Da Brat on coming out as a lesbian after 25 years in the closet: ‘It feels like a weight has been lifted’
Just in time for June, LGBT Pride month, two-time Grammy nominee Da Brat discussed her 25-year journey coming out as lesbian in the homophobic rap industry.
‘It feels like a weight has been lifted,’ the 46-year-old hip-hop star told Variety on Wednesday.
‘The reaction made me feel like, “Why didn’t I do this s*** years ago?” I got so many positive messages, phone calls, and I had at least 1,500 texts. My DMs were flooded too.’
Just in time for LGBT Pride month! Two-time Grammy nominee Da Brat discussed her 25-year journey coming out as lesbian in the homophobic rap industry
Da Brat (born Shawntae Harris) stressed it ‘was absolutely my decision’ to remain in the closet since it would’ve been ‘career suicide’ during her early nineties heyday.
‘You saw what happened to people like Ellen [DeGeneres]. Remember when she lost her TV show, and all these horrible things were happening? People were totally against it,’ the Is It Chu rapper noted.
‘I was always told you want to be f***able to men and women to sell records – you don’t want anybody to discriminate.’
It wasn’t until March 26 – 10 days after her fiancée Jesseca Dupart gifted her a Bentley ahead of her birthday – that she decided to let the public know ‘I met my heart’s match.’
The 46-year-old hip-hop star told Variety on Wednesday: ‘It feels like a weight has been lifted. The reaction made me feel like, “Why didn’t I do this s*** years ago?” I got so many positive messages, phone calls, and I had at least 1,500 texts. My DMs were flooded too’
‘You saw what happened to people like Ellen!’ Da Brat (born Shawntae Harris) stressed it ‘was absolutely my decision’ to remain in the closet since it would’ve been ‘career suicide’ during her early nineties heyday (pictured in 1994)
The Is It Chu rapper noted: ‘I was always told you want to be f***able to men and women to sell records – you don’t want anybody to discriminate’ (pictured in 1999 with boss Jermaine Dupri)
‘It feels good to share with the world when you’re happy,’ the Funkdafied hitmaker gushed.
‘I was fine staying quiet, but my partner is a social media mogul – that’s how she became who she is. And when you get with somebody, you have to meet in the middle. So to me, the middle was just letting everybody know: “Hey, she’s the one.”‘
Da Brat had already popped the question to the Kaleidoscope Hair Products CEO a month earlier, but Jesseca did not reveal who gave her the ring in her February 7 post.
Surprise! It wasn’t until March 26 – 10 days after her fiancée Jesseca Dupart (L) gifted her a Bentley ahead of her birthday – that she decided to let the public know ‘I met my heart’s match’ (pictured March 16)
The Funkdafied hitmaker said: ‘It feels good to share with the world when you’re happy…I was fine staying quiet, but my partner is a social media mogul – that’s how she became who she is. And when you get with somebody, you have to meet in the middle. So to me, the middle was just letting everybody know: “Hey, she’s the one”‘ (pictured May 6)
‘I said yes!’ Da Brat had already popped the question to the Kaleidoscope Hair Products CEO a month earlier, but Jesseca did not reveal who gave her the ring in her February 7 post
The aggravated assault ex-con – who only met Dupart in late 2019 – admitted her mother is not ‘jumping for joy’ over her sexuality but she still ‘loves me unconditionally.’
Da Brat – who hasn’t released new music since 2016 – currently co-hosts the Rickey Smiley Morning Show as well as Dish Nation.
The Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta producer-star is next scheduled to perform September 18 at the 2nd Annual Freaknik Fest happening at Morris Brown College in Atlanta.
The Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta producer-star – who hasn’t released new music since 2016 – currently co-hosts the Rickey Smiley Morning Show as well as Dish Nation (pictured Friday)
COVID-19 risk: Da Brat is next scheduled to perform September 18 at the 2nd Annual Freaknik Fest happening at Morris Brown College in Atlanta