Redefining Queer Anthems With 100+ Queer Artists Of Colour
I want to be able to resonate with stories that are relative to my life, and my identity. I created a playlist that includes music with over 100+ queer artists of colour.
I chose to stray away from the general idea of queer anthems. Songs such as, “Express Yourself” by Madonna, “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga, or “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross, have provided empowerment, and a sense of belonging for so many people who have faced rejection for being who they are. There is so much liberation in providing language to our stories. I wanted to curate a playlist that spotlights songs by a variety of queer musicians of colour. Music provides healing for so many artists who find difficulty speaking on their story. It is important to remember that you are supporting the artists that you listen to.
This playlist is a fantastic way to support and celebrate people who deal with discrimination and institutionalised systemic oppression on a daily basis. It has introspective slow jams that mirror self- acceptance and social rejection, hip hop tunes that alter the definition of what rap looks like in a changing society, pop material that speaks of self discovery and exploration through sexual identity, the list is truly endless. It is a reminder that we’re here, visible, glam, weird, and channeling truth through a healing art form. Our culture is just as important as our sexuality in terms of how we choose to identify ourselves, hopefully this list will inspire you to rise up and be proud of who you are.
WE DESERVE TO TAKE UP SPACE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!
My Top 10
“LOVE CYCLE” BY TALIWHOAH
Talitha Cross aka Taliwhoah is London born, and a Los Angeles based singer, songwriter and artist. The mellow mood, and Talitha’s enticing voice made “Love Cycle” an amazing song that stood out to me. This song was the first debut track that she put out that actually spoke on her sexuality as a bisexual Afro- Caribbean woman. Lyrically she nods to her fears around being openly bisexual and how the relationships in her life may diminish because of disapproval. She released this song to speak life to her truth and the complexity of her identity.
“JINX” BY USHAMAMI
Ushamami (Mena Sachdev) is an Indian-American multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, composer, coder, and multimedia artist from Cambridge, MA- based out of Brooklyn. Mena’s music centers around their identity as a queer non- binary south asian. They have spoken on committing their musical career to making space for queer people of color in the music, art, and tech worlds (especially at their intersections). Mena is an activist and is always looking for ways to build community through collaboration and innovation. “Jinx” was a stand out track for me because they blend RnB, house, and experimental sounds so well. Mena has described this song as a track that emotionally represents the thought process that they go through when they’re starting to fall for someone.
“BE FREE” BY AH- MAR- AH- SU
AH-Mar-AH-Su, aka Star Amerasian is an Oakland based musician. She channels all of her experiences as a black, trans- woman living in the new millennial madness of planet earth, into her work. She effortlessly blends her voice with intricate beats and twinkling synths. Star’s music is a euphoric release, full of pain and pleasure, trauma and triumph, that tackles all the difficult stuff like prescription drug use, transphobia and grief. Star is all about giving a voice to the highs and lows of the queer experience. “Be Free” is a song that stood out to me because the melodic sound emulated the transformation that comes with freedom and empowerment. Star has spoken about how, “Be Free” is a challenge to the listener, to choose freedom over the limits of a society that teaches us to hate ourselves.
“DIVERSITY” BY TOO ATTACHED
Too Attached is a sibling duo consisting of Vivek Shraya & Shamik Bilgi. Vivek is a multidisciplinary artist and Shamik is a producer and beatboxer. Diversity as the name itself is a title that caught my attention along with the beautiful graphic work by Hate Copy. The duo have described “Diversity,” as a way to push back against the superficial trend of, advocating for diversity within work spaces, and art spaces. They’ve spoken on the idea of organizations or institutions that claim to care about diversity, but only to do so for praise.
“FLIRT” BY SYDANIE
Sydanie is an amazing queer, Toronto born, Jamaican- Trinidadian artist. She uses her music to tell the stories of her unique experiences, and makes space for other mothers to do the same. “Flirt” was a song amongst already so many hit tracks that personally stood out to me. Sydanie has spoken on using “Flirt” as a way to reclaim her abrasive rap persona and discuss her own experiences with sexual violence. Sexual violence and healing are themes and topics that she truthfully speaks on with her work. She makes room for the themes of her work to highlight the importance to grow from the place of victimhood (if and when possible) to celebrate triumph, and healing.
“SAD FEMME CLUB” BY KIMMORTAL
Kim Villagante aka Kimmortal is a queer non- binary Pilipinx musician, songwriter and visual artist based in Vancouver, BC (Canada). Kim has spoken about going off on tangents with their start as a singer. They found that they achieved more depth with their audience as a performer and emcee. “Sad Femme Club” was a song that caught my attention because “Kimmortal” was a name that I had heard of before within the Toronto arts community. Kim wrote this song during the emergence of the #metoomovement. They believed that it reflected the experience of queer femmes of colour in the world, and stressed the importance of leaning on art and community as an outlet for love, resistance, and healing.
“DIVE” BY TIFFANY GOUCHÉ
Tiffany Gouché is a singer, songwriter, and producer from Inglewood, California. Tiffany has spoken about the challenges that she has had to overcome with accepting her identity as a queer black woman, in relation to growing up in a Christian home. She believes that you can’t be your vulnerable self unless you truly understand who you are as a person. “Dive” was a song that stood out to me because the sound was so rich. I initially assumed the singer was male because of the lower-octave vocal style. Tiffany not only challenges that stereotype, but presents a whole new norm for female R&B artists. She’s in a lane of her own, offering sexy lyrics geared towards a female audience that compete with popular male R&B singers of today. “Dive” is about the electrifying sexual chemistry that she had with a woman, who had never experienced a relationship with another woman. Tiffany is an artist who is reshaping what it means to be a queer black woman in the industry.
“#TRANSISGANGSTER” BY SOFIA FLY
Sofia Fly is an emcee, dj and producer based in Toronto, Canada. She plays everything from house, Latin, trap and pop music. Sofia recently released her EP Rosé and it has allowed me to get my life! The EP is all the things trap, bad bitch, and Latin flavour. The title “hashtag trans is gangster” presented itself to be a way to reclaim an identity that has been made to be overlooked, and misunderstood. “#Transisgangster” was a track that stood out to me because the trans identity is gangster, the trans identity is beautiful, and the trans identity is valid.
“GAY SEX” BY BE STEADWELL
Be Steadwell is a black, queer, singer songwriter from Washington, DC. A blend of soul, acapella and folk. Be calls her music QUEER POP. Her controversial lyrics address issues with the contemporary mainstream music scene. Be’s spoken poetry also confronts racism and the erasure of women of colour from mainstream queer culture. “Gay Sex” was a strutting call to defy the ever growing fascism of the Trump administration. “Gay Sex” was a song off of her album “Queer Love Songs” that I could not skip over.
“GHAZAL” BY BEBÉ MACHETE
Bebé is a genderqueer Puerto Rican artist from Hartford, CT. Their music blends Salsa, Hip Hop, Lo Fi, and experimental rock, dealing with issues of queerness, resistance, and liberation. They seek to put ancestral rhythms and modes of resistance into a contemporary experimental pop context. Blending themes of tenderness and intimacy with radical political messages, their music seeks to promote love and community alongside struggles of decolonization and liberation internationally. Throughout “Ghazal” I had picked up on Bebé often switching between Spanish and English-sung verses. “Ghazal” was a song that stood out to me because it felt like a lullaby with Bebés soothing vocal arrangement.
REFERENCES
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"Ah-Mer-Ah-Su". Spotify, 2019, https://open.spotify.com/artist/6uCILdubNJBlEvfxOCDluy.
“Bebé Machete - Funnybone Records.” Funnybone Records, 2019, funnybonerecords.com/bebe-machete/.
“Bebé Machete.” Spotify, 2019, open.spotify.com/artist/3JH98eESewKdqM9ZiKtsse.
“Besteadwell | Bio.” Be Steadwell, 2010, www.besteadwell.com/bio.
“Be Steadwell Explores Humanity on ‘Queer Love Songs.’” Bandcamp Daily, Bandcamp Daily, 13 Apr. 2018, daily.bandcamp.com/2018/04/13/be-steadwell-queer-love-songs-interview/.
"BIO – Taliwhoah". Taliwhoah.Com, 2019, http://www.taliwhoah.com/bio/.
Fly, Sofia. “Yohomo.” Yohomo, May 2019, yohomo.ca/blog/dj-spotlight-sofia-fly?rq=sofia.
Griffin, Charmaine. “Diving Into Queer R&B Artist Tiffany Gouché | Control FOREVER.” Control FOREVER, 11 Sept. 2019, controlforever.com/read/diving-into-queer-rb-artist-tiffany-gouche/.
"Gyal Dem Fiyah: Sydanie — Toronto's Gay Culture Blog - Yohomo". Yohomo, 2019, https://yohomo.ca/blog/gyal-dem-fiyah-sydanie.
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Lyle, Ashley. “R&B Songstress Tiffany Gouché Talks About Embracing Her Sexuality & Forthcoming Debut Album.” Billboard, 8 Aug. 2017, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7890083/tiffany-gouche-interview-down-dive-new-songs.
Magazine, and Discorder Magazine. "Kimmortal". Citr, 2019, https://www.citr.ca/discorder/dec-2016-jan-2017/kimmortal-2/.
"Meet The Next Generation Of Artists Breaking Through Toronto’S Hip-Hop Scene". The Globe And Mail, 2019, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-meet-the-next-generation-of-artists-breaking-through-torontos-hip-hop/.
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"Sydanie Is In Control Of Her Sexuality And Femininity On "Flirt"". Vice, 2019, https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/d3dnam/sydanie-is-in-control-of-her-sexuality-and-femininity-on-flirt.
"Taliwhoah Is The Out And Proud R&B Artist That 20Biteen Needs". Gay Times, 2019, https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/118118/taliwhoah-is-the-out-and-proud-rb-artist-that-20biteen-needs/.
TOO ATTACHED — MEGAPHONO. “MEGAPHONO.” MEGAPHONO, 2014, megaphono.ca/too-attached.
"Too Attached". Too Attached, 2019, https://tooattached.com.
TV News Desk. “Be Steadwell Releases New Album QUEER LOVE SONGS.” BroadwayWorld.Com, 7 May 2018, www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Be-Steadwell-Releases-New-Album-QUEER-LOVE-SONGS-20180507.
"Ushamami Is Serving You Queer, Polyamorous Love & Lust In New Music Video “Jinx”". SPICY, 2019, https://spicyzine.com/2019/02/15/ushamami-is-serving-you-queer-polyamorous-love-lust-in-new-music-video-jinx/.
"USHAMAMI — MENA SACHDEV". MENA SACHDEV, 2019, https://menasachdev.com/ushamami.
"What Is Love? Taliwhoah Asks The London LGBTQ Community". PAPER, 2019, https://www.papermag.com/taliwhoah-love-cycle-lgbtq-2633782509.html.