Why Is Frank Ocean's Coming Out a Big Deal, But Not Syd the Kyd's?
*Our review of Frank Ocean at The Wiltern, 7/17/12
Timothy Norris
*Syd the Kyd on Odd Future, Her Sexuality and Why She Hates the Word "Lesbian"
Earlier this month, rising R&B crooner and Odd Future member Frank Ocean came out of the closet. (More or less.) Since then there's been an outpouring of support from fans, the media and the music industry. Russell Simmons called the move a "game changer" in the notoriously queer-unfriendly realm of hip-hop and R&B. Aside from some random trolls, most folks are singing his praises, and indeed he won tons of new fans in the process.
Ocean has a new album, Channel Orange, and a show at the Wiltern tomorrow night. We too salute him. But all of this fanfare gives us pause. Because it wasn't that long ago that another Odd Future member, Syd the Kyd, went public with her sexuality. One could say that was a much bigger deal; in fact, she was literally the first mainstream hip-hop artist to come out of the closet.
But that announcement barely made waves, and in fact she even faced a bit of criticism. What gives?
True, Ocean has more visibility than Syd; he's more famous. He just performed on Jimmy Kimmel, he's penned tunes for Beyonce and Justin Bieber, and his own songs get some play on urban radio. So while Syd's somewhat known for her work as Odd Future's DJ and recording engineer -- and for her group The Internet -- she's not on everyone's radar. 
Star Foreman Syd the Kyd
But this issue goes deeper. In hip-hop, machismo and heteronormative ideals reign supreme, which makes homosexuality in men more taboo than in women. (Rappers and R&B singers have been lusting for lesbians for years, if only the type found in male pornography. The word "gay," however, remains synonymous for everything one doesn't want to be.)
So, even though Ocean never described himself as "gay" or "bisexual," for that reason one could still argue that it took more courage for him to come out than Syd. But women in hip-hop face an altogether separate challenge, one that's less about sexuality than about asserting themselves in a community where they're still very much in the minority. For a woman to come out might not be to risk great fanfare, but to risk trivializing yourself completely.
Syd was actually criticized for the way she came out, via The Internet's controversial video for their single "Cocaine." In it, her character picks up a girl at a carnival, gives her drugs, makes out with her, and then pushes her out of a truck after she overdoses. Syd told us that the video was meant to have an anti-drug message, but she was nonetheless trounced, as one feminist site put it, for being "just as careless and offensive as the rest of Odd Future."
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