Leviticus: Faggot
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| "Leviticus: Faggot" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover art for commercial international releases | ||||
| Single by Meshell Ndegeocello | ||||
| from the album Peace Beyond Passion | ||||
| B-side | "Deuteronomy: Niggerman"[1] | |||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Genre | Neo soul | |||
| Length | 6:08 | |||
| Label | Maverick | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Meshell Ndegeocello[2] | |||
| Producer(s) | David Gamson[3] | |||
| Meshell Ndegeocello singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Leviticus: Faggot"[dead link] at VH1.com | ||||
"Leviticus: Faggot" is a song written[2] and performed by Meshell Ndegeocello, issued as the second single from her second studio album Peace Beyond Passion. The song peaked at number 15 on the Billboard dance chart.[4]
Controversy
The official music video for the song was directed by Kevin Bray.[5] The beginning of the video depicts a young man who is thrown out of his house for being gay, and the video concludes with the man (presumably) committing suicide.[6]
Because of the subject matter, the use of the word "faggot" being used so prominently in the song, and presumably[7] the same-sex relations depicted in the video, many music video stations refused to air it without edits. The Box aired the video in its entirety, while MTV aired it but omitted a clip of the male protagonist showing the razor blade he later uses to commit suicide.[6] BET would not air the video at all, with then-music director Gregg Diggs stating that the network's decision not to air it was strictly because of the use of the word "faggot" and not because of "anything sexual".[7] Ndegeocello declared Diggs' explanation "a crock of bull"[7] and further stated that networks that edited the video or did not air the video missed the point that the song and video were making.[6][7]