Is Fat Joe's "gay" joke about 50 Cent & G-Unit funny?

From the world of hip hop comes the news that Fat Joe is “dissing” 50 Cent & G Unit by portraying them as gay on the cover of a mix tape entitled Gay Unit Vol. 1.

Fat Joe and 50 Cent, top selling acts in the hip hop industry, are currently engaged in a feud. This latest incident involves Fat Joe's response to their feud.

Fat Joe Photoshopped the cover of a mix tape with an image of 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. In the photo, the rappers tightly hold each other while wearing smeared lipstick. To further the “joke,” Yayo displays an “I Miss Jail” tattoo on his shoulder, and Banks displays a tattoo of 50 Cent with “Delicious” written under it.

Hip Hop’s treatment of gay people is an issue that has been discussed previously by AfterElton.com and 50 Cent is an artist well known for his anti-gay rhetoric. Sadly, there is nothing shocking about Fat Boy's behavior either. It's a continuation of rappers repeating the same themes over and over again.

Fortunately, there are some slow changes occuring within the industry. There are straight artists who are accepting of gays like Kanye West and hip artists who are gay themselves like Deadlee.

Ultimately, the problem with this joke is the same as Jimmy Kimmel’s use of gay characters. Where’s the creativity? The joke begins and ends with defining a person or group as gay. Satire about the gay community can be fun. Certainly, shows like Rick and Steve and Drawn Together demonstrate that a good joke told in a fresh way never goes out of style. A good joke can be real. The problem here is that the joke is just old and tired.