Get hip; this is life, y'all

Echo Park resident Joseph Lee doesn't necessarily look like the leader of a musical movement. Blanketed in thug-like tattoos, a menacing goatee and often photographed in bandanna and Tupac Shakur tee, Lee could easily pass for a long-lost member of Cypress Hill. Yet under the sobriquet Deadlee, Lee is arguably Los Angeles' most prominent gay rapper, having helped organized the first national "homo-hop tour."

In spite of frequent censure from the greater hip-hop community, a vibrant gay hip-hop subculture has evolved -- both locally and nationally -- with the clear-cut goals of defying bigotry and realizing self-expression. Los Angeles has emerged as one of the community's central hubs, a development culminating with this weekend's Street Cred 101, to be held at Santa Monica's Highways Performance Space & Gallery.

The event bills itself as an "attempt to debunk the notion that a gay rapper can't achieve mainstream success."

Deadlee has been rapping since 2000, when he began recording his debut, "Deadlee Sin," an effort that initially featured braggadocio about bedding women and partying.

"It was fake," the Denver-raised rapper said. "My producer reminded me that hip-hop was about telling your story and your truths. So I spoke about all sorts of stuff, suicidal thoughts, coming out; it was just my story."

With his 2004 sophomore effort, "Assault With a Deadlee Weapon," Deadlee began to develop significant cult buzz, sparking a 15-city tour that earned notice from leading hip-hop website Allhiphop.com -- along with a barrage of vitriolic comments from readers.

Anybody listening?

Hip-hop has long been a caldron for bigoted sentiment. Just a week before election day, Detroit rapper Trick Trick delivered an expletive-laden anti-gay diatribe that won him more press attention than he's ever earned from actual rhyming. Yet few within the genre batted an eyelash, as major artists, including Busta Rhymes, DMX, 50 Cent and Eminem, have all delivered scathing anti-homosexual diatribes at various junctures in their careers, none of them suffering any loss of popularity.

Even Kanye West's mere 2006 plea for greater gay tolerance elicited significant scorn and jeers from his peers.

"Homophobia is ingrained in the African American community because of the church's teachings," said Khalil Amani, who bills himself as a spiritual advisor to gay hip-hop. "But voices like Kanye epitomize the new generation, who aren't as concerned about macho posturing. He's a bridge between old and new. How many other rap artists are willing to stop their concert at Madison Square Garden and tell their fans to stop being homophobic?"