I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
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''I'm Gay (I'm Happy)'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Lil B. The album was released digitally on June 29, 2011. On June 30, 2011, the rapper provided a free download link on his Twitter account. The album entered the ''Billboard'''s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at number 56 and the
Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...
chart at number 20 for the week of July 16, 2011. The album's cover is an
allusion Allusion, or alluding, is a figure of speech that makes a reference to someone or something by name (a person, object, location, etc.) without explaining how it relates to the given context, so that the audience must realize the connection in the ...
to
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
's 1976 album, '' I Want You''.


Background and controversy

Lil B announced the album and its title during his performance at the Coachella Festival in 2011. Shortly after the announcement, the rapper was met with backlash, even from his own fans. In MTV News, Lil B claimed he received death threats: "People been hitting me up like, ‘I’m gonna bash your head in,’ ‘you faggot,’ ‘I’m gonna kill you', a lot of my supporters have turned on me. It’s been a few supporters that’s saying, ‘I’m not gonna rock with you anymore'". The title was met with controversy from the media as well as figures in the hip-hop community. Terrance Dean, former MTV executive and openly gay author of "Hiding In Hip-hop", stated, "I think that nnouncementwas so much bigger than he was. That it was like seeing his future before it even actually happened". Openly gay BET blogger Lloyd "Gyant" Dinwiddie perceived the album name as a publicity stunt: "I don't want to take anything away from what I think he's trying to do. I really do feel that it is less about social evolution, and it's more about making a name for yourself and selling your project".
GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...
issued a statement addressing the album's title. "As a lyricist, Lil B knows that words matter. Slurs have the power to fuel intolerance. We hope that Lil B's album title is not just a gimmick, and is really a sincere attempt to be an ally". In response to the statement, Lil B told MTV "I got major love for the gay and lesbian community, and I just want to push less separation and that’s why I’m doing it. I hope GLAAD sees that I’m taking initial steps to break barriers."


Critical reception

''I'm Gay (I'm Happy)'' received positive reviews; fans commented on the album's wide variety of positive messages and also the unique beats and lyrical styles not common to mainstream hip-hop. Lil B rapped about many controversial issues in the album including race relations, poverty, humanity and the justice system. The album, according to many fans, shows the "true" side of Lil B, many noting the album's inspirational theme. ''I'm Gay'' received generally positive reviews from
music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
s. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 73, based on 10 reviews. Lil B was the subject of controversy because upon the album's release he decided to provide a free version via a download link on Facebook. Many believed this to be a publicity stunt; however, he cleared the controversy when on his Facebook page he posted: "for all my fans who don't have 10 dollars to buy my album, here it is for free."Lil B 'The Based God'-I'm Gay (Album Review)
. Prolificmovementblog.com (June 30, 2011). Retrieved on November 12, 2011.


Accolades


Track listing

;Samples * "Trapped in Prison" contains a sample of "Leaving Shire" by Bo Hansson. * "Open Thunder Eternal Slumber" contains a sample of " Catch the Breeze" by Slowdive. * "Game" contains a sample of "Of All the Things" by
Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to stardom as Dorothy Gale in the original seven-time Tony Awards, Tony Award winning Broadway theatre, Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' ...
* "Unchain Me" contains a sample of " Cry Little Sister" by Gerard McMann. * "Neva Stop Me" contains a sample of "Quasimodo's Marriage" by Alec R. Costandinos. * "Gon Be Okay" contains a sample of "One Summer's Day" by Joe Hisaishi. * "The Wilderness" contains a sample of "Futari Dake No Ceremony" by Yukiko Okada. * "I Hate Myself" contains a sample of
Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...
's cover of " Iris" by
Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986. After starting ...
. * "Get It While It's Good" contains a sample of "Dreaming" by Bill Summers. * "I Seen That Light" contains a sample of "Lost in Time" by Eric Benet. * "My Last Chance" contains a sample of "Still Waiting" by Johnny Gill.


Charts


References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Lil B albums Amalgam Digital albums Albums free for download by copyright owner LGBTQ-related controversies in music Albums produced by Clams Casino (musician)