Rapper Dababy Delivers Homophobic, Anti-AIDS Interlude at Rolling Loud, Doubles Down on Comments; T.I. Comes to His Defense

Rapper Dababy has come under fire in recent days for homophobic and HIV/AIDS-negative comments he made onstage at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami over the weekend and doesn’t appear to be backing down. During his performance at the famed hip hop festival, Dababy said the offending comments between songs in what he called a “call to action.”

“If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two or three weeks, put your cellphone light in the air,” he said. “Ladies, if your pussy smell like water, put your cellphone light in the air. Fellas, if you ain’t suck a n**** dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone lights in the air. Keep it fucking real.”

The comments immediately drew backlash online, but at least one hip hop heavyweight, T.I., backed up Dababy’s comments by invoking the name of proudly out gay rapper Lil Nas X. “If Lil Nas X can kick his shit in peace… so should dababy #equality,” replied T.I. to The Shade Room’s coverage of the incident. He further defended Dababy’s homophobia in an Instagram Live video.

“To be honest, if homosexuals have more rights than heterosexuals, then just say that. If homosexuals have more rights than heterosexuals, then just say that. Let that be the law. Is that the law,” T.I. said. “I respect gays, especially the ones that have the bravery and the courage to step out and live their truth. I respect that … but I respect it the same way if you a heterosexual. So I don’t see what all the hoopla is about. Y’all motherfuckers just up in arms and fake caring about shit because you ain’t got shit else going on in your life.”

“You can’t make me homophobic because I’m proud to be a heterosexual … just because I am proud of what I am don’t make me hate what you are, period,” he added. “Ain’t no way to tangle or twist that. Ain’t no hate in that … If you’re gonna have the Lil Nas X video and living his truth, you’re gonna damn sure have people like Dababy who’s gonna speak they truth. And it ain’t nothing wrong with any of it. It ain’t got to be no hate. It’s all honesty.”

Dababy’s comments and T.I.’s subsequent defenses of the artist came just days after Lil Nas X’s latest single and video, “Industry Baby,” debuted, complete with his trademark references to queer sexuality, a choice reference to Waka Flocka Flame and a fundraiser for The Bail Project. Jack Harlow, who features on the track alongside Lil Nas X, performed the song at Rolling Loud without Lil Nas X.

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According to Newsweek, Dababy also took to Instagram to expound on his onstage comments and tell his critics to “shut the fuck up”, doubling down on his homophobic language and conflation between HIV/AIDS, sexual deviancy and social classification of gay men. “Regardless of what you motherfuckers are talking about and how the internet twisted up my motherfucking words, me and all my fans at the show, the gay ones and the straight ones, we turned the fuck up,” he said.

“All the lights went up, gay or straight. You wanna know why? Because even my gay fans don’t got fucking AIDS… They don’t got AIDS. My gay fans, they take care of theyself, they ain’t going for that. They ain’t no nasty gay n*****. They ain’t no junkies on the street,” Dababy continued.

“I said, if you ain’t sucking dick in the parking lot, put your cellphone light up. You know what my gay fans did? Put that motherfucking light up. My gay fans, they ain’t going for that. They got class. They ain’t sucking no dick in no parking lot. You gotta get a room, a good one—five-star hotel … Even my gay fans got standards.”

While Dababy clearly isn’t backing away from his homophobic comments, he is also in hot water regarding another moment during his Rolling Loud performance. Dababy took the stage immediately after Megan Thee Stallion, and brought a disguised Tory Lanez, the man who allegedly shot her, onstage.