01/08/2024
The Huffington Post's Rajul Punjabi meets up with queer rappers in the diverse and burgeoning hip hop scene in New Orleans. Rajul writes "Bounce music — a style of New Orleans hip-hop — has a historic fluidity with an origin that’s heavily debated. The genre’s earliest iteration, chant-based and reliant on one type of beat, was dominated mainly by straight men. Then, women got on. Then it became gloriously queer and hasn’t looked back. Today, New Orleans persists as the epicenter for queer rap as the city continues to churn out talent that somehow both perpetuates and challenges hip-hop’s foundational values." New Orleans, from its very origins, has been known for its “alternative sexual economy and spaces,” says Alix Chapman, a Black queer studies scholar and professor of African American studies at Emory University. Chapman explores this concept in his forthcoming book, “Raising the Bottom: Bounce Music and Black Queer Performance in New Orleans,” where he’ll also provide context on queerness and cosplay. “The increased visibility of Black queer people in New Orleans is in part due to various traditions of public performance,” he tells me. “Carnival and practices of masking have been used to challenge gendered and sexual norms that make room for queerness.” For the complete article, which is around an eight minute read, and a fascinating exploration of LGBTQIA+ hip hop culture in the city, visit the Huffington Post website.
