After years of avoiding questions on the subject, Kele Okereke finally comes out. The lead singer of Bloc Party—the smash British indie band—candidly discusses the conflicts between his sexuality and his Nigerian-British upbringing to The Guardian:
In a musical form that is usually beerily, boorishly white, male and heterosexual, Okereke was a refreshingly different kind of indie icon. The possibility that he was not just unusual but unique—a black, gay role model for indie kids—meant that for many fans the focus seemed necessary rather than just prurient. Nonetheless, just as he hated being reduced to 'black guy in indie band', he refused to be drawn either way on his sexuality.
The band's upcoming CD, A Weekend in the City, features two songs that explicitly reference his sexuality—one explores a crush between two schoolboys ('We left our trousers by the canal') and the second dishes gay promiscuity. Kele Okereke says none of the songs in the band's previous album addressed homosexuality, so, there was no need to discuss his sexuality in interviews. Fair enough.
"With the first album I didn't think it was essential to the experience. I didn't want to have to talk about it in a tabloid way. It wasn't there in the songs, so why did people need to know? But yeah, there are songs on this record that do feel like they're about desire, longing. So yeah, I am gonna talk about that."
Several of the songs A Weekend in the City address the sad state of race relations in Britain. "As a black teenager growing up in Essex he 'always felt something nasty could happen in the pub'. On the streets of Bethnal Green, where he now lives, he feels that racist aggravation is, daily, a heartbeat away."
21st-Century Boy (The Guardian)
More Gay Britons and Nigerians:
365's Brad: He's the "Gayest One" (Rod 2.0) Simon Webbe Covers AXM (Rod 2.0) UK Deports Gay Nigerian (Rod 2.0) Director Plans Film Adaptation of Gay-Themed Nigerian Novel (Rod 2.0) Chris Baddoo of "Shipwrecked" (Rod 2.0) Jason Steed on Homophobia (Rod 2.0) Back in Black (Rod 2.0) Baby Boy Marcus (Rod 2.0) Marcel McCalla on "After Elton" (Rod 2.0) Marcel McCalla in Out (Rod 2.0) New Season of Footballers' Wives (Rod 2.0) Beverley Knight on Gay Bashing (Rod 2.0) More "Mates" (Rod 2.0) December "Mate" (Rod 2.0) London Calling (Rod 2.0) Nigeria to Ban Gays Meeting (Rod 2.0) Harsh New Nigerian Laws (Rod 2.0) Nigeria's Anglican Archbishop (Rod 2.0) Nigeria's Islamic Sharia Law (Rod 2.0) Nigerian Author Jude Dibia (Rod 2.0)
who cares!?!?!!?
Posted by: joseph | 09 January 2007 at 01:44
Rod, thanks for posting this. I like their music and had wondered about Okereke!
Posted by: jstheater | 09 January 2007 at 02:08
Joseph, that was quite an ignorant remark. One reason why I love reading this site is that it brings news and information about black gay men from all over the world ... not just "Noah's Arc" or Beyonce tidbits.
Posted by: carl | 09 January 2007 at 08:06
I echo Joseph on this. What's the big deal? So he's gay...what does it matter. Get your noses out of other people's business. Y'all are too damn nosy!!!
Posted by: Richard | 09 January 2007 at 11:29
How is someone being "too damn nosy" when Kele Okereke made the revelation himself in a newspaper interview? Also, this was to The Guardian, a respected newspaper, not a gossip rag.
Richard, I'm not even going to ask you to explain who "y'all" are.
Posted by: Greg G | 09 January 2007 at 11:37
"Silent Alarm" was one of 2005's best albums and what I've heard of the new one gives me hope that it'll be Bloc Party's "OK Computer". Kele rocks.
Posted by: johnny | 09 January 2007 at 11:41
sorry but i read the whole article and read it again but at no time does he say i am gay
so i would just say you may be taking it out of context.
Posted by: Dave M | 15 January 2008 at 13:23