Ilovemakonnen gay
ILoveMakonnen on Breaking Free of ‘Industry Politics,’ Being Gay in Hip-Hop and When Things ‘Soured’ With Drake
Audiences have had the feels for Atlanta-bred crooner-rapper ILoveMakonnen since 2014. Known for a dreamy brand of club-hop, via such tracks as “I Don’t Retail Molly No More,” ILoveMakonnen got the attention of Drake with his lyric “Tuesdays,” and the superstar rapper later did a guest feature on a remix version. In compact order, ILoveMakonnen was signed to Drake’s OVO Sound imprint.
But things went from rosy to rough as ILoveMakonnen found himself dissatisfied with the label’s view of his place and his music. He left dramatically and moved to OVO’s parent company, Warner Brothers (now Warner Records), in 2016, only to face similar obstacles.
For his 32nd birthday earlier this month, ILoveMakonnen gave himself a present: a modern label (Own Timeless Magic) and a new album, “My Parade,” which returns the artist to the harmony–heavy soul and folk that he started his career with, independently, in 2011.
ILoveMakonnen wears his liberty well, as he first displayed when he came o
iLoveMakonnen Tweets “I’m Gay”
iLoveMakonnen has told his Twitter and Instagram followers that he is gay. The Atlanta artist shared the "old news" on Thursday nighttime via a string of tweets. “As a fashion icon, I can't say u about everybody else's closet, I can only tell u about mine, and it's time I've come out,” he tweeted in one message.
He added, “And since y'all love breaking news, here's some old news to break, I'm same-sex attracted. And now I've told u about my experience, maybe u can travel life yours.”
Someone said to me next period they see me, they was gonna fuck me , I said next time I see me, I'm gonna love me up
— Oceanic Makonnen (@iLoveMakonnen5D) January 20, 2017
As a fashion icon, I can't tell u about everybody else's closet, I can only tell u about mine, and it's second I've come out.
— Oceanic Makonnen (@iLoveMakonnen5D) January 20, 2017
And since y'all adore breaking news, here's some old news to burst , I'm gay. And now I've told u about my life, maybe u can go life yours❤
— Oceanic Makonnen (@iLoveMakonnen5D) January 20, 2017
Makonnen later shared a screenshot of his tweets
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Earlier this week, Taylor Bennett announced on Twitter that he is bisexual. “I want to help others that struggle with the same issues,” he wrote.
Possibly inspired by Bennett’s courageous act, rapper ILoveMakonnen—best known for his hit single “Tuesday” and his short-lived tenure signed to Drake’s OVO label—revealed early Friday morning (January 20) that he is, in fact, gay.
https://twitter.com/iLoveMakonnen5D/status/822353517448835072https://twitter.com/iLoveMakonnen5D/status/822353737146470400
Makonnen’s “here some old news to break” comment in the above tweet is in reference to growing speculation within the rap society that he lived a homosexual lifestyle.
In a New York Times profile in May 2015, Joe Coscarelli asked him about the rumors:
“The rap world thinks I’m gay,” he said. “A lot of people out there do. They think I’m a lgbtq+, which is not a problem. I don’t yearn to say I’m lgbtq+, I’m straight, I’m multi-attracted or any of that, because that’s just. …” he said, trailing off. “Who cares? All that’s doing is dividing us.”
While his answer was purposely ambiguous, the
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Hypocrisy and bigotry, sadly, move hand-in-hand. In a fresh interview with Billboard, the ever-eccentric iLoveMakonnen explains how hip-hop’s relationship to lgbtq+ culture must come to a head as the genre grows in popularity.
“It’s like, it’s gonna approach to a head eventually, gay and hip-hop,” Makonnen said. “Because they’re two worlds that try to act like they don’t fuck with each other, but they do, very hard. You can heed to any rapper and they’ll tell you about a gay designer, more than their female counterparts. Sooner or later, people are gonna have to be like, ‘okay, what is it?’ Because I keep hearing about all the gay designers, seeing you guys in all the gay designer clothes. You guys all approach from Atlanta, the acknowledged black gay capital of the world. So it’s like, when are we gonna have this conversation? You’re so anti-gay, but you support gay brands? You can’t support a gay man, you can support a gay brand?
Here, iLoveMakonnen is spotlighting a very common type of hypocrisy that is not unique to hip-hop but rather speaks to the struggle people have on the whole to achieve that their homophobia runs deeper than simple slu
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