A RAPPER, singer-songwriter from York says he is challenging the "notoriously homophobic" Hip-Hop industry with a new single.

JXCK, formerly known as Jack Green, says he feared that the industry’s lack of LGBT+ inclusivity meant it would not accept him.

Now he says he is defying the boundaries of genre and his single, ‘Why You Showing Up At My Door?’, is set to spark his breakthrough into Hip-Hop.

JXCK, who is originally from Clifton and attended St Barnabas Primary School but currently lives in Market Weighton, said most male artists in Hip-Hop and R&B wrote music about being an alpha male - "having lots of money and female partners, being violent and dangerous and being involved in gangs and criminal activity. In these types of backgrounds, it is seen as a weakness for men to be more feminine".

He said: “For queer artists trying to break the Hip-Hop industry, it can be really daunting knowing that your chances of success are limited and that you will be perceived as weak.

“Taking inspiration from recently successful gay Hip-Hop/R&B artists like Lil Nas X and Frank Ocean, I want to defy the limitations that the industry places on queer people by building my platform and using it to tell stories about my relationships with both men and women, the intimidation and violence I have experienced as a bisexual man and how my strength is not defined by who I am attracted to.

“I have no doubt that I will receive hate for being bisexual, but I have accepted that and I’m taking the responsibility of showing the people who pressure LGBT+ people to stay away from Hip-Hop that we do have a place here and we’re not leaving.”

He said some of the world’s most influential TikTok creators, including Nick Bencivengo and Luca Scog, were involved in a promotional campaign and were "preparing to blow it up!".

He revealed that he took inspiration from J. Cole and Post Malone and wrote the song to a Frank Ocean inspired RRAREBEAR beat.

He said the track detailed the darkest period of his life, when he had gone into a pit of depression and attempted suicide, which he had kept to himself for over a year.

He said that in his earlier career, when he went by the name Jack Green, he had amassed an online fanbase of over 75,000 people, and as a result, he had embarked on his first headline UK tour in February 2016, selling out shows in Birmingham and Cardiff. His debut album ‘Stay the Night’ charted above Ed Sheeran and Jake Bugg in the iTunes Singer/Songwriter chart and he was nominated for a number of awards, including Best Young Breakthrough Act at the SEEA’s, and now he was gearing up to release a number of Hip-Hop tracks in 2021.

To watch the music video and stream/buy the track, go to https://www.ampl.ink/wPV9o