Breaking the Binary in Music: Gender-Bending and Genre-Bending

As a queer, non-binary, mixed race music artist and creator, I occupy a space of intersectionality. Exploring my creative side as a music artist has revealed the power of the areas of overlap in my own identity. Balancing masculinity, femininity, androgyny, ranging cultural influences, and big queer energy, is the superpower of LGBTQ+ BIPOC artists. We are the glue between genres and the untapped space in between music charts.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time forming my own identity by exploring what’s out there. I have written a whole blog post on my own personal blog about the common question “why are queer people creative?” 

We are creative because we create ourselves and invent our own way of being based on what feels right and what influences us, often by blending things that might seem opposing.

We literally create ourselves in a space between different boundaries, in a space that did not exist before. This process of creation applies to music as well: songwriting, performance, and the stories we tell around our musical expression.

I started exploring music for the first time in the last year, and previously I had focused on content creation in the fashion and LGBTQ+ space. The songwriting process has been a journey of unleashing my own emotions and introspectively exploring who I am and how I present myself. This means my songs came from my own identity, emphasizing upbeat and fun moments, while playfully balancing on the boundaries of genres and gender – always with attitude and energy. 

In one of my new songs, “Too Much”, I open with “Here’s the story of a girl, or a boy, or a they/them who’s always been told that they’re too much” – this opening really means a lot to me because it’s how I’ve felt my whole life, as someone who just doesn’t fit the mold of society and culture – I know other non-binary or queer people can relate. In my sickening song with Gia Gunn “It’s The -- For Me”, we riff on all of the stunning things around us – “look, face, body, walk!” My song “Coffee In My Cup” is a sensual ode to everyone’s favorite drink, and has taken off as a seductive celebration of cacao, using unexpected coffee innuendo. 

I also got to collaborate with and feature some amazing queer and trans people of color like Gia Gunn, Aaron Valenzuela, Mustta, and Ocean Kelly.

For artists like me, it’s been so important to see representation of queer and trans people of color in music, who are defying norms and setting new standards. I have followed in the footsteps of these incredible vanguards. In contemporary music, LGBTQ+ music listeners can choose from a wide range of queer and trans artists of color to listen to, especially in the music genres of vogue/ballroom or what I affectionately call “gay pop”:

... from Todrick to Bad Bunny to Frank Ocean to King Princess to Troye Sivan to Sailor Fag to Kim Petras to Dai Burger to Divoli S’vere to Cakes da Killa to RuPaul to Leikeli47 and practically every queen that stepped off of Drag Race – the list is truly neverending. 

As LGBTQ+ music artists, we are crafting our own hybrid genres of music that mix all of the incredible entertainers that have inspired our community as gay icons. I’m so inspired by the many talented LGBTQ+ artists and performers who are pushing into new spaces, creating culture, and gradually gaining broader appreciation.