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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Homophobia In Discussion Thread Comments of Three YouTube Hip Hop Dance Compilations

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides selected comments about homosexuality from the discussion threads of three viral Hip Hop dance videos- one video of Rich Homie Quan's "Flex" (Ohh,Ohh,Ohh) as well as one sound file and one video of @iloveMemphis' "Hit The Quan" song/dance.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, sociological, cultural purposes.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos, all those who are quoted in this post, and the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/08/what-hit-quan-really-means.html for the related pancocojams post "What Hit The Quan REALLY Means".

WARNING: The "Flex (Ohh,Ohh,Ohh)" song and the complete "Hit The Quan" song contain profanity and the four letter form of the n word. However, the shortened form of "Hit The Quan" that is featured in a video embedded in this post doesn't include that content.

I've provided a link to a video of Rich Homie Quan and others performing the "Flex" dance, and a link to a sound file of the complete "Hit The Quan" song and dance that was inspired by Rich Homie Quan's song. However, because the n word is audible throughout the compilation video of Rich Homie Quan's "Flex" song and dance, I decided not to embed that video. Also, because the n word and profanity are audible in the complete version of @iloveMemphis's "Hit That Quan" song, I've decided not to embed that sound file. I've included links to those examples as a citation because I am documenting selected comments from those examples' discussion threads. I've embedded a video of "Hit That Quan" because the song in that video doesn't include profanity, the n word, or other problematic content (besides the pantomining of someone shooting and being shot that is performed by some of the dancers).

As a reminder, many of those discussion threads contain profanity, sexually explicit references, homophobic references, and other content that I consider to be problematic.

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EDITOR'S COMMENT
I really dislike the use of the n word, the homophobic references, racist references, sexually explicit references, and other content in YouTube discussion threads that I consider to be problematic. However, I also believe that some comments on those discussion threads- including some of the comments with the above mentioned content -to be of folkloric importance as a means of documenting perspectives, values, and interests. I also have found some comments on YouTube discussion threads to be interesting, informative, and well-written. In addition, I like to document the types of user names that internet commenters have. For all of those reasons, I regularly read YouTube comment threads and I often include selected YouTube discussion thread comments in my pancocojams posts. But usually those selected comment examples don't include any comments with homophobic references.

I'm including examples of those comments in this post because I've noticed a theme in which recent Hip Hop dances are described as being "gay" in discussion threads of We Are Toonz's 2013 "The Nae Nae" dance, Silento's "Watch Me" (Whip/Nae Nae), as well as in the discussion threads of examples of the two Hip Hop dances that are featured in this post. This criticism may also have been included in discussion threads of other Hip Hop dances (such as Solja Boy's "Crank That" dances.) However, I've not gone back to read those discussions to ascertain if that is the case.

I'm a heterosexual female who strongly believes that gender orientation should be protected and LGBT people should have the same rights as everyone else. As I wrote in my post on how the Nae Nae got its name, I believe that in the 2013 We Toonz Nae Nae dance (and not as much its later Silento "Watch Me" form), dancers purposely imitate certain female dance moves. I don't think that imitation is meant maliciously. And I don't think that that imitation means that the dance is "gay" or that all men who do that dance are gay. Nor do I think that the other Hip Hop dances that I mentioned are "gay" or "feminine". That said, I don't think there is any thing wrong with being gay and I'm sure that some dancers who do these dances are LGBT.

I believe that these comments on these YouTube discussion threads reflect these comments very deeply rooted homophobia within many African American communities. I hope that recognizing those comments help to motivate individuals and communities to recognize and eradicate those attitudes and behaviours that are emotionally traumatizing and that can be physically hurtful.

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EXAMPLES AND SELECTED COMMENTS
Example #1: Rich Homie Quan Dance Flex Compilation #richhomiedance ( Ohh,Ohh,Ohh) "Walk Thru Dance"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__0pjX9FnP0

Melanie TV, Published on May 5, 2015
-snip-
Selected comments from this discussion thread are given in chronological order with the oldest dated comments given first, except for replies. These comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only.

1. Pey Pey, May 2015
"WTF are ni&&as* wearin these days.

White leggins, SAGGED, earings, long hair, callin each other hubby, dancing like girls, BLACK MEN IN AMERICA ARE HELLA FEMININE LATELY."
-snip-
"Hella" (hell of" is an intensifier that means "very".

"Sagged" - wearing pants that sagg (hand down so that the tops of their underwear shows.)

**
2. megaman junior, May 2015
"What's wrong with long hair?"

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3. Txpzy, May 2015
"It's not just black men who are feminine a lot of males these days are being quite feminine"

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4. No Future00, May 2015
"Long hair and earrihg arent feminine at all"

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5. Donovan Adams, May 2015
"Imma tell you now! It will affect you! It's having a negative effect on America as we speak! They taking the masculinity out of men and it's playing right into the hands of feminist! They want to be equal with me but secretly want to be superior! it's all messed up! You can say any variation of ni&&er/ni&&a* but fa&&ot* gets bleeped on tv? Better see what size you wear in pumps homie because this is the era of the homosexual.
-snip-
*These words are fully spelled out in this comment.

"Homie" literally means a person from your neighborhood, but can be loosely used to mean "dude" or "man".

**
6. cahipkins1, May 2015
"Black men are being hella girly lately but white men been on some gay sh&t* for yearsssss..i guess if its white its right tho and if ita black its a f&&&king* problem lol"
-snip-
* These words are fully spelled out in this comment.
*full word spelled out

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7. Donovan Adams, May 2015
"+cahipkins1 real talk, sh&t* is only bad if black America doing it. If a black woman wear weave it's weave but if a white chick wear weave it's a extension its a "assessory" glorifying violence in hip hop is a sin but Arnold Schwarzenegger can shoot up and cut up some folk and it's cool! I never got that sh&t.*"
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

"weave" = hair that is worn to increase the length or fullness of a person (usually a female's) own hair

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8. Esther Ombonwan, May 2015
"People need to relax it's really not THAT serious I think it's funny as sh&t* lmao what's the big deal anyways? I swear black people scared asf of Homosexuality... A lil thing "omg he look gay" " ew that's some gay sh&t*" OK what if he is ?. [I'm not including two subseaquent sentences because of their references to explicit sex]... sheesh Enjoy the video, have a good laugh & move on !"
-snip-
This word was fully spelled out in this commentinvideo.

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9. BattleRapMusic Twitter 2 months ago
"+Mrepifany a female bending over shaking nothing but ass is twerking. i seen ni&&s* in jamaican clubs doing this dance.. you dont see other ni&&as* like that boy gay, cause he dont like man."
-snip-
This word is fully spelled out in this comment.
My interpretation of this comment is that BattleRapMusic Twitter is saying that men in Jamaica dance like this all the time and people don't think that they are gay because they dance like that.
**
10. Mrepifany, May 2015
Reply
"+BattleRapMusic Twitter Aint nobody insecure bruh. There are certain dances and actions that a female can do that a man SHOULD NOT EVER get caught doing. This dance is VERY FEMININE and in the same category as TWERKING. Check your ESTROGEN LEVELS bro. LOL"

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11. Kierra Singelton, May 2015
"OK I don't get how its gay y'all always quick call someone gay but when someone call u gay u ready go war 🔫🔪💣 its just dance for goodness sake yes we know he stiff and everything but y'all stop [profanity deleted] him 🍆🚲 . damn y'all always wanna call him gay idk how dance is gau its so many rapper out here doing dances and next week the dance going be famous like rich homie Quan dance its. Already going famous so many people doing his Dance i don't see u calling it gay its [profanity deleted] dance how can it be gay like girls twerkin all the time its not gay that what we love yall boys sure love it .. How u know if we don't love rich homie dance 😩so can y'all [profanity deleted] and let him make his money .& Hit Rich Homie Dance on them
Forever rich homie fan `♪♪♪♪♪♪♥"

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12. Mslovecri Mslovecri, May 2015
"Its not even that serious its just a dance weather its gay or straight. People find anything to argue about these days.geesh."

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13. quinton aures, June 2015
"n I see the point u makin but a dance cant be gay but it can be feminine n that's all im sayin"

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14. Acuminous Jeff, June 2015
"+quinton aures Bro, if you see it that way, then thats on you. A lot of us do it because its a fun and funny dance. Its just walking while dance as you're moving your arms back and forth..."

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15. Xavier goodwin, June 2015
"+quinton aures why are you so insecure in your manhood? doing a dance shouldn't make you question if you like girls or not. you know what is gay? a man, having sex and dating men. that is actually gay."

**
16. hn vn, June 2015
"It's the gay agenda smh"
-snip-
"smh" = shake my head (in disgust or exasperation etc)

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17. IICommentAllDayII, June 2015
"Funny you click on this "gay" dance, to complain about this "gay" dance. Just to watch guys do this "gay" dance. Sounds like you need to come out the closet (:"
-snip-
"come out of the closet"= publically reveal that you are homosexual.

**
18. Rashad Powell, June 2015
"Honestly all these dances that have been coming out are on the gay side. The schmurda dance, the nae nae, this. If you look at them they're all gay in their own way. It's funny in this country people are doing all they can to accept and be tolerant of gays yet that still hasn't happened for black people"

**
19. Luis Sifuentes, June 2015
"Ok sorry to interrupt and i don't want to start a conflict here but what is wrong with being gay ? I am not gay i don't go for gay's pride but i don't have nothing against gay's! Why does being gay and acting gay or whatever bother you so much ? There is nothing wrong with someone being gay it's there choice of being who they are ! Let them be them"

**
20. Rashad Powell, June 2015
"Lol just cause i say something is gay doesn't mean i dislike buuut i will say hip hop is historically vey masculine and i kinda like it that because it was the one thing that in a way taught young black boys how to be men. I mean before the 2000's btw. Now idek what the purpose of hip hop is. I know some pretty cool gay people tho. I think they should be able to get married and everything"

**
21. Erik Chavez, July 2015
"Dude its supposed to be a dance how is it gay it's just so people can dance to it when the song comes on. Really? You guys are so stupid , yeah the world is changing but not by turning gay tf , it's changing because more people are trying to have fun."

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22. TheRighteousGamer, July 2015
"How can a dance be gay? Please explain"

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23. marcus jones, July 2015
"TheRighteousGamer non masculine... Maybe that's a better analogy"

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24. Lalachannel, July 2015
"Smh its just a damn dance lay off... Damn just a damn Lil dance people can do to have fun."

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25. ThaRaggamuffin Prince, July 2015
"You can move your body any way you wish. It does not reflect your sexual preferences."

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26. Cmore Funnie, July 2015
"No str8 man dances like a woman and think it's cool, the gay Agenda is real....."
--snip-
"str8" = straight (heterosexual)

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27. Yasmeen A., July 2015
"Gay means you're attracted to the same sex. A dance CAN NOT be gay."

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Example #2: iHeart Memphis - Hit The Quan (Prod. by Buck Nasty)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZCN_zaypd4

Buck Nasty Ent, Published on Jul 1, 2015
-snip-
Selected comments from this discussion thread are given in chronological order with the oldest dated comments given first, except for replies. These comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only. All of these comments are from July 2015

1. Breonne Jones
"This Song Is Gay! It doesn't even make since... Black people music is garbage now.. In the old days they use to kill it now people are just putting words in a song that doesn't even make sense!"

**
2. Nikorian Johnson
"Nah it's not gay u r"

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3. sayem yousuf
"Gay ass sh&t*"
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

**
4. Marcus Day
"Another trash ass song for ni&&as* to praise and to do a feminine ass dance to. I wish yall would stop hyping these kids up like they have talent. All they do is copy sh&t* from other artist and make a song.
-snip-
*These words are fully spelled out in this comment.
-snip-
Notice the use of "ass" as an intensifier in this comment and the comment directly above it. Here's another example of this use of "ass" which was included in the discussion thread for the Rich Homie The Quan song/dance given as Example #1:
" Angel Of Death Uchiha, July 2015
"Man all these [profanity deleted] weird ass dances coming out of America.
But still got to love it I haven't tried it out yet though."
-snip-
The word "ass" in those comments means "very" (as in "very weird dances").

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Example #3: iHeart Memphis - Hit The Quan Dance #HitTheQuan #HitTheQuanChallenge King Imprint



King Imprint Published on Jul 15, 2015

Song: iHeart Memphis - Hit The Quan

Since everyone's been telling us to make a video to this song, i had to get the crew and murder sh*t for yall #hitthequan NEW KingImprint video!
-snip-
This summary statement is an exact quote.
-snip-
Selected comments from this discussion thread are given in chronological order with the oldest dated comments given first, except for replies. These comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only. All these comments are from July 2015

1. Jay The Soulist
"Ok what I see is another tactic to feminize the black male as well as getting used to the image and the fact that black males getting shot is now considered "normal" smh. Tf is going on."

**
2. Ballinbmac
"Rich homie quan dance still gay to me but I'll do the rest lol"
-snip-
"I'll do the rest" means that the commenter would do the other dance moves that are combined with the Rich Homie Quan dance because he doesn't think that those dance moves are "gay".

**
3. Thrill KiiD
"That was clearly the young thug gay ass dance"
-snip-
Read my comment above about the use of the word "ass" as an intensifier.

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4. dandre ambrose
"Well this is gay."

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5. kevon wade
"Looks like a girl dance lol"

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6. LoLoGtFLo
"This and the Naenae looks ...alittle feminine"

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7. Dywane Ford
"Those that think that the new dance moves now are "Stupid and Dumb and gay" then back the [profanity deleted] off this is a new generation of all types of [profanity deleted] and stuff will keep evolving. +King Imprint keep doing what you love to do iiight"
-snip-
I think the word "iight" means "alright" (i.e. "okay".) or (am I right?). Right? ("iight") usually is found at the end of a sentence as a way of seeking affirmation from the person the comment/question you are speaking to that he or she agrees with what you just said.

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