The New York Times has called rapper Lil B "a folk hero of the rap counterculture," and Lupe Fiasco is singing praises for the 21 year old.

Lil B released his debut album only six months ago, and he's already hitting the scene hard, with his latest, I'm Gay released Wednesday. He's heterosexual, but says the title is a message of support to the LGBT community.

Fiasco discussed the title on his blog:

"First let me make something abundantly clear, the title I'm Gay (I'm Happy) I think is absolute genius. Those two words together side by side in almost any format in the society we live in can be a cultural and social death sentence."

While performing at this year's Coachella Music Festival, B announced:

"Y'all heard it hear first. And I'm gonna just show y'all that words don't mean sh-t. I'm gonna make an album called 'I'm Gay.' First of all, gay means happy. I like women, I love women, you feel me? But it just shows me, no matter what you do, live life, you only got one life to live, be happy. F-ck the hating."

F-ck the hating indeed. But it was kind of hard to ignore the death threats. In April, after announcing the album title, Lil B revealed,

"People been hitting me up like, 'I'm gonna bash your head in,' 'you fagg-t,' 'I'm gonna kill you,'" Obviously the rapper didn't back down, and most of the rap community is embracing his boldness. Fiasco said:

"The reason I give this album entrance into my 'Liberation Rock' library hangs on the power and impact of just one single, solitary line uttered by Lil B in the midst of the entire work that is 'I'm Gay'".