In defense of Ariana Debose’s BAFTAs rap: “This is a camp cultural artifact”
West Side Story star made LGBTQ+ history just last year when she became the first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar for acting.
This year, she’s made LGBTQ+ history at another awards show — this time, for a much different reason.Debose opened the 2023 BAFTA awards with a high energy medley, combining “Women Are Doing It For Themselves”, “We Are Family,” and an original rap penned by her and her team honoring the many female nominees of the night.The number wasn’t unprecedented; performances like Neil Patrick Harris opening the Oscars or Shangela at the Indie Spirit Awards have gone viral before and gotten plenty of applause.
However, it’s taken the gay council quite some time to decide how to feel about this most recent opener.The full performance is a whirlwind complete with chairography, a tearaway piece, and some mostly successful transitions.
However, the high-flying vocals on the intro part leave Debose woefully out of breath going into the very daring rap portion.A “Vogue”-esque section praising “the ladies in the room, supporting and leading” has stormed the community.
