Offset Denies That His Homophobic Lyric Was Homophobic

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Offset Denies That His Homophobic Lyric Was Homophobic

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Back in December, Migos member Offset rapped a guest verse on “Boss Life,” a new single from the Atlanta street-rapper YFN Lucci. Yesterday, a video for the song came out, and a lot of people noticed something that Offset said during his verse: “60K solitaire / I do not vibe with queers / I got the heart of a bear / I bust ‘em down by the pair.” The “I do not vibe with queers” part stood out for obvious reasons. Migos have a history of making homophobic comments (and refusing to appear on TV with drag queens). But now Offset is claiming that he wasn’t actually being homophobic at all.

On Instagram this morning, Offset posted the dictionary definition of the word “queer,” insisting that he was talking about paparazzi stalkers rather than gay people: “To me that ‘queer’ I don’t mean someone who’s gay. I mean lame people who film you, post it and stalk you. Lingo that means strange or odd.” He also wrote that he’s not homophobic: “My passion for fashion has lead me to a lot of gay people around me who I have mad respect for and we are very cool so I’m not in a place where I’m hating like that.”

I didn’t write the line about gay people. I have said before since these issues before that I got love for all people. My passion for fashion has lead me to a lot of gay people around me who I have mad respect for and we are very cool so I’m not in a place where I’m hating like that. When I wrote that I was thinking of words that could rhyme with the others (here, lear, solitaire, bear) and I saw this definition about her having a queer feeling she was being watched and it fit what I was thinking about a stalker creepy paparazzi situation. To me that “queer” I don’t mean someone who’s gay. I mean lame people who film you, post it and stalk you. Lingo that means strange or odd. I M S O R R Y I A P O L O G I Z E I’m offended I offended anybody

A post shared by OFFSET (@offsetyrn) on

Offset also posted similar comments in his Instagram story, writing, “tryna make me out to b a homophobic ima whole Gangsta I don’t even speak on sexuality.”

Meanwhile, without explicitly calling out Offset, the rapper and singer Starrah called out rap homophobia on Twitter this morning:

It’s worth noting that there is nothing else in the context of Offset’s verse to suggest that he’s rapping about paparazzi rather than gay people.

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