Vocabulary Lesson: No Homo

"No homo" is a vile, despicable, and hateful phrase commonly used in hip-hop. Because it will be one of several features on an upcoming post regarding Kanye West, I thought it would be best to "define" the ugliness of the phrase to save a few thousand characters explaining West's flagrant homophobia.

The best definition and explanation is Jay Smooth's video below:



Slate's Jonah Weiner argued this summer that the phrase can be used by an artist who embraces the community. But he's wrong. It can't. The phrase is still used, seriously, as a way of distancing oneself from the homosexual community. And until hip-hop takes responsibility and changes its homophobic way, we have free reign to accuse its users of inhumane, vile, and reprehensible people. Weiner has to gall to write, "As society becomes increasingly gay-tolerant, hip-hop is reassessing its relationship to homosexuality and, albeit in a hedged and roundabout way, it's possible that no homo is helping to make hip-hop a gayer place." Ridiculous, Weiner.

Guilty parties include Cam'ron, Chamillionaire, Jay-Z (it's in one of his songs and additional use of "pause" which has the same meaning), Kanye West and Lil Wayne. (Those are the people I can confirm.)

Resources:
A Layman's Guide to "No Homo", Jay Smooth
Does This Purple Mink Make Me Look Gay?
The rise of no homo and the changing face of hip-hop homophobia., Slate
No Homo Wikipedia article (not really the best resource, but if you're desperate...)