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Busta Rhymes walked out of an interview with filmmaker Byron Hurt after Hurt asked whether a gay rapper could be accepted in hip-hop culture. In the recorded exchange, Rhymes first declined to discuss homophobia in rap lyrics, saying, “I can’t partake in that conversation, homes.” The interview appears in Hurt’s documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.
What happened in the interview?
Hurt, the documentary’s filmmaker and interviewer, began by asking Rhymes, “How do you feel about homophobia in rap lyrics?” Rhymes replied, “I can’t partake in that conversation, homes.” Hurt then asked, “Do you think that a gay rapper would ever be accepted in hip-hop culture?” The film’s transcript records Rhymes leaving the room.
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The Washington Post reported the same sequence in an article published February 20, 2007: Rhymes went quiet after the question about homophobia, then walked out when Hurt asked about the acceptance of a gay rapper. The newspaper’s account and the documentary transcript both support the central description of the exchange.
Why did Busta Rhymes walk out?
The record establishes what Rhymes said and what happened next, but the cited transcript and contemporaneous coverage do not establish his reason for leaving. It is accurate to say that he declined to discuss homophobia and departed after the follow-up question; assigning a specific motive would go beyond these accounts.
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How does the scene fit the documentary?
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes examines masculinity and homophobia in hip-hop, among other aspects of rap culture. Its discussion guide describes Hurt’s effort to get rappers talking about homophobia and notes Rhymes’s exit. The transcript also includes rapper Tim’m West discussing his experience of coming out, placing the exchange within the film’s wider consideration of queer artists’ experiences in hip-hop.
The scene documents one interview, not the views of every rapper or hip-hop listener. Its significance is in the direct contrast between the question the film raises and Rhymes’s refusal to continue that conversation on camera.
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- Busta Rhymes- The Coming
Sources
- Media Education Foundation, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes transcript
- The Washington Post, “A Hip-Hop Fan Hunts the Reason Behind the Rhyme,” February 20, 2007
- Media Education Foundation, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes discussion guide
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