Saucy Santana Has a ‘Strategic Game Plan” to Tackle Homophobia in Hip Hop

Saucy Santana has a plan to really tackle the homophobia in hip hop culture.

In the latest interview for Grindr’s “Who’s The A**hold?” podcast, Santana shared with Katya some thoughts on the acceptance of gender loving artists in the game and how he navigates the space.

“It’s definitely real,” he began. “Coming into rap, I was strategic. I said I was going to rap from a girl’s standpoint and I remember when my song came out, it went viral. I remember 2019, and 2020, I couldn’t be in certain rooms. Dudes was like ‘nah’ — not necessarily rude to me, but you could just feel the energy. But one thing about me, once you be around me, people love me.”

“I’ve been around street dudes and hood hyper-masculine boys, and my game plan was: I was always mean. I was stiff,” he went. “A lot of times men have a stigma that gays are gonna come around and, ‘Oh I wanna suck your d*ck’ and we’re gonna start twerking and all that, and I would be in the room like, ‘You could never touch me bi**h.’”

The singer admitted that there are numerous challenges in the industry, but his persistence and major co-signs from other well-known rap artists have helped him solidify his status in the game.

“Once my accolades started speaking for me, I had so many different men in rap like, ‘Bro keep going.’ Drake done FaceTimed me withCaresha, Jack Harlow… I get so much respect from different dudes outside now,” Santana said.

“I still got a long way to go,” due to the “older generation of rappers still not having it,” Santana remarked.

Even though the star has performed on the same stage as legends like Madonna, the singer says there is still work to be done. The star even admitted that even though he had not always been accepted, he was leaning on the love he had for himself.

“I grew up middle class,” he said. “I always say ‘I’m a hood bi**h’ or ‘I’m ghetto’ but I didn’t grow up like that. Once I turned maybe like 15, 16, I’m like, ‘Okay, I wanna go to the projects.’ I started smoking Black & Mild’s… I wanted to see the streets and the hood, and what was the difference. I remember I used to walk up and down the road to the projects with my f**king c**chie cutters on, my crop tops, my face beat — I used to cause an up f**king roar. I was me, I was free. I didn’t give a f**k.”

“I went through so many different things with dudes in the hood and people feeling like, ‘You ain’t supposed– can’t be in this space. They wasn’t having it,” he expressed. “I was standing my ground like, ‘No, yes I am. I’m finna be right out here.‘ And I gained my credentials and I started gaining my respect, slowly, but surely, in the streets.”

The artist recently took his talents as one of the new cast members of “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta.”

According to the logline, the new season follows Santana and his relationship with partner and “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” alum ZellSwag, who is learning “to embrace his sexuality in his new relationship.”