While chopping it up with DJ Vlad in a recent interview, former Hot Boys rapper Turk thew fans for a loop when he admitted that he and his close New Orleans friends used to show each other affection in seemingly strange ways. “Every male has some type of gay game with their homeboy,” the rapper told Vlad. “It is just like, somebody hitting somebody on the ass when they playin’ basketball. That don’t mean they gay.”
Turk’s comments on VladTV were of course related to the infamous Lil Wayne and Birdman kiss that has previously led fellow Hot Boys member Young Buck to clarify that Baby “never played with” him and Juvenile like that. In Turk’s latest interview, he admits to kissing Birdman, and similar to Young Buck’s comments in 2020, he says they were all a part of “gay games.”
Further along in the interview, Turk explained that it’s not an intimate kiss, and it’s never an issue for men who are secure with their sexuality. While he claimed that it wasn’t something that he would do now at his current age, Turk said, “But if you not no real nigga, you won’t understand that. You won’t understand the love niggas have for their homies.”
Shortly after sending social media into a frenzy with his comments about kissing his homeboys as part of a “gay game” to show them love, Turk was spotted with fellow New Orleans rapper Kevin Gates. In the video, Turk says, “Real niggas do real shit, man.” And as he says that at the start of the video, Kevin Gates laughs while putting his arm around his fellow NOLA rapper and gives him a kiss, saying, “I love you to death, you know that big dog.”
The clip contradicts Turk’s recent comments about refraining from jokingly kissing other men now that he’s older, but he reiterates some of the points that he addressed in the VladTV interview. “Stop playing!” Turk tells the camera. “Niggas in New Orleans, we rock different, man. Y’all wouldn’t understand this shit.”
After kissing Turk, Kevin Gates chimes into the conversation with a bit of wisdom. “Those who mind don’t matter,” he explains. “Those who matter don’t mind.”
This summer, the Hip-Hop community has now witnessed two male-on-male kisses from prominent Hip-Hop artists: Lil Nas X’s BET Awards kiss and now, Kevin Gates and Turk’s friendly kiss. Do you think that the New Orleans rappers’ actions will prompt more open discussions about homophobia in Hip-Hop? Or will fans simply clown them for kissing each other on video?