Earlier this week, Travis Scott faced some backlash in the midst of rolling out his new album, Astroworld. The rapper was accused of being transphobic after trans icon, Amanda Lepore was removed from the Astroworld album art. The photographer, David Chappelle, said that the reason she was removed was becoming she was upstaging the rest of the models on set. It was later revealed that Travis Scott had nothing to do with her removal. Despite this, Ne-Yo said that hip hop needs to make a better effort in embracing the LGBTQ community.
TMZ recently ran into Ne-Yo at LAX. The singer was asked about the controversy surrounding Travis Scott's Astroworld cover earlier this week. He said that if hip hop isn't embracing the LGBTQ community, it's the only genre in the music industry not doing so.
"If rap is not embracing [the LGBTQ community], that's the only people not embracing them," he said. "I mean, they're here. They're not going anywhere. They're people just like us. I feel like they deserve the same respect so yeah, I feel like it's definitely about time."
Overall, Ne-Yo believes that right now is a better time than any to more openly welcome the LGBTQ community into hip hop.
"I say to each his own. If you gonna be ignorant, be ignorant. That's on you. However, on this side, we gon' be enlightened and welcome." He said, "It's definitely about time. I don't know who's going to shoot the first shot or whatever the case may be but that person will be blazing a trail so to speak."
He added, "It's all about equality at this point, man. We all in this shit together. We gotta make sure this thing don't blow up. Or get blown up by an ignant ass president."
Peep the clip below.