Da Brat explains keeping sexuality private: ‘It wasn’t cool back in the day’

The rapper outlined how both misogyny and homophobia created a culture where coming out would have been career suicide for a Black woman in hip hop.

Blue Telusma

Mar 30, 2020

Last week, Da Brat has decided to go public with her relationship status and is now “Instagram official” with girlfriend Jesseca Dupart. Now the veteran rapper is coming forward to explain why it took her so long to come clean about her sexuality.

“I guess I should just say a few things about it since this is the show that I’m on and everybody else talking about it and I did make a post,” she said on Rickey Smiley Morning Show last Friday.

“I’ve always been an advocate of privacy, pretty much to protect the interests of the other party involved. Because if you’re not used to this life and the scrutiny that come with it, it can break you,” she said.

“I’ve been talked about for way over 20 years or more so I’m kind of conditioned for it. My coat of armor is pretty thick so I learned what to say and what not to say and the battles that I decide to choose to fight. Most the time I just stay silent and let people speculate.”

Da Brat

She then went on to remind everyone that the social landscape was very different when she first came on the scene. The rapper outlined how both misogyny and homophobia created a culture where coming out would have been career suicide for a Black woman in hip hop.

“I never confirmed anything because in the ’90s, it wasn’t cool back in the day,” she continued. “I’m a little bit nervous because I’m not really used to talking about this thing because I’m not a public person when it comes to my personal life.”

“But when you get blessed and somebody when you weren’t even looking for nobody, and they love you like you’ve never been loved before, it’s a whole different experience,” she said of her newfound love.

“Like Jill Scott says, she loves me from my hair follicles down to my toenails. She inspires me, she believes in me, she motivate me, she accepts me for who I am — my past, my faults, mistakes. We can talk about anything and everything. There’s nothing I can’t talk to about with her and it’s just amazing.”

Last Wednesday, Dupart, the CEO of Kaleidoscope Hair products, who is widely known on social media by her screen name “DarealBBJudy” shared a romantic picture of herself and the rapper embracing. Then the incredibly successful entrepreneur later shared a video that showed the moment she presented her beloved with a pricey Bentley as an early birthday gift.

Listen to her comments below.