Rap star Macklemore has spoken in an interview to say that he thinks “homophobia is still rampant in the hip-hop community”, but that “it’s getting better”.

Speaking to Rap Up, the Same Love star, commented on the progress of the hip-hop music industry, saying it had improved, but that there was still a long way to go, because it was not previously discussed enough.

He said: “That’s my community [hip-hop], that’s who I see to be oppressing gay people. The f-word and saying ‘that’s gay’ are still rampant. Homophobia is still rampant in the hip-hop community and it just gets the co-sign.

“It’s getting better. The last year has gotten a lot better, but for so long, it was just an issue that nobody touched on.”

The song Same Love, from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s latest album, addresses the rapper’s personal experiences and feelings around the issue of same-sex relationships and equal marriage, and features a video spanning the lives of a gay couple, including a happy marriage.

The lyrics were inspired by Referendum 74, at which voters in the US state of Washington voted to uphold a law legalising equal marriage. It reached the top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 last week.

Macklemore recently showed his support for a Nebraska student who was expelled from her university after she proposed to her girlfriend at one of his concerts.