sexualized like other music videos that feature queer women. One queer woman was shown dressed in “masculine” clothing vibing out having a good time. There also features a queer couple who shows affection to one another throughout the video. Overall I love the song, but I love the video even more! Dope Saint Jude is one of my favorites!
The third song is by an artist who I recently came across, Gyre. Now this song is different from the rest because he isn’t really speaking on what it’s like to be gay, he’s speaking on what it’s like to be black. Unfortunately, there is no video for this song but I chose it because of his choice to speak out on homophobia AND racism, even in the LGBTQ community. I think it’s important to highlight that these people aren’t JUST queer. They are queer AND black, which is far more dangerous than just being queer. His lyrics in the begininng “I mean, what’s a racist but a person with the privledge? Person with power, no pressure..” sets the tone of the music! I would love to see a powerful music video to go with this song!
The sensational group FAKA’s song “Queenie” (produced by Angel-Ho!) is the fourth song on my playlist! I absolutely love this music video- the colors, the astetic, but most importantly- the LOOKS! This music video is basically a cinematic masterpiece! The beginning features exerpts of people talking about their sexuality. Unfortunately, I cannot understand the lyrics but the beat is super fun and the video is equally as fun! I’m looking forward to learning more about this group and enjoying more of their music!
The last song on my playlist is “#QueerCypher” by Mr.Allofit! This song is a remix of the American rap song “My N***a” by YG, Jeezy, and Rich Homie Quan! I chose this song because of Mr.Allofit’s confidence! In the beginning he says “…there’s nobody that can stop me, I can be the most extreme version of myself.” and after that I was SOLD! That is the confidence everyone needs to obtain as an artist. I feel like he did a good job of remixing the song and adding his flare to it! I wish the video was of better quality, but those things get better with time.
In a world where homosexuality is looked down upon, it is important to embrace you are in the LGBTQ community. I applaud all of these artists for continuing to express themselves and remain confident in this industry. I hope you enjoyed this playlist, like I have!