I really don’t think this show should be called “Good” Morning America. It never produces anything good.
On Thursday’s Bad Morning America show on ABC, anchors celebrated Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary - but added the special twist of celebrating queer representation in the genre. And cringe doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Correspondent Chris Connelly brought up rapper Saucy Santana (whose real name is Rashad Jamiyl Spainan), an extremely feminine gay dude who is, according to the show, “impacting the genre."
“Saucy Santana is a gamechanger. An openly gay man who began as a makeup artist. He’s a rapper with big time bangers" - and yes, watching 66-year-old Connelly say that was cringe af - “a superstar following, and an audience inspired by the queer representation he brings to center stage.”
Think of Lil Nas X but larger, with fake lashes, fishnets and four-inch-long acrylic nails.
The segment then panned to Santana, who talked about how he and the rest of the queers just wanted to be “visible," delivering that line while wearing ginormous sunglasses that made him barely recognizable, never mind visible.
“I came in gay. Um, I came in swingin. I’m gonna put gay everywhere: music videos, makeup artists, whoever! It’s gonna be gay/LGBT involved,” Santana stated.
To make the segment even more awkward, Connelly, who later couldn’t even get the LGBTQ acronym correct, explained that Santana has been nominated for an award for his track “Booty.”
Connelly then shifted to a bit of a sorrowful vibe, insisting that the hip hop genre has “struggled with homophobia.”
The show then brought on Shanté Paradigm Smalls, an associate professor at New York University, to explained that, “Hip hop, rap music in particular, was seen as a space for hyper-masculinity,” later adding, “people thought that gay and hip hop didn’t go together.”
Well, with Mr. Saucy Santana, masculinity is thrown out the window and gayness in rap is becoming more popular. Which to Connelly, is means for celebration.
“But from Lil Nas X to Laquia, a new wave of LBGTQ+ artists is changing the game,” he exclaimed.
At the end of the clip, Connelly looked forward to the next 50 years in hip hop, saying he hopes that it would be “more inclusive" - a.k.a., more gay.
