Last weekend, at Miami’s Rolling Loud music festival, rapper DaBaby took 25 seconds of the world’s time to disrespect and shame HIV+ people, LGBTQ+ folks, and women — without any prompting or provocation. In the middle of his set, seemingly out of nowhere, the artist said, "If you didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that'll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cell phone light up. Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put your cell phone light up. Fellas, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cell phone light up.”
Within hours, social media lit up in disgust. After a series of paltry apologies made throughout the week, the rapper saw the cancellation of a previously planned Sunday appearance at this weekend’s Lollapalooza music festival, one of several dropped gigs he’s now contending with. That led to a second, longer apology made on Monday. But it all might be too little, too late. The damage is done: not only has DaBaby revealed just how much further we have to go when it comes to combating homophobia and misogyny in hip hop, he’s showing that the lines of what the music industry considers “acceptable” when it comes to ignorance are shifting fast.
As someone who has been living with HIV for nearly 11 years, I was triggered when I heard DaBaby’s comments. I was hurt. And as someone who has been public with my status for eight years, as well as on front lines of HIV testing, prevention, and advocacy work, I was enraged.
Enraged at how in 2021, 40 years since the first cases of HIV were reported in the U.S., someone with such a massive platform could still be so malicious towards a community that has lost hundreds of thousands of lives to a global virus.
Enraged that we’ve come so far — to a point where many living with HIV can enjoy a life as long and fruitful as those without, and where managing the virus with medication means you can’t transmit it to others — and yet can plainly see how much further we have yet to go.
Let’s state some facts. According to the CDC, in 2018, Black people made up 42% of new HIV diagnoses in America while only accounting for 13% of the population. Although DaBaby’s comments were made towards Black LGBTQ people, Black women are still the most newly diagnosed group among all women, and Black men are the most diagnosed group among all men. Black gay and bisexual men made up 37% of new infections among their cohort.
Suffice it to say, HIV is NOT just a Black LGBTQ+ issue. It is a Black issue, full stop, and one that is not going to disappear easily when rappers who are often viewed as “thought leaders” use their platforms to shame those living with the virus. Shaming like that only leads to even more stigma, more people who are afraid to be tested, and more people having to suffer in silence. One even has to wonder if DaBaby knows his own status, because we know that an estimated 1 in 5 of those living with the virus are unaware they’re positive. HIV is not and will never be a joking matter.
It would have been easy enough for DaBaby to never open his mouth, or even say something supportive of those living with HIV — something that highlights that it’s not just a gay issue, it’s a Black issue, and that underscores how important it is to get tested and know your status. But that would have been the right thing to do. Besides, supporting us would be a threat to his masculinity, as we know leaning into homophobia has always been the go to for rappers and cishet men who feel threatened and insecure in their own skin. That’s not to mention the misogyny he had to spew on top. (Is “pussy smelling like water” some affirmation I was unaware of?)
DaBaby’s comments weren’t just toxic — they were dangerous. Black LGBTQ+ people have long been met with violence and death at the hands of cishet men as a result of our sexuality. Black queer children are abused by intolerant parents and peers, and sometimes even driven to suicide, as seen in the tragic case of Nigel Shelby, a 15-year-old from Alabama who died by suicide in 2019.
A number of artists have come forward to defend DaBaby since his comments, like Tory Lanez (a misogynist who shot Meg The Stallion), Lil Boosie (a homophobe and transphobe who has publicly attacked Zaya Wade and Lil Nas X) and T.I. (a misogynist who is under investigation for allegations of rape). They come as no surprise. Homophobia and misogyny have too seldom had much of a major impact on any rapper’s career. Will this time be different? Hip hop today is more diverse and less male-dominated than ever. Women and LGBTQ+ folks now have a choice if they want to opt out of supporting artists who would disrespect their identity. Rap is now a place where women like Meg Thee Stallion and queer artists like Lil Nas X reign supreme. And as the number of cancelled gigs that DaBaby has suffered shows, the music industry writ large now knows that supporting bald-faced homophobia like his isn’t something audiences will tolerate any longer.
Rappers are now fearful that they will be held to the baseline standard of human decency at their shows; fearful that their outdated ideas of masculinity may hold high costs for their careers; fearful that their refusal to unlearn and change the violence that misogyny, homophobia and HIV stigmatization has caused so many Black folks will no longer be tolerated as part something they need time to “grow out of.”
I can’t say what the future holds for DaBaby’s career, but I do know we are possibly in the dawn of a new era for hip hop, one where ignorance and harm will no longer be tolerated and could cost you your career.
That’s something to celebrate. And remember — go get tested and know your status!
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