B-Boy Blues

B-Boy Blues #1

by James Earl Hardy

Hardy's debut novel about the lives of black gay men in New York City is unabashedly and unapologetically written for the African-American male. Rough, sexy, humorous, and authentic, B-Boy Blues is a first-rate love story.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Queer, Gay, African American, Gay Fiction, Romance

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

James Earl Hardy is the author B-Boy Blues, which has been praised as the first gay hip hop love story. The novel was a 1995 Lambda Literary Award (Lammy) finalist for Best LGBT/Small Press Title and was prominently featured in Spike Lee's Get on the Bus. The book is required reading in contemporary African American fiction courses and gay & lesbian studies programs at colleges and universities across the globe.

Hardy has also written a stage adaptation of B-Boy Blues, which sold out when it debuted Off-Broadway, as well as a one-man show Confessions of a Homo Thug Porn Star (which is based on the life of adult film actor Tiger Tyson).

An honors graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, Mr. Hardy is also an entertainment feature writer and cultural critic whose byline has been appeared in many national magazines and newspapers. His work has earned him numerous grants and awards.

Reviews

[Raul · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely liked that this was an M/M romance with Black characters written by a Black gay man, especially considering this was published in the 90s. I'd have really liked this in my Nifty, Literotica and Gay Authors reading days. The problem I had reading this, was the constant incoherence, the protagonist's love for B-boys who are described as what would be the "thug" stereotype was fetishistic and the writing could have done without the unnecessary fat jokes that go on and on.

A friend of mine once told me certain books are to be enjoyed at a certain period in life and once the period passes, it's too late. And I think that's what happened with this book.

[mina reads™️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

i hated Raheim so fucking much. He fucked up the whole book, him and mitchell’s relationship was gross and unhealthy and annoying as fuck. However Mitchell was a very compelling narrator and there was alot of decent social commentary in here about what it means not only to be a black man, but a black gay man in America. I really loved every scene between Mitchell and his friends or his coworkers, and the introspection that had nothing to do with Raheim but he really ruined the novel. He is a shitty person who consistently does shitty things, him and Mitchell never work out their issues they just fight and fuck and move on. It’s so unhealthy and unbalanced the way their relationship was presented. One of the most toxic and abusive relationships I’ve ever read about. Also the author clearly is biphobic and that’s fucking ugly. And this book needs heavy editing, lots of spelling errors and misused words. So many issues with this book

[Rena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read as of 8/17/18: I read this for the majority of August, taking my time to revisit one of my favorite books. I have to say that this re-read was a little bittersweet, though. I did feel some of the same ole love as when I discovered this book in the '90s; being older, I can see some of the flaws in it now. It's still a great book about black workplace politics and being in the life, I just had an issue with Mitchell and Raheim's treatment of each other. I'll only excuse it because being in your 20s is a learning process, and I believe the men both grow up in the subsequent novels in the six-book series. ❤️

[Ife · Rating 3 out of 5]

B-Boy Blues is a glimpse into its time that, occasionally and unfortunately, renders the not so great aspects of its politics. We are so fortunate to have Black queer literature that encapsulates the zeitgeist; the book will take you into bubbling club scenes, New York streets etc. However, in as much as it tries to push against ideological prison bars of the community, it often finds itself repopulating some of the most harmful ideas:

The narrator, Mitchell has a critical and one might even say fetishistic love for 'B-Boys' an archetype of Black male masculinity. Interestingly enough his gender performance seems to not be read as completely hegemonic so there are moments where he seems conscious of the communities toxic relationship to masculinity but he is never able to make the connection between this and the femmephobic comments the narrative voice makes. It's snide comments about how the "queens" behave in the club or the narrative voice saying that straight people focus on the "freaks like drag-queens and transsexuals" but if your ear is attune to the presence of these ideas they will rankle nonetheless.

As always with literature, there is the possibility that the writer is using a character whose thoughts are different from their own to explore a different ideology so I searched for Hardy's own thoughts on gendered politics in the queer male community and found an article he did at the time of the books publishing where he said "people are much more comfortable with images of black gay men that portray us as limp-wristed, vogueing, drag queens". Hardy has touched on this idea frequently in interviews. He believes that portraying two masculine Black men falling in love is countercultural to what people expect of masculine Black men. In theory I can see how this is plausible; after all if Black masculinity is seen as a site of apathy and violence, incompatible with love, two Black masculine men would thus be the most radical configuration. In practice, after Moonlight and the publishing of many Black M/M romance texts we can see that relationships where both of the men are masculine are actually centred and there has been a dearth of literature representing other people. This is because contextually masculine/masculine relationships are the most commercial and easiest to understand out of all the possible queer male relationships something that Hardy doesn't seem to particularly be aware of. Instead of fems being people further away from the patriarchal power, Hardy casts them instead as doing too much and giving the community a bad name.

Even within Hardy's parochial view of gender, he does not exactly subvert anything. If the rationale is to show Black masculine men as oppositional to the way they have existed in the American imagination Hardy does not do that. Rahim and Mitchell's love lacks tenderness in any sense of the word. Rahim acts out violently towards Mitchell and Mitchell comes back to him. Only when Rahim learns, through violence, that he loves Mitchell does he unshackle himself from the mental chains of internalised homophobia and give it up to Mitchell performing fellatio and being at the receiving end of anal. Also he's a throat goat?!? I find the I-love-you-so-I-no-longer-am-ashamed-of-being-gay trope so risible.

Also I hate 'jood' and their nicknames for each other. Maybe I'm a hater.

Aside from all of the above, is it engaging and fun and sexy and enjoyable to read. Yeah I guess. So in the large scheme of things it is a romance book that I would recommend beyond its tawdry treatment of certain themes.

[Nilaja A. Montgomery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I have read this book 7 or 8 times!!! It's amazing. I B-Boy Blues over ten years ago and it still seems like new everytime. This was the first book I read where the characters were black and gay and out of closet and they were interacting with other black gay folks. As a black lesbian diva I am always longing to see more stories about queer black folk dating, loving, and having friendships with other queer black folk.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's start with the positives...
I wasn't familiar with Hardy's work, but after reading an article that talked about how Jussie Smollett was directing and producing an LGBT film based on this book, I felt the urge to read it.

So, I was really pleased by the fact that this was a gay romance with Black characters written by a Black gay man, which was huge especially considering this was published in the 90s.

The problem I had reading this was the eye rolling stereotypes included that focused on the constant fetish Mitchell seemed to have. His love for B-boys who he described as what would be the "thug" stereotype was both annoying and stereotypical. Black gays are typically portrayed as two things: educated/feminine or thuggish/masculine/uneducated. There seems to be no middle ground. And that seems to be a problem that's constantly plagued black LGBT stories.

This was also an issue I had with some of E Lynn Harris's work or even NOAH'S A.R.C (which is a favorite show of mine). But it's hella problematic because it sends the message that if you aren't a fem bottom or a macho top then you don't matter. The stereoypes have always been unfortunate.

Even now in TV it's still portrayed that way. It's a very limiting scope and I wish black writers, and really any writer who portrays LGBT characters, would be released from those stereotypical shackles.

[Shayne Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Some really nice escapist fiction. Not a literary masterpiece but in terms of the story line and LGBT relationships, has to be one of my favourite books. Highly recommend. Deals with and tackles most issues relating to young LGBT POCs. The two main characters in the book, Raheim and Mitchell, are really well developed and I am sure everyone has an opinion on their relationship. I really look forward to discussing this at my book club.

[Jordan Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is simply iconic. As a black gay male this has to be the best adult literature book I have ever read. Despite being written in the the nineties this book is very modern and relatable today. Amazing, funny, sexy, and well written. I read the whole book in one sitting! Would definitely recommend

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for the first time back in 2005. I am supremely grateful to have the opportunity to read it again, with all of my (and my friends') original commentary alongside the text. I screamed. I laughed. I may have shed a tear or two. I fanned myself. It's sexy and sassy and silly and so very wonderfully Black.

[Kenneth Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apart from some lowkey body-shaming and problematic handling of abuse, I really loved this book. If it didn’t have those few scenes, it would be perfect. The characters are diverse, and the romance is very sexy.

[Darius Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to return to this book after having read it as a teenager, which was over twenty years ago....(I can't believe I've gotten this much older), and I can't say that it's aged well. But even with its flaws (and there are MANY), the book was groundbreaking at the time of publication in 1994, a cultural touchstone for a generation of black gay men (or youths in my case) who needed to see themselves affirmed by this book, and also to reconsider Joseph Beam's dictum that "black men loving black men is the revolutionary act of the 1980s," insisting that this sentiment shouldn't persist into perpetuity, that the act of black men loving black men is a relationship that shouldn't need to be italicized as revolutionary, but perhaps just ordinarily human.

[Tama Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone has a book that they consider changed their life or had a great impact on them. This is mine. I read this back in university, whilst dealing with my own sexuality. I just remember devouring this book in a matter of days, consumed by the fact that the gay characters in this book were just like me. Colored, young and urban. They even listened to the same music as I did!

Great for the mere fact that it shows another side to gay life, one other than mainstream and white.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the excitement of the book and my eyes where open to how black gay men live and the things they go thru. The writer kept me entertained.

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brought it on home to the urban black lower-middle class bois. Love you Pookie

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Positives: Smooth writing with a black queer protagonist and funny dialogue most times.

Negatives: Problematic language OVERLOAD (this was made in the 90s but still), conflicts were not really engaging enough to make me feel invested by the story, and chapters felt very repetitive.

I loved the fact that our main character was proudly queer and black & was not trying to fit into mainstream culture in any way, but the overly offensive language regarding any other marginalized group made this painful to read. Also…I was getting sick of Mitch & Raheim just having sex to solve problems.

[Alonzo Vereen · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a wild ride! With B-Boy Blues, James Earl Hardy has created a piece of literature that captures, in such a distinct narrative voice, as many aspects of gay black culture as seem possible to include in one novel. It’s truly a primer for any kid - pun intended - at the cusp of his coming-out experience.

Unfortunately, it’s this same sprawling ambition that prevents the text from capturing its characters’ interiority. The novel often feels as if Hardy is caught between two goals: 1) documenting both the debates and cultural vernacular that make up the African-American gay experience and 2) entertaining the gay black reader. These goals need not be a point of contention, but in this piece they are, as Hardy is constantly fighting to balance them out. As a result, many passages feel both didactic and anthropological, and it’s the piece’s verisimilitude that suffers most because of it.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the time it was written, one would barely be able to find a book that describes a deep love not just in romance, but as it is connected with passionate dancing. Beyond what people seem to define "love" as, this novel conveys that love is infinite and endless. It is expressed within how the love is with people of what America had once disgraced so much: colored and gay.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a rare find for it's time.

[Debra Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was scorching. after i read it it was passed around

[books.books.books · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the beginning of this story, Mitchell is a likeable character who is intelligent, emotionally intelligent, has good friends around him, a job he likes and is good at, and he lets the reader in with a lot of humour about his fantasies over 'b boys', who he describes in great detail for the less in-the-know readers like myself (which was much appreciated)

I enjoyed the first part. Though it relied heavily on graphic sex scenes for large portions of the story, when he first meets Raheim, you are engrossed, wondering how it is going to turn out, Mitchell is smart enough and experienced enough to know that things with men like Raheim don't usually turn out well, but Raheim seems different and Mitchell is open-minded enough to give him a chance.

Raheim gets along with Mitchell's family and friends and after a few stumbling blocks, Mitchell gets on with Raheim's, including his young son.

But then it goes downhill.

The problem is, Mitchell finds himself in a relationship with an abusive man, and I appreciated when he acknowledged that intelligent people, all kinds of people, can find themselves in love with an abusive man. Of course he's going to seem great in the beginning, no one is going to stay with a man who is abusive from the get-go, and even if his abusive behaviour comes from deep insecurities, even if these insecurities are exasperated by societal prejudices like homophobia, toxic masculinity and racism, you do not have to stay with that man, make excuses for the man, or take his abuse. It does not excuse him being abusive to you. Period.

I see people getting angry about Colleen Hoover's abusive story being sold as a love story, but I don't think even Colleen had it end as a love story. This is, through and through, sold as a love story. A sexy love story. And I think it is a disservice to Mitchell as a character and the story as a whole.

Mitchell had a negative character arc, but I don't think that was the intention. He gets into arguments with work colleagues and cannot see that, even if he is right, his unprofessional behaviour is not helping him. He argues with a Jewish colleague over the Holocaust, because he simply cannot let it go when the Jewish colleague suggests that there were differences between the Holocaust and slavery. He thinks he is the best person that office has to offer because of his accolades and education, and the excuse for why he thinks the other black employee is getting ahead was a silly plot point that did not make sense or read as realistic.

For me, the one star is for one very serious reason. Mitchell said he was a champion for women, there are women in his life who are important to him and he acknowledges the difficulties the only woman on his team must have to face in the work place, and she sticks up for him at every opportunity. What is the most common line this woman is given in the book? "I'm a white woman and I wouldn't really know these things..."
When Mitchell said this;

'If white men want to be angry at any group, it should be white women - THEY are the ones who have benefitted the most from affirmative action'

I knew how he really felt. He didn't care about other groups of people. He was a character who had misconceptions that were led by prejudice and he never saw the contradictions in his behaviour even once. This line was said 243 pages into the book, it was not a flaw that he had any intention of acknowledging, in fact, he only got worse as the story continued.

There was a lot of talk on the sexual fetishisation of black men by white men which was a really interesting topic, but then one of Mitchell's friends says this;

'The stories I've heard about these Muslim men... woo! They can drop the dime, you hear me? Just look at all the babies those women be having'

Mitchell never called him out on the fetishisation of Muslim men. Mitchell the social renegade for the rights of the downtrodden never called out the fact that many women in Muslim countries have so many children because they don't have access to birth control and/or do not have much of a choice. Fathering multiple children does not make you some kind of a big man.

Usually I wouldn't point out such things, but because Mitchell was such a self-rightous character who called everyone out on every little slight, I felt he should be held to the same standards.

So, with the abusive relationship hailed as the greatest love affair of all time, and Mitchell's talent for being one of the most prejudiced, self-righteous and un-self-aware characters I have ever read in my life, this book had to be a one star for me.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my shelf for ages, quietly judging me, and I genuinely wanted to love it. I went in excited because storytelling is one of the ways we learn the most about one another, and I was eager for a window into the Black gay male experience. To be fair, there was a lot here that I appreciated and took real value from, especially the pointed social commentary about the racism that runs rampant within the queer community. That part landed.

That said, the writing itself just did not work for me. It often felt downright silly, weighed down by an avalanche of food/sex, and food/body metaphors. There were so many that they became distracting rather than evocative. I also struggled with the central relationship, which read as deeply unhealthy. The whole “I can’t love you until I love myself as a gay man” arc felt tired. Maybe that was not a trope in 1994, but it definitely is now, and I found myself rolling my eyes more than reflecting.

[Ethan Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though the plot is relatively simple (two men meet cute, fall in love, fall out, reunite) Hardy weaves in so many nonfiction sidebars - explaining queer terms, recapping history and current events, mapping out go-to NYC spaces, recommending anthems - that it gives the read a sizzling, immediate quality. It is as if he's getting his target audience up to speed; making up for the decades when white perspectives dominated gay literature. Hardy's prose knocks right through that cultural hegemony, veering between explicitly sensual and unapologetically political. Caucasian gays ought to rightfully squirm while reading this.

I loved everything except for the central love story. I'm well aware that the story is speaking to a culture I am not a part of, but the toxic-masculinity-fueled disfunction of Mitchell and Raheim's relationship is barely checked, except by relying on stereotypical assumptions relating sexual positioning to power. I wonder if the sequels address this?

[KamariLyrikal · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought I wouldn't be able to finish this book but surprisingly it got better and held my attention until the end. I found myself talking to him out loud which is a good sign. I enjoyed all the characters. It brought me back to the days of Toni Braxton and Jodeci. Back when the gay scene begin to pop and pick up all this new slang. The story was very relatable which is probably why its an oldie but goodie. Oh and I enjoyed the sex scenes for the most part, it wasn't too detailed but detailed enough.

[Angel Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome series from an amazing author. This book is written in a manner that actually reflected what I experienced as a LGBT person of color in the 1990's. James Earl Hardy didn't mince words. He kept the dialogue real and I absolutely loved this series because of it. I read the whole series from the public library and then purchased the series from the local bookstore. This series was a must have for my collection. If you have a love of realistic LGBT urban fiction, don't hesitate to read this book and the rest of the series that follows it. You won't be disappointed!

[Alan Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 but I’m gonna keep reading

It’s compulsively readable. Even though every now and then it’s a little cringey. I recommend reading with someone because I did and it definitely makes the experience better. This book is definitely a product of it’s time. Some of the conversations being had and the mindset of the main character is reminiscent of that late 90s early 00s frame where the book came out. It’s almost like a time capsule in that way.

[Jonny Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in senior year of High School and was so in awe at the very 1st story I had come across about the real life relationships of a black gay couple. Suddenly, this book helped me to not feel so alone and that my hopes for true love was not a fathom in the wind. I read all the other books in this series and I fell in love with Pookie and Lil' Bit from day 1.

[Ché Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first MLM book I’ve read and it was so sweet. I loved how we got to look into the friendships, family and relationships of “Mitch-hull.” Pooquie was TOXICCCCCCCC but it was understood but not ok! I would have loved to see more from Rahiem’s perspective but overall this novel was beautiful. Starting the second book soon. Let’s hope it is promising as the first.

[Wayne Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read

I wish I would have read this when I was younger in the 90s. Great book for gay black men. The story line is realistic, and while it’s set in the 90s, the topics that are brought up by the author (the social commentary is really good in this book) are still relevant into today’s society when it comes to racism and homophobia. Great reading a black, hip-hop love story.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how or why it took me this long to learn about this book, but what an amazing read for Pride. I really loved this book, and I felt like Mitch was telling me this story at a bar. It felt authentic and real in the telling.

[Catherine Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book over 20 years ago. It was the first of book I read by Mr. Hardy. I learned a lot from this story, but most importantly it was a great read.