Kanye West says "gay" has become an antonym to hip-hop - and that it needs to be stopped. During an interview for an MTV special, the 27-year-old rapper launched into a discussion about hip-hop and homosexuality while talking about "Hey Mama," a song on his upcoming album, "Late Registration."

West says that when he was young, people would call him a "mama's boy." "And what happened was, it made me kind of homophobic, 'cause it's like I would go back and question myself," West says.

West says he changed his ways, though, when he learned one of his cousins was gay. "It was kind of like a turning point when I was like, `Yo, this is my cousin. I love him and I've been discriminating against gays.'"

West says hip-hop was always about "speaking your mind and about breaking down barriers, but everyone in hip-hop discriminates against gay people." He adds that in slang, gay is "the opposite, the exact opposite word of hip-hop."

Kanye's message: "Not just hip-hop, but America just discriminates. And I wanna just, to come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, `Yo, stop it!"

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Posted by Lawren at August 19, 2005 08:08 AM | Trackbacks (0)

You Said

Very astute Kanye.

Says: ren at August 19, 2005 08:54 AM

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My thoughts exactly, Ren.

Says: Lawren at August 19, 2005 02:20 PM

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I saw part of this interview on MTV and I love that he had the guts to speak his mind about this. Can't be a very popular point of view in the rap/hip-hop world.

Says: Kelly at August 19, 2005 10:19 PM

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Appears he is growing up.

Says: L. at August 20, 2005 01:54 PM

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