XPost: alt.niggers, talk.politics.guns, alt.music.gangsta.rap   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: nigger-lovers@disney.com   
      
   Despite multiple apologies, rapper DaBaby continues to face   
   criticism — and cancellations — for homophobic comments he made   
   during the Rolling Loud festival in late July.   
      
   Dua Lipa, who features the rapper on her mega-hit song   
   "Levitating," was among those who quickly criticized him. Elton   
   John and Madonna also lambasted DaBaby and railed against   
   misinformation in his comments about HIV.   
      
   During the Miami performance, he had told the audience: "If you   
   didn't show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually   
   transmitted diseases that'll make you die in two or three weeks,   
   put your cellphone light in the air."   
      
   Music festivals including Lollapalooza, The Governors Ball and   
   Austin City Limits Music Festival canceled his appearances, and   
   he lost a sponsorship deal with the clothing brand BooHoo.   
      
   DaBaby has grown into a critical and commercial superstar in   
   recent years, reigning over a powerful audience with his   
   millions of followers on social media. He has won BET Awards and   
   been nominated for Grammys.   
      
   The swift fallout from his remarks could signify a change in   
   attitudes toward what the music business will tolerate when it   
   comes to explicitly offensive and exclusionary language from   
   some of its biggest stars.   
      
   "I think there's definitely a new moment," says Brown University   
   professor Tricia Rose who has written two books on hip-hop.   
      
   DaBaby has been accused of bad behavior before   
   While Rose believes the festivals are doing the right thing by   
   removing DaBaby from their rosters, she also sees more than a   
   hint of hypocrisy in the organizers' actions. She notes that the   
   music industry has long tolerated and profited from artists like   
   DaBaby, who has been accused of bad behavior before this   
   incident.   
      
   At the same Rolling Loud festival, for example, he followed   
   Megan Thee Stallion's performance by bringing rapper Tory Lanez   
   on stage, who Stallion alleges shot her in the foot last year.   
      
   "There's many artists who are promoted by the industry, who are   
   celebrated by the industry because of their, quote, unquote,   
   edgy extreme behavior. That is a longstanding pattern that has   
   not abated in any way," Rose says. "Then when they step out of   
   line about when and how they actually live into that identity,   
   then there's all this sort of 'We're all about peace, love and   
   happiness.' "   
      
   Since the uproar, DaBaby has tried to be about peace and   
   understanding in his efforts to counter the fallout. In his   
   second apology, he wrote, "Social media moves so fast that   
   people want to demolish you before you have a chance to grow,   
   educate and learn from your mistakes."   
      
   Apologizing is one step; making amends is another   
   Kevin Powell, who's written extensively about hip-hop and toxic   
   masculinity in American culture, says the language in DaBaby's   
   apology is important.   
      
   "I believe in counsel culture, not cancel culture," says Powell.   
   "Do we just want to keep canceling people out because of their   
   racism, their sexism and homophobia, transphobia? Or do we   
   actually want to educate people so we become a more educated   
   populace so this does not become a normalized thing?"   
      
   Powell hopes DaBaby will do a lot more than just apologize for   
   his behavior to protect his career.   
      
   "He has to be serious. No matter who you are you have to be   
   serious about making amends. You have to become an advocate for   
   women and girls. You have to become an advocate against   
   homophobia and transphobia. You have to make amends by your   
   actions or your deeds. It can't just be an apology just because   
   you're trying to save your career," Powell adds.   
      
   The uproar underscores how cultural attitudes about sexuality in   
   pop music are changing. Right now, the openly gay rapper Lil Nas   
   X has two hit songs and was recently profiled in The New York   
   Times Magazine.   
      
   Both Powell and Tricia Rose believe his success signals   
   progress, but they also say the work toward a more inclusive   
   music industry is far from over.   
      
   https://www.npr.org/2021/08/04/1024300194/dababy-homophobic-   
   comments-apology-dropped-lollapalooza   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)