Queer(ing) Masculinity in Hip Hop Culture: The Case of Lil Nas X
Résumé
This paper tackled how Lil Nas X uses his artistic platform to reveal a different agenda of Black masculinity. Decried in TV shows and on social networks because he is gay and has flaunted his sexuality, he has also raised the question of agency in the way it is correlated to the performative acts coming from being queer and Black—especially in the hip hop industry. The analysis focused on the representations that he enacts—whether they are his youth, his blackness and queerness, his defense of positive representations, etc.—to break heteronormative codes and speak to/for those whose voices are not heard. Yet, his ambiguity on social media can sometimes disconcert observers, raising further questions about “authenticity.”