On July 25th, the rap artist DaBaby made homophobic and inappropriate HIV comments at his concert. He was quoted saying, “Ladies, if your p***y smell like water, put a cellphone light them up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d**k in the parking lot put your cellphone light up. Keep it real.” As expected, there has been an immense backlash in the media. Celebrities, HIV/AIDS organizations, and LGBTQ+ organizations have responded and reached out to DaBaby.

Eleven LGBTQ+  and HIV organizations have released a letter written to DaBaby. The letter was summarized as “We heard your inaccurate and harmful comments at Rolling Loud and have read your Instagram apology. However, at a time when HIV continues to disproportionately impact Black Americans and queer and transgender people of color, a dialogue is critical. We must address the miseducation about HIV, expressed in your comments, and the impact it has on various communities.” The letter then requested a meeting with the rapper to educate him so that he can educate his fans.

I feel that the organizations were smart to publicize their letter with DaBaby because it holds him more accountable for his past and future actions. Since these organizations released this letter into the media, people all over will be waiting for his response. In addition, I think it was good that social media as a whole held DaBaby accountable. He has since had several concerts canceled, and that will likely not be the end of the consequences. I think most artists believe they have immense power and can do and say whatever they want without being facing repercussions. This is no longer the case, and the media will make sure DaBaby does not recover if he does not improve his act.

This behavior is exactly what we saw in Beyond the Beats and Rhymes. Rap culture encouraged artists to act in a homophobic way. The reaction DeBaby received shows that society is no longer allowing such blatant hate towards the LGBTQ+ community. I think this situation should be a learning opportunity for other artists.

 

Aswad, Jem. “’Open Letter TO DABABY’: National LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS Organizations Call for Educational Meeting with Rapper.” Variety, Variety, 4 Aug. 2021, variety.com/2021/music/news/open-letter-to-dababy-national-lgbtq-and-hiv-aids-organizations-call-for-educational-meeting-with-rapper-1235034017/.