Out Magazine has an interview of Syd the Kyd, the lone female member of the rap collective Odd Future, and it is not the first time she is defending the band’s misogynistic and homophobic lyrics despite being openly gay herself.
Producer, engineer and DJ of the group fronted by Tyler the Creator, she is also half of The Internet which just released its debut album ‘Purple Naked Ladies’, and this is what she had to say to Odd Future’s detractors who have accused the band to be irresponsible for spreading so much hatred:
Most of the homos I know use homophobic slurs, and it’s never a problem unless someone who’s not a part of the group is using the word. But a lot of people take things out of context, and you’ve got to understand that there is a difference between saying, ‘Hey, you faggot’ and 'Hey, faggot.' When Tyler says 'faggot,' he's not referring to gays, he's referring to lame people. And in our vocabulary, that's what the word 'faggot' means. I'm not offended by the word 'faggot' — and I am one.’
If you watch her last video, you’ll see she effectively doesn’t hide being a lesbian, although she has said hating the word in an interview with the LA Weekly. But for her, it is all about not taking Odd Future’s lyrics seriously:
‘I look at it like most people do when you hear something outrageous. You go, ‘Aw, that was fucked up,’ and then you hear it again, and it’s like, ‘That’s really fucked up.’ And then you hear it so many times you just start laughing, like, ‘That is so fucked up!’ But it’s hilarious, and that’s when you start to take life a little less seriously.’
I agree about not taking yourself seriously, that has always been a criterion for me when judging people, and Tyler has said the same thing elsewhere, however, not everyone find this hilarious, ask Tegan and Sara.
What most people don’t understand is the fact that the band is actually looking for this kind of attention born from their provocative lines, they are looking for more Tegan and Sara telling them they are awful and wrong.
Syd also had her personal load of criticism as Tom Tom magazine editor Mindy Abovitz canceled a story on her after seeing the video for The Internet’s ‘Cocaine’, and declared:
‘We finally have an empowered, talented, young black queer female artist, and she is performing and presenting as a misogynistic dude. Perhaps we need to take the limelight off the artists that are doing us a disservice.’
Out is a gay magazine but they nevertheless chose to put the limelight on her, so I guess everyone has different opinions about the question, even in the gay community! But Syd does not want to be regarded as a role model, and does not seem to be that concerned about this gay community thing as she explains later:
‘People like me, and they want me to be flattered, I’ll try my best, but I think my biggest message to them would be, ‘Don’t make gender a big deal. Let your work speak for itself.’ My message is, ‘Be you. I’m gonna be me, watch me be me. You might not agree with everything I do or say, but I hope that I can inspire you to say what you want and do what makes you feel happy.’
I really like that, this girl seems to be speaking the truth, oh and in this LAWeekly interview I was talking about, she is also saying that Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott are gays in the closet?