What started as a YouTube joke turned into a rap opportunity for Pierre "Prince Charming" Phipps and Terrance "TTgotit" Wilson. The two gay rappers from Chicago are well on their way to launching their rap duo, Freaky Boiz, into mainstream culture.
Windy City Times: Where did the name Freaky Boiz come from?
Pierre Phipps: Freaky Boiz came about when we did our first song as a remix of the song Freaky Girls. We called it Freaky Boiz because we were boys and when it went viral people started saying 'Oh, those are the Freaky Boiz' and 'Aren't you guys the Freaky Boiz?' The name ended up sticking with us and now we are known as the Freaky Boiz.
WCT: Where are you from and what do you do when you are not rapping?
Terrance Wilson: When I am not rapping I attend class at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. I just changed my major from Accounting to Management. Besides that I am a dancer. I am the president of my dance group called Fatal Fusion. I also have a work-study job at my school and I also work at a dance studio called Willow Street Dance Studios with Susan Barnes.
PP: When I am not rapping I am also at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. I double major in Television Production and Theater. I am also an office clerk in the housing department. I also dance with Terrance in Fatal Fusion and I'm active on campus and part of tons of organizations like the NAACP.
WCT: What influenced you to start a rap duo?
PP: When we made the first video, it was a joke. We had no intentions of becoming the "Freaky Boiz". Then we started gaining fans who were demanding more songs and more music. We had people telling us that we couldn't just stop so we kept going and now we are a rap duo.
WCT: What is unique about your music and where do you find inspiration?
TW: First of all, we are gay and we talk about things that people aren't used to hearing. We really just speak our minds on things that we heard or about things that go on in the gay community. As for inspiration, I just think of things that come to me and I write them down. I get some of my inspiration from Pierre.
PP: I find inspiration in music. If I hear a good beat I know that TT and I could do some damage to it. A lot of the time our fans request remixes of certain songs and we try to do those as well. I have researched a lot of gay rappers and I believe the Freaky Boiz are the closest to mainstream gay rappers I have ever seen or ever heard of. A lot of people think we are the only gay rappers in the world and people don't understand that it is a whole underground subculture.
WCT: How will you promote the LGBT movement when and if you hit the mainstream?
TW: One of my plans is that I want to reach out to gay teens and adolescents. It's hard to be gay and I want to motivate them.
PP: When we go mainstream I want to speak for gay people. I feel like a lot of artists are successful because they try to speak for gay people or try to make gay an image. There is not a real gay artist to speak for gay people. I feel like there should be an artist who gay people can relate to 100 percent instead of relating to someone who created an imaginary persona.
WCT: How do you think this type of rap will affect LGBT individuals and the LGBT movement? Do you expect a positive or negative impact? How do you think they will respond?
TW: I have never met a gay person who doesn't like our music. A lot of people, not just gay people, might think that our words are vulgar but they actually like us.
PP: I think it will affect the movement positively. A lot of people in the LGBT community feel like our music is explicit and we will bring the movement back but we are going to rap about things other than sex, you just have to give us the chance. Rapping 100 percent about positive things is not hip-hop. Hip-hop was based upon truth. It was about grabbing the mic and speaking the truth and that's really what we do. We talk about the life we live whether people think it is explicit or not. Gay people have sex and we rap about it. That's life and that happens in life. I want to inspire other artists who think they won't make it because they are gay. Being gay shouldn't inhibit you; you can still do anything that you aspire to.
If you would like to know more about "Freaky Boiz" check out their videos on YouTube or go to www.reverbnation.com/freakyboiz to download their mini-album.