Watch: Atlanta Rapper Zé F*cks with Gender Roles in “Telephone”
One of the most fortuitous scenes in docu Paris Is Burning is where Dorian Corey says, “In a ballroom you can be anything you want. You’re not really an executive, but you’re looking like an executive, and therefore, you’re showing the straight world I can be an executive.” This has become sort of the mapping for millennials. Creating your own narrative or branding seems to be more the look than putting in real work. In the video for Telephone, the debut single from Atlanta-based rapper Zé, masculinity and stereotypes of gay men are examined, where Zé shows that you can be black, effeminate and wear glitter, and still be a badass rapper and fire lyricist, traits usually associated with heteronormative programming….after all, we’re all just part of the same game…where everything is magic, except the magician! Watch below, and stream Zé’s new EP Skies Are Filled With Secret Delight HERE.
