“The Rain Comes Down”: Jean Grae and Hip Hop Heteronormativity

Abstract

This article discusses Brooklyn-based rapper/producer Jean Grae, her music, and the ways in which her art interrupts the fantasy of black heteronormative heterosexuality. This article employs musical, culture and lyrical analysis, as well as utilizing critical queer critique to analyze how Jean Grae exposes the performative nature of gender, race and sexuality as identity place-holders.