Rapper Young
Thug is once again pushing beyond traditional notions of gender and
gender-based expectations. This time, the artist is doing so an interview for his cover on V Magazine.
Born Jeffery
Lamar Williams, the Atlanta rapper challenged gendered attitudes and
assumptions when he wore a long, ruffled dress on the cover of his “JEFFERY”
mixtape in Aug. 2016. The decision inevitably sparked a
larger conversation about the importance of the photo with regard to
gender and black masculinity.
In this most
recent interview with V, Young Thug opens up about his inspiration for the
image, saying that he wants people to “stop believing in
genders.”
While he
doesn’t elaborate beyond that in the interview, the rapper has previously gone
on record to say that he doesn’t believe in gender himself.
“In my world of
course, it don’t matter,” he previously stated when discussing his own perceptions
of gender. “You could be a gangster with a dress, you could be a gangster
with baggy pants. I feel like there’s no such thing as gender.”
Williams’
sentiments are part of a larger cultural understanding of gender outside of
binary terms, and a recognition that there are a multitude of ways of being
in the world when it comes to gender and identity.
Just look at
Facebook, which earlier this year introduced
a huge list of options when it comes to describing one’s gender on
their personal social networking page, or the emergence of mainstream
transgender stars like Laverne Cox, who recently became the
first openly transgender person nominated for a primetime Emmy.
We are
excited to see more artists like Young Thug contribute to an ongoing ― and
evolving ― conversation about the gender spectrum.
Read Young
Thug’s interview in V Magazine in full.
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