In Season 1, we’re introduced to Mimi as the timid, reserved girlfriend who puts up with infamous record producer Stevie J’s infidelities. Her vulnerability, plus her over-the-top personality (she made news in 2010 for claiming to have dated “Right Thurr” rapper Chingy, which she then admitted she lied about for clout!) make her a staple of the season. “As a trans woman trying to make it in the hip-hop game, I’ve been turned down so many times,” she shared on-screen. The self-proclaimed “Baddest transgender female” Chicagoan made her debut on Season 9, and her rapping skills impressed the top music producers in the city-including cast member and producer Rich Dollaz. Adrienne, who insists she’s straight and “only gay for Snoop.” Of course they break up, and though Snoop is credited as a main character in Season 8, she’s virtually non-existent. Snoop is trying to launch her own record label Gorgeous Gangster Records while in a messy relationship with girlfriend J. But it’s not all messy: Jonathan bravely talks about being a survivor of conversion therapy back in the Dominican Republic, and we see him share his experience with his cast members and his family.įelicia is best known for playing “Snoop” Pearson on The Wire, but she became a main member on Seasons 7 and 8 of Love & Hip Hop: New York. Jonathan is a consultant, stylist and makeup artist from New York whose romantic storyline involves accusing his boyfriend Trent Crews of cheating, but then is shook when Trent exposes that Jonathan is still married (!!). She’s known for her sex-positive anthem “Once Upon a Time.” Mariahlynn is openly bisexual. Small but mighty, Mariahlynn is a ride-or-die for the people in her life, including her mother-who struggles with addiction-and her baby sister, who she is raising. The first study of Black Americans in 150 years, it found that Black people are actually very supportive of same-sex marriage. The Black community has long been typecast as less accepting of the LGBTQ2 community-though a recent study by Black Futures Lab has proven differently. One of the most surprising issues it tackles is queerness. And now that I have nothing else to do but rewatch it, I’ve noticed that the show has toned down its infighting and focused more on issues that affect Black communities: Mass incarceration and state violence, mental health (and the show’s problematic portrayal of it), gun violence and community gathering and Black love-especially in more recent seasons. The cast is hilarious, petty and knows what’s up: The more messy, the more exposure. But I don’t think Love & Hip Hop has been given enough credit in the ways it resists these stereotypes. There’s much to say about how these representations of Black culture contribute to the legacy of stereotypes against Black people after all, digital blackface-the use of reaction GIFs and memes by non-Black people of Black people’s overexaggerated expressions-is rife in our daily communications.
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