KAYTRANADA has thanked Freddie Gibbs for being one of the first artists to accept his sexuality.
The Montreal producer publicly came out as gay during an interview with The FADER in 2016 ahead of his debut album, 99.9%.
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With his third album Timeless set to arrive on June 7, KAYTRANADA sat down with Rolling Stone and opened up about his sexuality, among other topics.
He said the support he received from Gibbs gave him “hope” about being accepted in the music industry — especially in Hip Hop.
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“I still don’t think many people know that I’m gay. Even with that story,” he said. “Freddie Gibbs was one of the first artists that was like, ‘I’m proud of you, man, keep doing your thing.’ I thought that was crazy. That gave me hope.
“Now, we got Lil Nas X and rappers from the LGBT community just coming out. R&B artists, too. It’s more acceptable and more welcome. I heard Snoop [Dogg] and Dr. Dre were performing at Pride in L.A. That’s crazy.”
Freddie Gibbs came across a post on X (formerly Twitter) about KAYTRANADA’s quotes and replied: “That’s my homie in real life tho.”
That’s my homie in real life tho 🤞🏿 https://t.co/Hq0ywoDDkA
— Big 🐰 (@FreddieGibbs) May 30, 2024
KAYTRANADA and Freddie Gibbs have collaborated numerous times over the years on songs such as “My Dope House” and “Alexys,” as well as the KAYTRAMINÉ track “letstalkaboutit.”
During his 2016 intervew with The FADER, the producer/DJ revealed that he came out as bisexual to his mother and sister at the age of 16, but never spoke about it again.
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“It was too many emotions at the same time,” he told the publication. “I was like, ‘Oh that’s good,’ and at the same time, I was like, ‘Oh what does mom think?’ We’re Haitians, and Haitians don’t appreciate gay people at all. I thought maybe it was a phase.”
KAYTRANADA was in a long-term relationship with a woman that ended in 2015. He then told his mother and brother that he was definitively gay and received support from both of them.
“I feel better than I ever have, you know?” he said. “I’ve been sad my whole life, but fuck that. I know I have good things ahead. I don’t know honestly if I’m fully, 100 percent happy, but I’m starting to get there.”
KAYTRANADA hadn’t told his father, who is Haitian, about his sexuality when the interview was published and said he didn’t know how to handle the conversation.
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“Growing up with a lot of friends who are making homophobic remarks, it’s kind of like, ‘Damn, I don’t want nobody to know that I’m that person,’” he said.
“I don’t call myself straight, I don’t call myself gay, it’s just me. But, I guess, I am gay. I just wanna come clean and shit. Just to be less awkward with people. It’s so wack [to lie]. This is another step in my life. I haven’t changed since high school. I’m ready to move on.”
