It’s Time for Black Men to Be Sex-Positive — For Everybody

Rapper and sex worker King Noire encourages men to redefine sexual social norms

Marcus K. Dowling
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Photo: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

King Noire has spent two decades rapping, but his Twitter bio also notes his other expertise: “Master Fetish Trainer” and “Renaissance Fornicator.” As booties clap and latex glistens while Cardi B extols the joys of oral sex on “WAP,” there’s never been a better time for a sex worker — let alone one co-signed by the likes of Brand Nubian’s Lord Jamar and Masta Ace — to release a song like “Poly Sutra.” Here, he gets candid about music’s current sexual reawakening and how Black men can advocate for sexual freedom for all Black people.

Before James Brown’s “(Say It Loud) I’m Black, and I’m Proud,” being called Black was an insult for a lot of Black folk. But that song inspired a movement to get people to accept their Blackness. In the same vein, (thanks to) music from Black artists, accepting sexual freedom is becoming essential.

We have to check our Black male privilege, which reflects a stereotypically heterosexual, masculine, and Eurocentric standard of how men relate to sex. That standard has created space between straight, cis-gendered Black men and the rest of the Black community regarding sexuality. We need to take accountability for how abiding by these…

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