Queerness Transcends - LGBTQ+ Artists Changing the Landscape

Playlist link: Queerness Transcends ☆  

Music has always been more than just something to put on in the background for me. Many of my friends know me for the unnecessary amount of music I listen to and the countless hours I put into looking for new artists. I just find music so captivating, and at a time with so many streaming platforms, we have the privilege of hearing so many different perspectives and stories.

Recently, I created a playlist with some of these stories, specifically from LGBTQ+ voices. Throughout my coming out journey, now as I navigate life as a queer person, I have used music as a way to feel more connected with myself and others in the community. As I was coming out it was much harder to find LGBTQ+ artists for many reasons. I wanted to create this playlist more to find artists rather than as a way to just listen to music, though having this playlist on shuffle is not that bad. I wanted this so that 1. more LGBTQ+ people can find artists they connect to and 2. some of these artists get the love and support they deserve. 

I focused primarily on artists who have intersecting identities with their queerness, as those are usually the artists who do not get the proper recognition. They have also been the artists that have helped me through my journey as a queer person of color.

Below are 5 artists I want to highlight from this playlist:

1. Villano Antillano

Villana (or Villano) Antillano (She/They) is a Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter who has changed the landscape of Latin rap. I found her, like many, through Bizarrap's session with her, "BZRP Session #51". Bizarrap is an Argentine producer who collaborates with popular Spanish-speaking artists, his collaborations reaching a range of 50-200 million views depending on the artist. When Villana collaborated with Biza she was not as well known, but her collaboration skyrocketed, and the video now at 237 million views. Villana defines herself as a transfeminist and emphasizes the experiences of queer and trans people in her music. She has made such a difference in the Latin music space and it honestly warms my heart to see how many people's first view of trans people is Villana and their songs. 

2. Janelle Monáe 

Janelle Monáe (She/They) is a singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, and overall amazing human being. It is a little embarrassing how long it took me to really listen to their work, especially since my best friend loves them, but I am so glad I do now. Janelle Monàe has had so much amazing work since starting their music career in 2003, a lot of it talking against oppressions Black and queer people face through futuristic themes. Monáe has also been very vocal outside of her music bringing up the topics in her interviews and acceptance speeches. As my friend put it "She was able to blend her blackness and her queerness in an amalgamation that didn’t deny either of them. Even when they were being attacked for being too black, being too 'mannish', they stood resilient in the face of hate. And then, when that became the norm for them, they pivoted away to a celebration of love, a celebration of being sexy."

3. Willow Scarlet 

Willow Scarlet (He/They) is a queer Goth singer and songwriter from India. I found him making this playlist and I am glad I did. I am not one who usually listens to Goth or its adjacent genres but the eerie nature of the songs was just so captivating. After looking into them I have found out all the amazing work they do, not just in their music, but for the Gothic community as well. They are a vocal advocate for people of color and queer people in Goth spaces, putting on fashion shows demonstrating Gothic clothing designed by him on Desi models, and being a voice for other Desi Goth artists. Willow Scarlet is one of those artists, that although some of their songs are in a different language you can still enjoy the meaning behind them and their sounds and production. I am really excited to see where Willow Scarlet goes from here, as he has already had such an amazing impact on the Goth community.

4. Dreamer Isioma 

Dreamer Isioma (They/He) is a Nigerian-American singer and songwriter. They are known for their hit song "Sensitive" which became a popular sound clip on TikTok in 2020. I began listening to Dreamer in October of 2022, and while they had gained a lot of popularity before then, seeing them grow past that has been so great to see. Their music touches many different concepts, but one of the things that stuck with me was their journey with embracing their femininity after transitioning. It is something I can relate to. They also mix their Nigerian culture into their music and visuals; both concepts are well represented in their newest album Princess Forever. Their trippy, funky sound is so mesmerizing to listen to, I can have so many of their songs on a loop for hours. 

5. Molly Grace

Molly Grace (She/Her) is a singer and songwriter who focuses on LGBTQ+ topics, body positivity, and women empowerment. It was hard choosing the last artist for this list but it did not seem right to not talk about the artist that gave me the idea of this playlist in the first place. I found Molly Grace through an Instagram reel about a month ago; she was singing "Lover (Love Her)" on stage and I just fell in love. Her presence on screen was so magnetizing, and the song just sounded so fun and freeing I had to look more into her content. She gets her musical influences from her Armenian and Irish background, mixing in some American genres, which ends up with an amalgamation of a fun pop-funk sound. 

There are over 50 artists in this playlist, and I am going to continue to add more over time, but I hope this introduction to 5 of the artists gets you excited to hear the rest. Comment below any of your favorite queer artists, or if you found a new artist through this playlist! 

Playlist link: Queerness Transcends ☆

~Limon☆

I'm Back! An Update...

 

Update:

As the year comes near a close, a school project reminds me of this blog and suddenly I am struck by how fast time flies. I will be honest, a lack of proper structure and school responsibilities got in the way of this blog. With three drafts and multiple playlists with "blog post maybe" on the description, I did not not want to work on this account, I just got busy. 

That being said, I have 6 playlists with blog posts that will be posted in the last month of 2023. One of them is the school project, it will be different than what I usually do, but I am still proud of it. The others are end-of-year wrap-ups, most of them are just to fill my innate need to show off the amount of people I have listened to this year and will most likely be a couple of posts with a few playlists for each post. 

What is coming up in the future?

To be honest. We will see. I don't think doing multiple weekly blog posts will be helpful for me, especially since the start of the New Year means a new semester in school and work. I will be working on some sort of schedule during winter break and will post it by the first week of January. What I am hoping for is at least a monthly blog post, but maybe I can sneak in a bit more. Regardless, my Spotify is updated constantly, so if you wish to keep up with me that and Twitter are where to go.

Here is to finals week! 

~Limon☆