THE CURIOUS CASE OF MISTER CEE, HIP HOP & HOMOPHOBIA

What to say about Mister Cee?

If you listen to substantiated reports, the legendary Hot 97 DJ was arrested in the wee hours of last Thursday morning, found in the middle of a sexual act with a 20 year old male transvestite runaway. However, Mister Cee maintains that despite police reports and mug shots, the entire debacle is a setup, denying the arrest all together.

By Monday, twitter was in full swing. Jokes were flying, speculation was wide open and everyone awaited some sign from Hot 97. Were the rumors true? And if so, what was the fate of the man known as ‘The Finisher’. Then noon came and just like always, the mid day throwbacks began and Mister Cee did what he does best, spun the music.

I’ll admit, I was amongst the first to make jokes about Cee’s arrest (I’m not gonna say alleged because…well because the dude has been arrested twice before for the same thing, so the likelihood that this is false, is pretty low), but for me the humorous part wasn’t Cee’s sexual preference. The laughable part was how he got caught.

It wasn’t until a later conversation with a close friend and well-placed industry insider, that I began to see the bigger issue. “This isn’t just some random dude we’re talking about here. This is Mister Cee, the man who gave us Biggie’s Ready To Die. He’s amongst that old school group in Hip Hop that’s based on bravado, not like now, where it’s based on emotions,” said the man with major label ties. “This is Hip Hop. Homosexuality isn’t really talked about and if it is, it’s not favorably.”

The reality is, had Mister Cee been caught with a 20 year old woman, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. If anything, the arrest would’ve never even made news.

But when are we going to ask the bigger question here: It’s 2011, if Mister Cee is gay why did have to hide it?

The New England Journal of Medicine published a 2006 study in which 5000 applicants were surveyed about their sexual preferences. A sizable 20% of the African-Americans surveyed, admitted to having homosexual thoughts but only 2% of the African American’s would admit to acting on those thoughts. This was the highest percentage gap between thoughts and actions in all of the races studied.

And we wonder why ‘Down Low’ brothers are so prevalent? African-American men are acting on their desires just as much as anyone else. They’re just not speaking openly about it. Yet no one see the real problem?

In our culture – which includes the Hip hop community – it’s better to be looked at as pathetic for buying sex from a runaway than weak for giving in to a natural homosexual preference.

The truth is homosexuality knows no race, economic class or musical preference and if you think that Mister Cee is the only man in Hip Hop struggling with his sexual identity, then I’ve got a plot of land to sell you. And the misconceptions and intolerance doesn’t just come from Black Men. Black Women also express a concerning amount of misunderstanding and insensitivity.

Two days ago, Lil Wayne’s ex-wife and reality starlet Antonia Carter ruffled feathers when she tweeted‘It breaks my heart to see kids under 18 gay.’ The tweet lasted no more than five minutes before it was deleted, followed by apologies. But the damage had been done and several of her followers let her have it. When I saw the original tweet, I just kept thinking about all the little boys I’ve seen over the years, naturally exhibiting overly effeminate characteristics, often paying dearly for it from other children. Reading Toya’s unnecessary remarks, made me click unfollow.

At some point we have to stop looking at Homosexuality as a bad thing. And before you begin to spew scripture condemning the practice, make sure you include the passages where God lists hate and judgment amongst the worst of all sins.

Then, after we accept that homosexuality isn’t a good or bad thing – just a way of life – perhaps we can begin to accept that it’s not always a choice, much like my affinity for men with little to no facial hair.

While we’re at it, maybe, just maybe we can come to an understanding that the measure of manhood has nothing to do with the wanderings and whereabouts of his penis.

Or maybe ya’ll don’t feel me this morning.

Hip Hop and homophobia have long since been intertwined. I get it. But how long are we going to do this? The genre was created to give voice to a generational culture of people whom had until then gone ignored. Hip Hop spoke for the coloreds, for the broke, the beaten, the addicted and the discarded. That was more than twenty-years ago.

Today, Hip Hop is the new pop music. Often dominating the charts, our little genre that started as a niche, now has the ear of the entire planet. And with great power, comes great responsibility. Now Hip Hop must be willing to speak for everyone.

That includes homosexuals.

Is Mister Cee finished? I hope not. He owes his family a sincere apology. And he has to figure out who he is, for his sake and theirs. But the fact remains he’s the man that Executive Produced one of the most defining albums of our time…And he’s one hell of a DJ. And if that isn’t more important than whom he’s sleeping with, then we’ve got the game completely twisted.

Be careful Hip Hop. The world is watching.

Written By @JasFly