Meshell Ndegeocello - Leviticus: Faggot

His mother would pray. Save him. Save him.

Album: Peace Beyond Passion [2nd album]
Genre: Soul, Neo-Soul, Rhythm & Bass, Funk
Single Release: June 14th 1996 [lead single]
Album Release: June 25th 1996
Length: 6:08
Producer: David Gamson
Vocalist: Meshell Ndegeocello [age 24]
Label: Maverick Records

Official Audio


Music Video


Live in Holland from 1996

Charts, Streams & Sales

Spotify: 570,000 +
YouTube Music: 140,000 +
Grammy Award Winner 1997: Best R&B Album

Credits

Drums, guitar [x2], percussion, rhodes piano, strings

Details

• As a proud, gay black woman Meshell Ndegeocello channeled her identity into her work via a fierce streak of afrocentricity and political activism. Her first album was called 'Plantation Lullabies' and her second featured the single 'Leviticus: Faggot', which details the tribulations of a young gay man during the AIDS epidemic.
  
  The music deals with issues faced by minorities in an uncompromising way that was unashamed and confrontational at a time when fear kept many gays firmly in the closet. During the AIDS crisis some straight people wouldn't sit next to a gay person through fear of infection. In the face of this prejudice, Ndegeocello was in the spotlight, making gay issues a core part of her music.
  
  The instrumentation is a mix of traditional black styles such as funk, dub and soul. While the music maintains the hypnotic feel of a slowjam it isn't particularly notable when compared to other contemporary neo-soul artists of the time such as Jill Scott. What really makes Meshell Ndegeocello's work stand out is having the political content and the funky grooves side by side.
  
  Being able to vibe to the music makes the listener more receptive to the political messages in the music. Many people who listen to albums don't pay attention to politicians but are influenced by voices in the media because the content is delivered in an entertaining form. To be moved by someones work is to be moved by their humanity and a political message can best be disseminated when it comes after building a rapport with the listener, because it's then that they feel what the artist is saying instead of simply hearing it.
  
  
• Meshell Ndegeocello was born Michelle Johnson. She Africanised her name when she became interested in political activism. Ndegeocello translates from Swahili as "free like a bird", which represents Meshell's freedom from slavery and oppression. She is unafraid to be herself and perceives the most authentic version of her as being, spiritually, from deep Africa.
  
  
• As is obvious by the name 'Leviticus: Faggot' the song equates homophobia with religion in a direct way that caused so much controversy at the time of release that some channels refused to air the songs music video in full. The graphic video shown images of gay love and suicide which led to it been restricted on stations such as The Box and banned outright by the Black Entertainment Network. BET said they banned the video because of the word faggot but similar slurs were featured in many hip hop videos and would be bleeped out instead of forbidden outright.
  
  Leviticus is the third book of the bible and features passages that say gay people should be put to death. At the time of the AIDS epidemic in the late 80's - early 90's, many religious people couldn't accept their gay family members and disowned them or sent them to barbaric gay conversion centres. It was a sad truth that the oppression gay people suffered was often meted out by loved ones closest to them.
  
  The prominent use of the word faggot, which features nine times, was included because it represented the lived experience of many gay men. They were insulted with the word everyday. It's the small, repeated indignities that chip away at a persons self esteem and the use of the word was accepted and widespread in 1993.
  
  Even gay communities took chagrin at the provocative use of the word but Ndegeocello thought its inclusion was necessary in order to highlight how destructive the insult can be. By the end of the song the protagonist takes his own life.
  
  

Artwork