Influential L.A.
rock station spins "Lean Like a Homo"

One of the country's most influential radio stations--Los Angeles's KROQ FM--is spinning a new song: "Lean Like a Homo."

The song is sung by an effeminate male, who raps about anal sex, poppers, and desiring actor Zac Efron's penis. Some of the lyrics include "Asscheeks up, spread them wide... That's how we live, party, and play, every single day for the gay." The song appears to be a takeoff on Latino performer Down AKA Kilo's "Lean Like a Cholo."

According to an listener who contacted The Advocate, the song has been played during the rock station's Kevin & Bean morning show. It's also available on Kevin and Bean's page on KROQ's Web site, KROQ.com. That same listener sent an e-mail to DJs Kevin and Bean complaining about the lyrics in "Lean Like a Home," and according to him, he received the following responses:

From Kevin:

Wow. If that song doesn't represent you, then HOW CAN YOU BE OFFENDED???? It's not about you.

Here are two points: 1) Most of our gay listeners find that song really funny. Most of them laugh at it, and move on. Only a select few are determined to be offended no matter what. Please don't be that guy.   and   2) I'm sure you can write certain "leaders" of groups out there that spend their lives coordinating their fake, choreographed shows of anger. And I'm sorry, but I feel like there are still people out there who have to deal with real offenses. And those people should be upset at people like you and those fake choreograped "leaders"...because people like you and them waste everybody else's time crying wolf so that when something real comes along, nobody listens. You should be ashamed of yourself for taking attention away from the real problems. Grow up. If you don't like our show, nobody is putting a gun to your head, just change the station to another station that takes your fake outrage seriously and deals with...oh nevermind...we've tried to make people like you happy before and it's absolutely not possible. Maybe just listen to a cd of Barry Manilow. See...that's another joke. Now you can get all spun out and spend a few more days writing people. Or whatever makes you happy.

From Bean:

glad you wrote. thanks so much for your opinion. I understand your unhappiness with the parody song you heard on our show this week.

having said that, your email warrants a response beyond just that. one faulty assumption in your note is that anyone at kroq "thought it was a good idea... to attack gay men for a laugh." in the song I heard, no one attacked anyone, gay or not. and you are the only one among us who thought any of the lyrics promoted "diseases" or "kicking homo ass."

you may quibble with the persona of the narrator in the song being too flamboyant for your taste but I believe most our audience is not like you and will not make the faulty leap of logic that if one gay guy is made to sound like that then they all must be like that.

i think most of us also have some real world experiences and don't decide what we believe about a group based on what morning radio talk shows put on the air as comedy. even on our show, we also try to balance the laughs with a message of tolerance when we discuss real life stories in the news that may involve gays.

thanks again, and best wishes,

bean

Attempts to contact Kevin and Bean through phone and e-mail were unsuccessful. (The Advocate)