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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of AllHipHop.com
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It’s easy to kick a dog when he’s down. The Mister Cee saga has so much fodder that’s ready-made for bloggers looking to throw stones. As much as I love going in on the f**kery of hip-hop, this story saddens me and since I ain’t your average sheepish blogger, I won’t go down that path. I’m sure there’s a gang of memes coming down the pipe.
Yes! It looks as though Mister Cee has been “outed.” It looks as though he has a fetish for guys who dress like women. Mister Cee’s ouster—a gay, cross-dressing blogger who goes by “B#### Winehouse” allegedly exposed Mister Cee in a audio video, which sounds like Mister Cee. B#### is given a Benjamin to perform f####### on Cee, which, according to this cross-dresser, never happens.
It is never okay to “out” someone! People should be able to stay “in the closet.” Whom someone sleeps with is none of our business (unless they are raping/date-raping someone), so let’s not give this blogging cross-dresser a standing ovation (He’s getting his “15 minutes of fame” via these internets). (And for you heteros who subscribe to the belief that a BI man is “polluting the p#### population” [i.e. spreading diseases from g###### to women]–check the statistics! It’s a misnomer, a hood tale, an UN-truth, a lie! HIV and other STDs are spread more commonly among straight men and women than they are from BI men.) On the other hand, there is a belief that so-called straight men that “use” the gay community for sexual favors while feigning straight should be outed. Perhaps that was this blogger’s thinking?
They say this is the 4th time Mister Cee has been caught up in the drama of transgender/transsexual/cross-dressing male prostitutes. There was a curious hush-hush in hip-hop circles the first time Mister Cee pleaded guilty to sexing up a tranny. Nobody was talking out loud! Not DJ Kay Slay—not Angie Martinez or Miss Info—nor any of the rest of the crew at New York’s Hot 97. When this story first broke, it was Mister Cee’s best bud Funkmaster Flex who stepped up to the plate and gave us a rousing and theatrical denial of the allegations. Emphatically, they were false! But now we know they were true. This s**t has come home and taken a big bite out of hip-hop’s homophobic a**. Talk about the “Chickens coming home to roost!”
And then—just a few short months ago Mister Cee was arrested again (for allegedly soliciting a male prostitute), causing much ado at his job, New York radio’s Hot 97. The talking-heads at his J-O-B did not shy away from the issue as they had previously done. Their H.N.I.C. program director, Ebro tweeted about Mister Cee, suggesting that Cee is family and the issue is not his sexuality, but rather the breaking of solicitation laws. And then the interview followed where Mister Cee emphatically denied that he was homosexual.
Internet gangsters, keyboard killers and mouse-pad mobsters may have “gone in” on Mister Cee, but industry heads gave Cee the benefit of the doubt out of respect for what he brought to hip-hop. Mister Cee is revered in hip-hop circles far and wide. It was Mister Cee that pushed Biggie Smalls into mainstream prominence. Everyone has mentioned his name on wax—from Mysonne to Biggie to Jay Z. The first time Cee was arrested they asked Ja Rule about Mister Cee and he gave a half-hearted-walking-on-eggshells-response about people having the right to do whatever “floats their boat” behind closed doors. Nobody in the industry really wants to go in on Mister Cee.
Yes! On the surface this is one man’s problem, but the larger picture is—our homophobic society and hip-hop’s relationship to society, which, at some point, must be addressed head on—even stronger than Macklemore!
Say what you want about DJ Mister Cee’s dilemma. This is the time for all homophobes to relish in this man’s misfortune. “He’s a f@g! He’s a down-low trick! He’s this! He’s that!” Everybody who’s a nobody has an effing opinion, but nobody wants to deal with the reason why people like Mister Cee have to stoop to these lengths to have some semblance of sexual freedom.
Mister Cee’s “sh*t-uation” should cause a paradigm-shift in hip-hop’s homophobic mindset. Hip-hop/rap has held its head high and been aloof towards gays and transgendered people. But now, with Mister Cee’s apparent trans-cross-dressing-fetish, it is time for hip-hop to rethink its homophobia.
The problem is not Mister Cee’s now-confirmed taste for transgender f#######. No! The deeper issue is our society, which has caused many bi and homosexual men to deny their homosexuality for the sake of career, family and society. The problem is that the “Mister Cees of the world” have to be “down-low” in order to be respected in our society. It is our societal norms, which causes brothas like Mister Cee to go undercover. What does that say about our supposed “Land of the Free and open society?” It says that, indeed, we are not free to be sexual creatures of varying degrees! It also says that no matter how much we say that we don’t care about what others think about us—we do! No supposedly straight hip-hop head wants their name soiled in the saliva of transgender consciousness.
Although we are shocked, we shouldn’t be. Why? Because hip-hop is a microcosm of the larger macrocosm mainstream populace where some 20% of Americans identify as bi, homosexual or transgender/transsexual. You might think Mister Cee is a hip-hop anomaly—an aberration from the norm—a wandering down Hershey Highway, but I assure you, other notables will be exposed, because hip-hop is not immune to homosexuality.
Some may judge Mister Cee because he is married. Some will come out of a religious bag—like they really know something about God and scripture and some will just hate the fact that homosexuality is a reality, even in hip-hop. My issue is the total destruction of homophobia!
Let us not point the finger at Mister Cee, but embrace him. Let it be known that whatever Mister Cee’s sexual likings are—he is hip-hop and he is ours! Let this be the time that you stray from the herd-mentality and shed your homophobia, because next time, it will be someone famous who you look up to—or a beloved family member who comes out the closet. Before your grubby little fingers start pecking away some cliche’-ish, unfunny and fool-hearted response, ask yourself, “Why am I reveling in this man’s demise?” Are you a hater and a homophobe or are you just looking to be flippant? Do what you gotta do, but for me? Mister Cee is (still) my hip-hop brother!
Hip-hop is teaching us! Are you listening?
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Khalil Amani is a blogger for AllHipHop. He also writes for DJ Kay Slay’s Originators Magazine & Straight Stuntin Magazine. Amani also writes for Hoodgrown, Maybach and Sext Magazines. He is the author of six books, including the ground-breaking book, “Hip-Hop Homophobes…” iuniverse.com 07). Amani is gay hip-hop’s self-proclaimed straight advocate. Visit The Coonerific One at http://www.khalilamani.ning.com Follow on Facebook/Twitter @khalilamani. Youtube @ yahweh 12 Khalilamani@yahoo.com