Common Pledges No More Anti-Gay Lyrics

With the big Kanye-50 showdown coming up next week, I’ve been readying myself for lots of sh*t-talking and manly posturing from all sides. So I have to give a big fixture in the rap world credit for taking a step back and reevaluating his message.

Common recently promised that he’ll never use homophobic lyrics in his music again (perhaps a delayed response to the movement in Reggae music?) after his gay fans called him out. I like Common and his music, but he needed to be called out, since he definitely fancies himself a social mover.

What about Common's music needed changing? After the jump...

To quote some of Common's past work: from “Heidi Hoe:” “Homo's a no-no, so f*ggots, stay solo. I roll my d*ck so it holds just like a Rolo.” Lovely, I know. But there’s more: from “Dooinit:” “N*ggas hate you, they ain't paying you no attention. In a circle of f*ggots, your name is mentioned.” (Check out this Web site for some of the worst-of-the-worst anti-gay lyrics in rap - some of Eminem's are vile, not surprisingly.)

So, yeah – not too progressive, Common. But the hip-hop star said he changed his ways when gay fans confronted him, “They was like, 'Why you keep disrespecting homosexuality?' I thought about it. I ain't here to judge 'em, so I just decided not to approach it like that.” Common added that he took out “certain words” on his new album after this realization.

This is great and all – I guess I’m just a little suspicious of someone, who at one point used such hateful words, simply unlearning those kinds of feelings. But I could never complain about an influential star making the effort to clean up his message.

Going back to 50 and Kanye (well, just Kanye pretty much) - I didn’t know this, but Kanye made a No Fag pledge a long time ago. Kanye admitted, when he was growing up, people called him a “mama’s boy,” adding, “And what happened was, it made me kind of homophobic, 'cause it's like I would go back and question myself.”

But when Kanye found out his cousin was gay, he re-evaluated his views on the subject. “It was kind of like a turning point when I was like, 'Yo, this is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays.’”

I don’t really see 50 issuing a statement like that for some reason. “You should love it – way more than you hate it!”

Comments

[B]

I really appreciate the steps they are taking, regardless how they got there. It is very very important to see two influential male rappers saying "You know what? Its really not okay." It sends a strong message to the youth listening to their lyrics.

[Stephanie]

Exactly. There nothing really left to add.

[Jeff Paul Scam]

My friend and I have started our own small website and internet marketing the site to attract some visitors to buy products from our clients. This can really help make good money.

[Elaina]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Elaina

http://www.craigslistmaster.info