This question came to me after reading Rolling Stone's top 10 Queen of Pop list (a list where Madonna sat at number one, where she rightly belongs. But I digress). One of the 'queens' on the list was none other than Ms. Elton John herself. Now while we can debate whether or not Sir Elton belongs on this list (after I think the editors meant queen as in woman, but, hey the fans voted!), it got me to thinking: Will there ever be a time when an openly gay, black male artist will infiltrate the mainstream to the point where he could be considered a contender for such a list? Do you feel that American pop culture is ready for a black gay male superstar in the vein of Elton, George Michael or Adam Lambert? Do you think the mainstream pop audience, the larger black community, and we as a black LGBT community are at the point where we would embrace such an artist? Yes I know we have the legendary and fabulous Sylvester, but I'm talking Prince/Michael Jackson-level, pop culture icon status.
After all, it's easy to pop and snap along with Beyonce, Ri Ri, Janet and the rest of the diva brigade: they're glamorous, flamboyant and larger-than-life, and they fit into preconceived notions of what a female artist should be. But would we be as quick to support a male artist singing songs about loving and sexing another man? Showing affection in videos and bumping and grinding with other guys onstage? Walking the red carpet with their lover and talking about their relationships in interviews? Or would that be "too gay" for some of us? Lastly, out of all the LGBT artists bubbling underground at the moment (B. Slade, Kaoz, etc.) which do you believe have a realistic chance of blowing up?
Discuss.
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| Note: this pic is not intended to throw tea or shade about MJ's orientation. Just an example of the level of success I'm talking about! Plus it's a cool pic lol! |
This question came to me after reading Rolling Stone's top 10 Queen of Pop list (a list where Madonna sat at number one, where she rightly belongs. But I digress). One of the 'queens' on the list was none other than Ms. Elton John herself. Now while we can debate whether or not Sir Elton belongs on this list (after I think the editors meant queen as in woman, but, hey the fans voted!), it got me to thinking: Will there ever be a time when an openly gay, black male artist will infiltrate the mainstream to the point where he could be considered a contender for such a list? Do you feel that American pop culture is ready for a black gay male superstar in the vein of Elton, George Michael or Adam Lambert? Do you think the mainstream pop audience, the larger black community, and we as a black LGBT community are at the point where we would embrace such an artist? Yes I know we have the legendary and fabulous Sylvester, but I'm talking Prince/Michael Jackson-level, pop culture icon status.
After all, it's easy to pop and snap along with Beyonce, Ri Ri, Janet and the rest of the diva brigade: they're glamorous, flamboyant and larger-than-life, and they fit into preconceived notions of what a female artist should be. But would we be as quick to support a male artist singing songs about loving and sexing another man? Showing affection in videos and bumping and grinding with other guys onstage? Walking the red carpet with their lover and talking about their relationships in interviews? Or would that be "too gay" for some of us? Lastly, out of all the LGBT artists bubbling underground at the moment (B. Slade, Kaoz, etc.) which do you believe have a realistic chance of blowing up?
Discuss.
Comments
NO.
We(the black community)are not ready for it. Michael Jackson and Prince had to continually reaffirm their heterosexuality throughout their careers to appease the black community.
It comes as no big shock that all of our current stars (Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Usher, and various others) are oiled up stud cakes(which is ironically quite gay)with a penchant for singing sexually explicit lyrics to women (no homo afterall).
Sadly, if a openly black gay celeb is to make a splash it will not be in the realms of gospel and R&B music...
Honestly, I could say the same for country music too.