In his steady rise to rap notoriety, Lil B has relied heavily on his viral fanbase. His multiple MySpace pages, Facebook "likes" and army of Twitter followers have helped propel his music and message. But ever since Lil B announced at Coachella last week that the title of his next album will be I'm Gay, some fans have turned on the Based God. A few have even sent [article id="1662474"]digital death threats[/article].

"People been hitting me up like, 'I'm gonna bash your head in,' 'you f----t,' 'I'm gonna kill you,' " Lil B told MTV News on Thursday (April 21), as he drove to a show at the Mezzanine in San Francisco.

With upcoming shows lined up in Chicago, Detroit and at the [article id="1658198"]Bamboozle Festival[/article] in New Jersey in the next few weeks, Lil B showed no signs of fear and said he'd proceed with his scheduled dates.

"I'm not gonna stop and I'm not scared of anybody on earth," he said of the Twitter backlash. "That's why I [titled the album I'm Gay] and nobody gonna stop me."

B insisted he's not a homosexual, but that he is gay, i.e., extremely happy, flipping the word and focusing on its other definition. "I'm very gay, but I love women. I'm not attracted to men in any way. I've never been attracted to a man in my life. But yes I am gay, I'm so happy," he said. "I'm a gay, heterosexual male."

A spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) told XXLMag.com that they hope Lil B's album title is "not a gimmick, and is really a sincere attempt to be an ally."

B stressed to MTV News that he is in fact a supporter. "I got major love for the gay and lesbian community, and I just want to push less separation and that's why I'm doing it," the Based God said. "I hope GLAAD sees that I'm taking initial steps to break barriers."

When we asked about the makeup of his fanbase, B said he hadn't noticed whether there was any significant portion of his following that identifies as gay, but that some have already had a negative reaction to his title selection.

"A lot of my supporters have turned on me. It's been a few supporters that's saying, 'I'm not gonna rock with you anymore,' " the controversial MC revealed. "That's fine, because you know what? They didn't love me for real anyway."

Although the rapper has yet to begin recording the album, he expects to have it ready and available on iTunes in the next month or two. Lil B also believes that even though he's facing resistance now, in the future he'll be hailed as a hero. "One-hundred years later, people gonna thank me, because people are going to be free. And that's the main thing. Even if it's 1 percent of the people that listen to me and are gonna be free, that's better than none," he said. "That's better than not speaking up at all ... and I spoke up and I did it."

What do you think of Lil B's decision to call his album I'm Gay? Share your thoughts in the comments below!