I'm Gay is an album by California rapper Lil B

Lil B

Brandon McCartney , known by his stage name Lil B or "The BasedGod", is a rapper from Berkeley, California. He has recorded both solo and with the Pack. In addition, Lil B is noted for his extensive use of social media Web sites such as MySpace and Twitter to build an online following.-Early...

. The album was suddenly released digitally

Music download

A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

 on June 29, 2011. On June 30, 2011, the rapper provided a free download link on his Twitter account. The album entered the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...

 chart at number 56 and the Heatseekers Albums

Top Heatseekers

Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...

 chart at number 20 for the week of July 16, 2011.

Controversy

Lil B was heavily criticized for deciding to name his album I'm Gay, even receiving death threats at one point. Many saw the move as a publicity stunt; however, the rapper has said that the title is an ode of support to the LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 community and that his references to "being gay" were not meant to be taken literally. However, he states it simply means "I'm Happy". After all the controversy and receiving death threats, he added "I'm Happy" in parentheses to the title.

Critical reception

I'm Gay (I'm Happy) received positive reviews; fans commented on the album's wide variety of positive messages and also the unique beats and lyrical styles not common to mainstream hip-hop. Lil B rapped about many controversial issues in the album including, race relations, poverty, humanity and the justice system. The album according to many fans, shows the "true" side of Lil B, many fans noting the album's inspirational theme. However, Lil B was the subject of controversy because on upon the album's release he decided to provide a free version via a download link on Facebook. Many believed this to be a publicity stunt; however, he cleared the controversy when on his Facebook page he posted: "for all my fans who don't have 10 dollars to buy my album, here it is for free."

Track listing

#	Title	Producer(s)	Samples	Length
1	Trapped in Prison		"Leaving Shire" by Bo Hansson Bo Hansson Bo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.-Early life and musical career:...	4:00
2	Open Thunder Eternal Slumber		"Catch the Breeze" by Slowdive Slowdive Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin , Rachel Goswell , Neil Halstead , and Christian Savill...	2:47
3	Game	BigBoyTraks		3:43
4	Unchain Me	Clams Casino	"Cry Little Sister" by Gerard McMann	3:54
5	Neva Stop Me	Talen Ted	"Quasimodo's Marriage" by Alec R. Costandinos Alec R. Costandinos Alec R. Costandinos, is a French singer and artist of the 70's. He was also intimately involved as a writer, publisher and musician in the development of Aphrodite's Child with Vangelis and Greek-born pop singer, Demis Roussos...	2:36
6	Gon Be Okay	Caleb Mak	"One Summer's Day" by Joe Hisaishi Joe Hisaishi , known professionally as , is a composer and director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981.While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic,...	2:23
7	The Wilderness	Rick Flame	"Futari Dake No Ceremony" by Yukiko Okada Yukiko Okada was a singer and winner of the talent show, Star Tanjō! in Japan.-Early life:Okada was born on August 22, 1967, the second daughter of the Satō family in the Ichinomiya Hospital and later moved to Nagoya. At elementary school, Okada loved to read books, especially comic books and she was a talented...	3:29
8	I Hate Myself	Keyboard Kid	"Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are a Grammy-nominated American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik and vocalist and bass guitarist Robby Takac. Since the end of 1994, Mike Malinin has been the band's drummer, a position previously held by George Tutuska...	5:45
9	Get It While It's Good	Talen Ted	"Dreaming" by Bill Summers Bill Summers William Reed Summers was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1933 to 1959.Born in Harrison, New Jersey, Summers was raised in Woonsocket, Rhode Island...	3:36
10	I Seen That Light	BigBoyTraks	"Lost in Time" by Eric Benet Eric Benét Eric Benét, is an American singer. His duet with Tamia, "Spend My Life With You" was a number one song for three weeks on the US Billboard R&B chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2000....	4:02
11	My Last Chance	BigBoyTraks	"Still Waiting" by Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Johnny Gill is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic...	4:04
12	One Time (Remix)	Clams Casino		4:00