Rapperswearing nail polish has become a talking point in hip-hop again. DJ Akademiks revisitedthetopic last Thursday (March 29) after hemade fun ofLil Baby for wearing nail polishin the rapper's new music video. Baby has since come out and denied Ak's claim. Regardless, how someone chooses to express themselvesin hip-hop, whether it's having painted nails or not, still seems to make people in the space uncomfortable.Akademiks saying, "I kno his nails not painted .. man wats going on in rap," continues to perpetuate a stale, dated correlation betweencolorful nails and hom*osexuality.
People in Hip-Hop Still Can't Stand Nail Polish on Men
Of course, DJ Akademiks is far from the first person to accost rappers for getting their nails done. Lil Yachty, who has his own nail polish line called Crete, has suffered years of trollingfor the act of self-expression. In 2021, Yachty said that he began experimenting with nail polish after A$AP Rocky showed him the ropes, and introducing Lil Boat to clear polish and buffs.
“I started doing it about three or four years ago,”Yachty told GQback then. “I got compliments instantly. I felt clean. My nails weren’t dirty and nasty. I felt more mature.”
Yachty'sstyle then rubbed off on Drake, who also has had his sexuality criticized for wearing yellow nail polish despite how pretty it made him feel.
"Get out mycommentsyoutoldmetopaintmynailsso I stop bitingthemandnowtheworldisbeinghom*ophobicforthe 1sttimesinceRichFlex,"Drakewrote to Yachty on IG at the time. "Which wasn’t that long ago now that I think about it…wait is the world hom*ophobic? Smh."
Read More: Lil Yachty Responds to Fans Saying He Stole Playboi Carti's Flow
Nail Polish Is Very Common in Hip-Hop Now
Even an artist as colossal as Drizzy isn't safe from hom*ophobic trolls. In 2024, colorful nail polish has become a more common sighting on rappers' fingers. Tyler, The Creator and Machine Gun Kellyhave followed in Yachty's footsteps by starting their own gender-inclusive nail polish brands, and other rappers like Kid Cudi and Lil Pump havecompletely incorporated the colorful accessory into their wardrobe. Ski Mask the Slump God and XXXTentacion were wearing nail polish all the way back in 2017, and even braggadocios gangster rapperslike YoungBoy Never Broke Againhaveworn makeup andnail polish over the years.
Rather than outright criticize these rappers, Wack 100 posed a query to the younger generation on his Instagram page last February. He asked why he was seeing more polish on rappers' hands. The inquiry brought on a response fromTrippie Redd, who wears often black nail polish. Trippie said it helps artistsbe authentic to themselves.
"It’s a way of expressing ur feelings," Trippie shared. "Being true to yourself and self-care."
But more than that, nail polish aligns with hip-hop's ideology. Over 50 years ago, the genre was born out of protest music that pushed back againstrestrictive norms. Kids took their parents' music and chopped it up into scraps, and used those beats to communicate their struggles in a raw and unfiltered way.
While rap has maintained a chokehold on toxic masculinity, why can't nail polish be part of that next big protest? With rappers like Lil Yachty wearing nail polish now and Young Thug wearing a dress in the past, it's time for the genre that broke social barriers tohelp break down the gender restrictions consuming the culture.
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