Janelle Monáe - "Make Me Feel (EDX Dubai Skyline Remix)"

In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

She may be the newest out musician on the block, but she's been on the block making music for a while, and now that she's opened up her whole heart to her fans, I'm excited to see what she does next and how the world will open up to her.

Now admittedly I was resistant to this song, this album, these videos, just the whole darn thing. I'd given all her previous records a chance, buying them and listening in the hopes that they would click, and they all felt rather disjunct to me; I couldn't get all the way into them. I loved her single "Tightrope" and her duet with Fun, and I could see and support the talent, but it's almost like she was a fruit that hadn't ripened yet. But it is here, in this most recent album where all of her splendor arrives. Like a mango at it's sweetest, ripest, and juiciest on a hot summer day. Her artistry shines, and she IS an artist. An incredible artist at that. 

As an LGBTQ musician myself, I have to believe that somewhere in the breakout performances from Midnight and Hidden Figures, and in breaking those barriers she was able to stop "performing" and come out of the closet. Of course I would never say that this is the sole reason she's lit up the way she has, but I can't help but imagine, now that she isn't wasting anymore time or energy hiding part of her away, how that energy might be focused into her incredible artistry. She's finally able to invite her fans all the way in, into the honest and true parts of herself, and we are eating it up. 

Welcome to the world Little Sister. It only gets better from here. 

Janelle Monáe Robinson is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, actress, and model. She is signed to her own imprint, Wondaland Arts Society, and Atlantic Records. After her first unofficial studio album, The Audition, she publicly debuted with a conceptual EP titled Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), which peaked at number 115 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.

In 2010, Monáe released her critically acclaimed first full-length studio album The ArchAndroid, a concept album sequel to her first EP. It was released by Bad Boy Records and reached the number 17 spot on the Billboard 200. Monáe featured as a guest vocalist in "We Are Young" by fun., which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, her first appearance in the chart. In August 2012, Monáe became a CoverGirl spokeswoman. Her second studio album, The Electric Lady, was released in September 2013, to critical acclaim. In 2016, Monáe had roles in two feature films, Hidden Figures and Moonlight.

Monáe's third studio album, Dirty Computer, was released on April 27, 2018, preceded by the singles "Django Jane", "Make Me Feel", "I Like That", and "Pynk". Monáe has received six Grammy Award nominations.

So today, with truth, light, and sensuality abounding, I choose Janelle Monáe's "Make Me Feel (EDX Dubai Skyline Remix)" as my get your groove back, find the light, with nothing to weight you down, song for an, it's a ditty, it's a bop, it's a time to get this $#*! started, Wednesday.

Peaches - "Boys Wanna Be Her"

 In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

She is a warrior for intersex people. She is loud, aggressive, proud, silly, and shocking. Once you've seen her, you can't forget her. Merrill Beth Nisker, better known by her stage name Peaches, is a Canadian electronic musician and performance artist.

Born in Ontario to a Jewish family, Peaches began her musical career in the 1990s as part of a folk trio, Mermaid Cafe. In 1995, she established a rock band, The Shit. That year she also released her first solo album, Fancypants Hoodlum. Moving to Berlin, Germany, it was here that she was signed to the Kitty-Yo label and released her second album, The Teaches of Peaches (2000). Touring as the opening act for bands like Marilyn Manson and Queens of the Stone Age, she subsequently released her third album, Fatherfucker (2003).

Her songs have been featured in movies such as Mean Girls, Waiting..., Jackass Number Two, My Little Eye, Drive Angry, and Lost in Translation. Her music has also been featured on television shows such as Lost Girl, The L Word, Ugly Betty, South Park, 30 Rock, True Blood, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and has been used for the promotion of Dirt. Peaches performed guest vocals on Pink's album Try This, on the song "Oh My God", on the Chicks on Speed album 99 Cents, on the song "We Don't Play Guitars", on Christina Aguilera's 2010 album Bionic, on the song "My Girls" (which was produced and co-written with Le Tigre) and recently on Major Lazer's 2013 album Free the Universe on the song "Scare Me" featuring Timberlee.

Born Merrill Beth Nisker in 1966 in Toronto, Ontario, she attended a private Jewish school. Nisker was a class clown, who "wasn't particularly smart. I was interested in creative performance stuff, but that turned out to be difficult for me because it was all so structured," she told Kitty Empire of The Observer.

Her family was culturally Jewish, though they were not religious. Her grandparents immigrated to Canada from Poland; her paternal grandparents were from Ukraine. In an interview in URB magazine, she recounted how growing up she experienced antisemitism; on her walks home from school, students from a nearby Catholic school would throw stones at her and call her a "dirty Jew".

Peaches has been a very vocal user of psychedelic, recreational drugs, as well as a staunch proponent of transexuality, promiscuity and obscenity, hyper-sexual liberalism.  Gender identity is one theme of Peaches' music, often playing with traditional notions of gender roles representation. Her lyrics and live shows consciously blur the distinction between male and female; for example, she appears on the cover of her album Fatherfucker with a full beard. When asked if she had chosen the title for shock value, she commented:

Why do we call our mothers motherfuckers? Why do we stub our toe and say, "Aww motherfucker!"? What is a motherfucker? ... We use it in our everyday language, and it's such an insanely intense word. I'm not one to shy away from these obscene terms that we actually have in our mainstream. Motherfucker is a very mainstream word. But if we're going to use motherfucker, why don't we use fatherfucker? I'm just trying to be even.

So, today, with every version of myself turned to 11, I choose Peaches' "Boys Wanna Be Her" as my, explore every crevice, search every valley, familiarize yourself with every intimate part, song for a, why not me, let's get wild, I dare you to shock me, Tuesday.

k.d. Lang - "Constant Craving"

 In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

She's an icon, a trailblazer, and a force to be reckoned with. Her talent is only matched by her passion and she has been using her voice to speak up and speak out for decades now. Known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress.

Lang has won both Juno Awards and Grammy Awards for her musical performances; hits include "Constant Craving" and "Miss Chatelaine". She has contributed songs to movie soundtracks and has collaborated with musicians such as Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett, Elton John, Anne Murray, Ann Wilson, and Jane Siberry.

Lang is also known for being an animal rights, gay rights, and Tibetan human rights activist. She is a tantric practitioner of the old school of Tibetan Buddhism. She performed Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" live at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Previously, she had performed at the closing ceremony of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. Lang possesses the vocal range of a mezzo-soprano.

Lang first earned international recognition in 1988 when she performed as "The Alberta Rose" at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics. Canadian women's magazine Chatelaine selected Lang as its "Woman of the Year" in 1988.

Lang's career received a huge boost when Roy Orbison chose her to record a duet of his standard, "Crying", a collaboration that won them the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 1989. The song was used in the Jon Cryer film Hiding Out released in 1987. Due to the success of the song, Lang received the Entertainer of the Year award from the Canadian Country Music Association. Lang would win the same award for the next three years, in addition to two Female Vocalist of the Year awards in 1988 and 1989.

1988 marked the release of Shadowland, an album of torch country produced by Owen Bradley. In late 1988, Shadowland was named Album of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Association. That year she also performed "Turn Me Round" at the closing ceremonies of the XV Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, and sang background vocals with Jennifer Warnes and Bonnie Raitt for Orbison's acclaimed television special, Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night.

In 1990, Lang contributed the song "So in Love" to the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 1998, she contributed "Fado Hilário" to the AIDS benefit compilation album Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon produced by the same organization.

The 1992 album, Ingénue, a set of adult-oriented pop songs that showed comparatively little country influence, contained her most popular song, "Constant Craving". That song brought her multi-million sales, much critical acclaim, and the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Another top ten single from the record was "Miss Chatelaine". The salsa-inspired track was ironic; Chatelaine, a women's magazine, once chose Lang as its "Woman of the Year", and the song's video depicted Lang in an exaggeratedly feminine manner, surrounded by bright pastel colors and a profusion of bubbles reminiscent of a performance on the Lawrence Welk show.

Lang, who came out as a lesbian in a June 1992 article of the LGBT news magazine The Advocate, has championed gay rights causes.

She has supported many causes over the years, including HIV/AIDS care and research. Her cover of Cole Porter's "So in Love" (from the Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate), appears on the Red Hot + Blue compilation album and video from 1990 (a tribute to Cole Porter to benefit AIDS research and relief). Her 2010 greatest hits album, Recollection, also includes this cover of "So in Love". Lang also recorded the song "Fado Hilario", singing in Portuguese, for the 1999 Red Hot AIDS benefit album Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon, a traditional fado from Portugal.

Lang reflected on coming out in a 2016 interview with The Canadian Press, saying it "felt like it was the most responsible thing for society and myself" at the time. She also noted that dealing with the fallout was something she struggled with in the years that followed. "It's a very hard thing to unravel for me and decipher," she said. "In a way you can't. It's all just a big ball of wax of who I am and what my role in popular culture was — and what pop culture's role was in me."

So today, with a great swelling of pride, I choose k.d. Lang's "Constant Craving" as my, hold on to the feeling, savor the taste on your tongue, let go of nothing until you have to, song for a, Stars and moons in your eyes, open up wider, give yourself the compassion for all the courage you've shown, Monday.

Wrabel - "The Village" & "Bloodstain"

In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

I've written about the enigmatic Stephen Wrabel before, and in much detail, to check that out head here:

http://song-and-soul.com/www.Song-and-Soul.com/Song_%26_Soul/Entries/2015/8/7_Wrabel_-_I_Want_You.html

However, for the Cliff's Notes version, here goes. He's got the kind of songwriting prowess that has been likened to Sia or Sam Smith, and the kind of upbeat urban pop sound that calls back to the classic pop singers like Fleetwood Mac & Elton John. He's charming, and funny, and a fairly silly on stage, but that all simply serves to help him create an atmosphere of honesty about his music. 

He has written songs for Ellie Goulding, Will Young, Prince Royce, Phillip Phillips, Adam Lambert, Pentatonix, Katharine McPhee, Lea Michele, Léon, and many more, and that same honesty rings through his music, no matter whose voice is leading it. 

I was lucky to catch him opening for  Léon at the El Rey theatre here in Los Angeles a few months back, and I can tell you the show was great. He did a short set of mostly piano tracks, but his vocal intensity and honest performance make you smile and shake your head in agreement with every word. Sidebar: Léon KILLED it afterwards with a really fun and upbeat performance, but that's for another post. 

So to continue my theme of Queer Artists during #NationalPrideMonth, I choose this song, which has been resonating with me through the week. Wrabel told us the story of how he met a couple of trans kids after a show, and ended up befriending them, and as they stayed in touch he reached out to them on the day that trans protections were taken away from schools, and he wanted to see how they were, and what they were going through. The song itself rings so clearly true; there is NOTHING wrong with you ... it's true.  Whether you're gay, straight, trans, of color, different in any other way, or simply shy, there is nothing wrong with you. 

The second song choice is just a simple love song to a lover you haven't met yet. It's honest and true about the pain he's gone through to get where he is, and it's unabashedly gay. It's honest, but that's only PART of what makes it incredible, it's also just a killer song. 

So today, with my heart lain open like the Grand Canyon, I choose Wrabel's "The Village" & "Bloodstain" as my, you are everything you need to be, see the strength in your own heart, vulnerability is your biggest strength, songs for a, break down your burdens, lift up your eyes, better is just around the corner, Friday.

Adam Lambert - "Ghost Town"

In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

Beyond Idol, beyond the musical theatre, Adam Lambert was a champion of our community. One of the very first Rock Stars to be a bonafide hit maker and out of the closet from the very beginning. After taking up the mantle of Freddie Mercury as the front man for Queen, Adam turned his career into one of his own design, and it has been glorious to watch. 

Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after finishing as runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol. Later that year, he released his debut album, For Your Entertainment, which debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200. The album spawned several hit singles, including "Whataya Want from Me", for which he received a Grammy nomination for "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance".

In 2012, Lambert released his second studio album, Trespassing. The album premiered at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making him the first openly gay artist to top the album charts. In 2015, Lambert released his third album, The Original High, which debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 and produced the international hit "Ghost Town".

So today, with care gone with the wind, I choose Adam Lambert's "Ghost Town" as my, make it your way, make liars out of them, shake off the disbelief, song for a, walk on the wild side, see the dark to know the light, follow you own footsteps out of the wilderness, Thursday.

Grace Jones - "La Vie En Rose"

In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

Grace Beverly Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, songwriter, supermodel, record producer, and actress. Born in Jamaica, she moved when she was 13, along with her siblings, to live with her parents in Syracuse, New York. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves St. Laurent and Kenzo, and appearing on the covers of Elle and Vogue. She worked with photographers such as Jean-Paul Goude, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, and Hans Feurer, and became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features.

In 1977, Jones secured a record deal with Island Records, initially becoming a star of New York City's Studio 54-centered disco scene. In the early 1980s, she moved toward a new wave style that drew on reggae, funk, post-punk and pop music, frequently collaborating with both the graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude and the musical duo Sly & Robbie. Her most popular albums include Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing (1981), and Slave to the Rhythm (1985). She scored Top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart with "Pull Up to the Bumper", "I've Seen That Face Before", "Private Life", and "Slave to the Rhythm". In 1982, she released the music video collection A One Man Show, directed by Goude.

Jones appeared in some low-budget films in the US during the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1984, she made her first mainstream appearance as Zula in the fantasy-action film Conan the Destroyer alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sarah Douglas, and subsequently appeared in the 1985 James Bond movie A View to a Kill as May Day. In 1986, she played a vampire in Vamp, and acted in and contributed a song to the 1992 Eddie Murphy film Boomerang. She appeared alongside Tim Curry in the 2001 film Wolf Girl. For her work in Conan the Destroyer, A View to a Kill, and Vamp, she was nominated for Saturn Awards for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1999, Jones ranked 82nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll, and in 2008, she was honored with a Q Idol Award. Jones influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s and has been an inspiration for artists including Annie Lennox, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Lorde, Róisín Murphy, Brazilian Girls, Nile Rodgers, Santigold, and Basement Jaxx. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 40th most successful dance artist of all time

She's never been shy about her sexuality, and her ferocious sex appeal has only kept it relevant. She's been a long time Ally of the LGBTQI community and as an out Bisexual woman is a fierce, beautiful, and inspirational  member as well. 

So today, with life looking like  a bowl of cherries, I choose Grace Jones' "La Vie En Rose" as my, make your own way, life is just a matter of perspective, look to your own truth, song for a, beautiful things can happen if you let them, walk a little longer, look for the silver lining Wednesday.

Jobriath - "I'm A Man"

In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

Bruce Wayne Campbell (December 14, 1946 – August 4, 1983), known by his stage name Jobriath, was an Americanrock musician and actor. He was the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label, and one of the first internationally famous musicians to die of AIDS.

Imagine watching the Empire State Building suddenly transform into giant spurting penis to ejaculate a figure dressed in a major King Kong look across a stage. Now, imagine this mysterious figure shedding the ape costume and emerging as the most fabulous Marlene Dietrich you’ve ever seen.

No, this isn’t the fever dream of a Hell’s Kitchen gay after watching Kong: Skull Island. This flamboyant and provocative series of events almost happened. The performance, set to take place at the Paris Opera House in 1973, would’ve introduced the world to glam rock’s first openly gay rock star. Through a sea of glitter, the crowd was to feel a potent mix of astonishment and arousal before whispering his name: Jobriath.

That you’re almost certainly wondering who the hell Jobriath is should betray the fact that his grand entrance never happened, but to dismiss Jobriath as yet another failed rock star would do a disservice to his legacy. The truth is, for all his failures, Jobriath paved a path for queer musicians. Without rock’s self-proclaimed “true fairy,” artists like ILoveMakonnen, Frank Ocean, PWR BTTM, Mykki Blanco and everyone in between might not be around to queer up the music industry.

Decades ago, in an era punctuated by the queerbaiting antics of Lou Reed and David Bowie, Jobriath’s star power proved to shine too bright, too fast—he was the Icarus of glam rock with a gloomy ending to match. Spanning multiple identities, enough tragedy to fill a Lifetime Original Movie, and a wealth of ideas that would never come to pass, this is the story of America’s first gay rock star.

Four decades after crooning for audiences to let him be who he was on the track “I’m a Man,” the repercussions of Jobriath’s fearless embrace of his sexuality, Empire State Building ejaculation and all, are finally being celebrated.

So today, with doors loose on their hinges, I choose Jobriath's "I'm A Man" as my, I am what I am, take me as I am, I am all that I desire, song for a, please see me, let me be me, hear my heart in rising sun, Tuesday.

Bessie Smith - "I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl"

In support of National Pride Month, for the entire month of June I will only post artists who Identify as somewhere on the LGBTQI Spectrum. We are loud, we are proud, and we deserve to be heard. 

Bessie Smith was the greatest and most influential classic blues singer of the 1920s.  Nicknamed the Empress of the Blues, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on other jazz singers. Her full-bodied blues delivery coupled with a remarkable self-assuredness that worked its way in and around most every note she sang, plus her sharp sense of phrasing, enabled her to influence virtually every female blues singer who followed. During her heyday, she sold hundreds of thousands of records and earned upwards of $2000 per week, which was a queenly sum in the 1920s. She routinely played to packed houses in the South as well as the North and Midwest. By the time the decade had ended, Smith had become the most respected black singer in America and had recorded a catalog of blues that still stands as the yardstick by which all other female blues singers are measured.

Since her death, Bessie Smith’s music continues to win over new fans, and collections of her songs have continued to sell extremely well over the years. She has been a primary influence for countless female vocalists—including Billie Holliday, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin—and has been immortalized in numerous works. A comprehensive, acclaimed bio on her life — Bessie, by journalist Chris Albertson — was published in 1972 and expanded in 2003.

Often overlooked is her proud Bisexuality. She was brash, bold, and never shied away from the fact that she liked women. Adding that to list of her "eccentricities" was an easy write off for most, but it was a personal struggle for most of her life, trying to balance her husband and her female relationships.  It was widely known that she would have affairs with women while being married to Jack Gee, who knew of his famed wife’s dalliances. The biopic staring Queen Latifah is said to explore the queer world of that era, and not tiptoe around the issue of Bessie Smith’s bisexuality.

So today I choose Bessie Smith’s “I Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl” as my, become your own legend, start your story now, no one can tell you how bright you can shine song for a, let nothing stand in your way, no hill is unclimbable - no obstacle unconquerable - no battle insurmountable, remember your own divinity, Monday.