GAYLETTER

I have been a fan of hip-hop since I was in high school listening to Talib Kweli, Mos Def and Common. I was never a fan of most mainstream rap as it was too hyper-masculine and often homophobic. The genre is still very masculine, sexist and mildly homophobic, but things are changing. One rapper who is leading that change is Young Thug. He is a pretty mainstream rapper, he's also subverting the genre in some wonderful ways. For one thing he is very gender fluid. On the cover of his latest album he is photographed wearing a dress by indie designer Alessandro Trincone. (Tricone lived in Japan which is why a lot of of his clothes are inspired by origami). In a recent interview to Billboard Young Thug talked more about his love of women’s clothes “When I was 12, my feet were so small I wore my sisters’ glitter shoes,” he recalled. “My dad would whoop me: ‘You’re not going to school now, you’ll embarrass us!’ But I never gave a f**k what people think… When it comes to swag there’s no gender involved.” He also said that he plans to wear a dress to his wedding, saying “there will be two brides.” This is all admirable, but not enough of a reason to listen to an artist’s music. Thankfully Young Thug’s latest album is really, really good. I’ve had it on repeat for the last few days. Stand out tracks include Wyclef Jean, Kanye West, and Swizz Beatz (many of the tracks are named after musicians.) Go off Jeffery!  —tom