It’s 2024 and hip-hop still has a toxic masculinity problem

This month, at the Dreamville music festival in North Carolina, J. Cole did the unthinkable: He apologized for participating in a rap beef show.

It’s the latest stop in a year of funniest things in hip-hop: Kendrick Lamar pops up on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like This” guest verse, insisting he’s the only one who matters The other two of the so-called “Big Three” rappers of their generation are Drake and Cole.

Two weeks after Cole responded to “7 Minute Drill,” off his surprise mixtape “Possibly Deleted Later,” multiple bars criticized the Compton rapper’s acclaimed Album catalog. Like any feud in hip-hop, people spent the weekend sizing up the bar and taking sides.

But Cole then apologized to everyone on stage, claiming his heart was never truly exist The fight made him feel bad about the whole thing.

“I pray that you all forgive Anna for her mistakes so that I can return to my true path,” he said. “Because I’m not going to lie to you guys, the past two days have been terrible.”

This is both the worst thing to happen to hip-hop and the most mature thing I’ve ever seen in hip-hop.

Genre fans are rightly disappointed to see a feud between two bona fide lyricists, but I take issue with one of the most popular male rappers of this generation performing expressively and openly expressing himself Feelings are considered “weak,” primarily because homophobia and perceived “tenderness” are often strange bedfellows in hip-hop, but also because The house that Sean “Diddy” Combs (allegedly) built.

While the multiple accusations against Diddy are serious and should be taken as such, as the world analyzes his sexual orientation and the sexual orientation of his so-called “targets,” much of the conversation has taken on a homophobic tone tendency. Meek Mill has been hit with accusations that his canoodling with Diddy made him feel like he needed to defend his manhood… Loud and ridiculouslest anyone doubt one second He is straight.

While much has been written about hip-hop’s homophobic underbelly, it’s no longer the Wild West of the 1990s or early 2000s, when the world’s biggest hip-hop stars could drop F-bombs on wax. Nas shamelessly used the word in his song “Halftime” from his masterpiece Illmatic, but he’ll never rap it on stage again. grow.

Hip-hop has definitely benefited from the sensibilities of a younger generation, which helps with people like Lil Nas He can’t be as successful as he was 25 years ago, which is a move in the right direction. Yet, for unknown reasons, people continue to root for Boosie Badazz as he calls out his homophobia and toxicity, even though he hasn’t released a song since Barack Obama’s administration Songs that have been important since.

In 2018, when Migos were one of the biggest bands in the world, Offset Raps “I Don’t Like Queers” and Starts a Conversation That didn’t happen in 2001 when Jay-Z rapped “Cause f****ts hate when you make money like an athlete” he is the biggest rapper. This conversation is progress, just as young black men go to therapy while our grandfathers would only be dragged into it by our grandmothers at the risk of losing them.

It’s also progress for Cole to openly admit his feelings about a genre known for male braggadocio — no matter how much it annoys people.

So, does Cole bring us closer to hip-hop nirvana, one not defined by toxic masculinity?It’s a start, but we would also do better if black people stopped seeing “them” as a grand plan to “emasculate” black people every time someone rich and famous A black man wears what he wants to wear. We can also do better by curbing the strong foothold of misogyny that still exists in hip-hop, because it’s still perfectly acceptable to call women “bitches” on wax.

Cole’s response, while viscerally disturbing to some grown men who suddenly feel strongly about the sanctity of hip-hop beef, is a step in that direction that will hopefully inspire us all and teach us to express ourselves better .

As far as hip-hop is concerned: Well, Kendrick won. There is no way around this problem.