Toya Delazy slams SAHHA for being ‘homophobic’

Singer Toya Delazy has slammed the SA Hip-Hop Awards (SAHHA) for allegedly being homophobic. 

The singer tweeted on Thursday that festival organiser Rashid Kay mocked her on the TLs in 2013. 

“SAHHA was already homophobic towards me back in 2013. Remember [SAHHA organiser] Rashid Kay asking me to choose what I am, a boy or a girl, mocking me publicly on Twitter. Back then there was no protection. Comments like that took bread away and respect so I don’t expect the same folks to see me.”

In her mentions a tweep came with receipts to back Toya’s claims about the tweets in that fateful year. 

“Missed it back then but was trying to find tweets, some of which got deleted. I just couldn’t believe approaching nearly a decade since the incident and resources haven’t been pulled together by @SA_HipHopAwards nor @rashid_kay to try address such matters of concern adequately.”

In response to the tweet, Rashid rubbished the claims and said he is not a homophobe.

“Here’s what happened. When the SAHHAs started in 2012, there were very few females who submitted. We once had only two females nominated. That’s when Ntsiki Mazwai challenged us for excluding women. We even had a live debate on Metro FM.”

“While Ntsiki and I were debating on Twitter, Toya joined the debate. She pulled the ‘homophobe’ card for not including the community. I explained that none of the submissions state whether one is straight or gay. She wanted to score cheap points and the whole thing was quoted out of context.”

Rashid said on August 22 he hosted the first LGBTQI+ hip-hop event at Afro Bru in Maboneng, which was part of his Sunday masterclass events.

Rashid said he creates different themes for each master class, and on that day it was what he called “LGBTQI+ takeover”.

“I’ve given most of these guys radio and TV interviews. Toya is just chasing clout for relevance, and she’s manipulating the community’s emotions for support. She must release a good song and make a come back.”

To further back his stance, Rashid has shared his podcast episode The Master Class Podcast tackling homophobia in the industry.