Singapore rapper comes out as gay in song, recalls childhood when he ‘didn’t have anyone to turn to’
- Joshua Su, also known as The G3sha, had to hide his homosexuality for years and spiralled into depression that lead to a suicide attempt
- He hopes new single, I’m OK, will help others grappling with their sexuality in conservative Singapore
Singaporean rapper Joshua Su has come out as gay in his new track and video, I’m OK.
In the track, released last Friday, the rapper looks back at his formative years in an all-boys school where students were often bullied, before addressing issues that he has wrestled with for years: “When I grow up, will I have kids? / Cannot/ Must I be married to a woman with big t*ts?/ No / Am I sick? Is this a disease? Can I be cured?”
Now based in Hong Kong, the 34-year-old Su began his career as a rapper in 2009 when he released his debut EP. He has since competed in numerous rap battles and had his music played by radio stations in Singapore, where homosexual activities are still punishable by law.
Su told the South China Morning Post he had his first same-sex experience at the age of 12. “But I suppressed my feelings and desires until I came to terms with who I am at the age of 27. These suppressed feelings caused lots of problems in my life. I became depressed and hated who I was for a long time,” he says.
“I once tried to commit suicide and I’m not proud of it. Around 2010 or 2011, I couldn’t accept who I was any more. I had no gay friends, I felt I had been ostracised and I was drinking a lot. I tried to kill myself because I thought that being gay was a sickness or a disease.”
Su said there was no support available for young Singaporeans like him who were discovering their sexuality.
