Singaporean rapper Joshua Su, better known as The G3sha has come out as gay in a new song titled I’m OK. The rap track details his coming out journey.
In a moving music video, which is accompanied with pictures of the rapper growing up, The G3sha acknowledges how the LGBTQ community is treated, admitting to past homophobia.
“Used to think that being gay was not okay,” he raps. “We laughed at all the boys, sissy, ah gua and gay / Derogatory terms always say the light of day.”
The G3sha then raps about when he knew he was gay, rapping: “Had my first puppy love when I was twelve / You know that funny feeling kept it to myself.”
He then details his own suicide attempt, rapping: “I pretended to be straight, so I won’t get any hate / As I popped the pills, I resigned to fate / My stomach was pumped it was not too late / Sorry to come out to you in a song / I hope you don’t think I did any wrong / I struggled with this issue for so long.”
The rap ends with the chorus: “G-A-Y-B-O-Y, OK.”
Speaking to the South China Morning Post, The G3sha spoke of the negative impact that repressing his sexuality had on him. “I suppressed my feelings and desires until I came to terms with who I am at the age of 27,” he explained.
“These suppressed feelings caused lots of problems in my life. I became depressed and hated who I was for a long time.
“I once tried to commit suicide and I’m not proud of it. Around 2010 or 2011, I couldn’t accept who I was any more.
“I had no gay friends, I felt I had been ostracised and I was drinking a lot. I tried to kill myself because I thought that being gay was a sickness or a disease.”
He also spoke abour the reaction to the song, saying: “While my friends have been very supportive of and receptive to I’m OK, there are some people who still tell me that homosexuality is a choice.”
He added he hoped the song would help other LGBTQ Singaporeans, saying: “Homophobia is still very common in Singapore. I used to rap about money, girls and showing off.
“Now I want to tell kids who are going through what I went through, that being gay is perfectly fine. My aim is for a homophobe to chant the lyrics to I’m OK – then the message [of my song] is complete.”
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