Daryll Duane Philips II, AKA Straight Rapper DPhill SpanglishMan, Creates 'XY Movement,' Wears Lipstick And Blurs Gender
Gender bending is not a new phenomenon -- especially in the music industry. Performers like David Bowie, Prince, and Boy George, among others, have played with notions of the masculine and feminine throughout their careers.
But when it comes to the hip-hop world, you'd be hard pressed to find many male artists who have blurred gender lines.
Until now.
Daryll Duane Philips, a straight 19-year-old rapper from Dallas who performs under the moniker DPhill Spanglishman, has created the XY Movement, which encourages men to get in touch with their feminine sides by donning lipstick and other items, like floral print tights, typically worn by women reports the33tv.com.
"A lot of people feel like a lot of colors or tight clothes is homosexual. I feel like it's more of an expression of me," said Philips, adding, "The only obstacles are in your mind, that's the way I feel. I had to break down those barriers in my mind to where I was just confident enough to do it."
And Philips's girlfriend, Joy Nguyn, is just as confident, even though she hears negative comments all the time.
"I get mostly negative comments, 'Oh, he gay... That's not cute. Guys shouldn't wear lipstick or tights,' but I really don't care," she said, adding, "It's fine. I wear lipstick. He wears lipstick. We share lipstick."
Philips, who says he is "40 percent female," has seen encouraging signs that the movement is growing thanks to social media.
"Actually on Twitter, this guy, I looked at this picture and he had on lipstick and he was like 'Yeah man, I did it to support what you're doing.' I was like man that's crazy," said Philips.
But whether or not the XY Movement will catch on in the mainstream hip-hop world remains to be seen -- and all indicators point to an uphill battle.
Many artists like 50 Cent, Eminem, and Tyler The Creator have been accused of writing homophobic lyrics or tweets.
Earlier this year straight rapper Lil B received death threats when he announced he was naming his next album "I'm Gay," an effort to re-appropriating the word and an act of solidarity with the LGBT community.
But there are open-minded hip-hop artists.
Nicki Minaj has long championed her LGBT fans, going so far as to appear on the cover of Out magazine last October. And rapper Fat Joe recently gave an interview in support of gay hip-hop artists -- even if few (out) examples currently exist.
Below, see an interview with Philips and a slideshow of other musicians who have blurred gender lines:
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First Posted: 11/10/11 01:23 PM ET Updated: 11/10/11 01:40 PM ET