CAUSHUN

• Caushun is an openly gay rapper living in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn.
• He calls himself ''the weave king,'' an extensions specialist. He's done hairdos for J-Lo and Sarah Michelle Gellar, and he's the stereotype of the celebrity hairdresser. He's a b-boy with a poodle named Wesley and an apartment with ornate pillows with silk flowers on them and beautiful vases filled with giant lilies. Caushun is a 25-year-old openly gay rapper from the same neighborhood as Biggie Smalls, with flippy wrists, a gay twang and a flow that is liquid and cool and ready for the big time. He wants to be hip-hop's homosexual Jackie Robinson.
• Hip-hop is now as large a cultural stage as baseball was in the 50's, yet the mainstream is just as closed to gay rappers as the major leagues were to black men before Robinson. And, as with Robinson, for Caushun to break through could have a profound impact on how gay people are perceived throughout America.
• ''He's going to open up discussion about one of the last acceptable prejudices,'' said his manager, Ivan Matias. ''With homosexuals having so much influence over hip-hop from behind the scenes, it's time that they had a voice.'' He was referring to the gay executives, managers, stylists and magazine editors in the music business.
• Caushun said simply: ''Look, I'm keepin' it real. Don't let me find out that I'm keepin' it too real for hip-hop. Should that be the name of my album? 'Too Real for Hip-Hop'?''
• Caushun recently signed with Baby Phat Records, and his debut album, ''Shock and Awe,'' will come out at the end of June before Gay Pride Day. His self-confidence is so strong that he doesn't believe his being gay will keep him from selling a million records and having a video played on MTV 20 times a week -- in other words, from becoming a star.
• ''Rap music is one of the most homophobic musics we know,'' said hip-hop legend Russell Simmons. ''But he's dope and he's unique because of his perspective on the world. I can't imagine that people aren't going to buy it. You think women and gay men won't buy it? It's a huge possibility.''
• Caushun says that some labels wanted to turn him into a house music artist or make him "the RuPaul of hip-hop". But he insisted upon staying mainstream. He learned to rap and rhyme growing up and says that his music is no different from that of any other mainstream hip hop artist. He just may throw some gay references in.
• Asked whether or not the hip-hop nation is ready for a gay M.C., Tim'm West said: ''The question is irrelevant. The openly gay M.C. is here. Will you or will you not respond to it? If you don't, I'm still going to keep making rhymes. I'm not interested in whether or not America is ready for me. I'm here.''
  

Source: THE NEW YORK TIMES