Up until the time you let go of the work, you can still improve it. So letting go is just a moment in time, an accurate representation of where you were in that instant. | | | | King Princess at Coachella, April 12, 2019.
(Rich Fury/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "Up until the time you let go of the work, you can still improve it. So letting go is just a moment in time, an accurate representation of where you were in that instant."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// This minor 1984 masterpiece was very far from the first song I heard by a gay artist—I had already absorbed shelves full of glam, disco, punk, pop, rock, R&B and new wave records, not to mention my parents' small collection of Broadway cast albums—but it was one of the first I truly fell in love with by an artist who I was specifically aware was gay and who I was specifically aware was singing from a gay point of view. I was aware of both of these things because one of my sisters told me. She told me as if she was letting me in on a secret, which in this case she kind of was. It's shocking and sad to think about how recently it was that any form of sexuality outside the most narrow definition of straight was taboo—or at least othered—in mainstream cultural circles, music culture included. Progressive, liberal, sort of inclusive, sort of intolerant music culture. "We had to hide, basically," says ROB HALFORD, who at the time was at the peak of his metallic power with JUDAS PRIEST and more than a decade away from coming out. Rock critic JIM FARBER writes about seeing FREDDIE MERCURY and QUEEN a few years before that, when Mercury's "true sexuality sailed right over those rough boys' shag haircuts." Mercury never quite came out. FERRON, the Canadian singer-songwriter my sister wanted me to hear, was open about her sexuality, but she recorded and toured on a women's music circuit that had a small, devoted fanbase and was all but invisible to everybody else. So much of the music of the past century (and no doubt well before that), from jazz and blues to punk and disco to pop and techno and beyond, is all but unimaginable without the influence, inspiration and point of view of LGBTQIA artists. It's embedded in the rhythms, the melodies, the language, the ideas, the attitude. And it's still, even now, at least a little invisible, a little taboo. "You know how many JUSTIN BIEBERS there have been for straight girls to put a poster of on their wall?" asks KING PRINCESS, who was born in 1998, 10 months after Rob Halford came out on MTV. "Sometimes," she says, "I think I'm more a vessel than a human because I'm providing this gay solace that queer people just haven't had." MusicSET: "Pride (in the Name of Music)"... HERD IMMUNITY, as in the summer music festival, as in *this* summer, didn't last long. Less than 24 hours after it was announced, the three-day fest had dropped its own name and at least one headliner, NONPOINT, had dropped out. It's still allegedly happening but we're going to assume otherwise and we'll mention it again only if it turns out we're wrong about that. Meantime, POLLSTAR reports on the first arena show in France since March, a TV taping featuring CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS and several other artists, and the NEW YORK TIMES has the scoop on a production of BEETHOVEN's song cycle "AN DIE FERNE GELIEBTE" that's being performed for individual listeners, one at a time, via cellphone... This crowd-sourced, everlasting gobstobber of a video by TWENTY ONE PILOTS—it literally never ends—is kinda genius... How APPLE's new chips might affect your music software and hardware. | | | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | | | |  | REDEF | | From jazz and blues to punk and disco to pop and techno, the past century of music is all but impossible to imagine without the influence, inspiration and point of view of LGBTQIA artists. Even when their lives were invisible, their music was loud and clear and everywhere. | | | |  | Tidal | | Alumni of the Paradise Garage remember the club, and DJ, that redefined the discotheque. | | | |  | The Guardian | | They waive their fees, raise cash for Juneteenth and champion everything from vaporwave to eco-grime. Founder Ethan Diamond explains how he did it. | | | |  | Esquire | | On a night 35 years ago, during another world health crisis, 45 artists gathered for one of the most extraordinary recording sessions in music history. | | | |  | GEN | | People want to understand K-Pop Stans after their contributions to the Black Lives Matter movement. The first rule: They are not a monolith. | | | |  | Ludwig van Toronto | | At the beginning of June, an unnamed group of people started an Instagram account called Opera is Racist (OIR). Dozens of posts quickly went up, all anonymous, no names, all with a common theme — the racism specific to being in opera. | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | Songwriters have more options than ever - as recent awards, hirings, and data points hint to a new explosion in independent music publishing. | | | |  | Vulture | | The movie is, by Cameron Crowe's own admission, based on actual things that happened to him. Two decades later, it feels like his biggest fantasy. | | | |  | Trapital | | A cultural analysis on how Master P took the iconic brand to the top. | | | |  | Billboard | | Billboard spoke to 10 Black LGBTQ musicians to see how they're showing up for themselves and the community, and to hear their requests from allies within and outside of the LGBTQ community at such a burdensome time. | | | |  | I Care If You Listen | | Aisha K. Staggers explains how whitewashing Prince's music and image by perpetuating the false narrative that he was biracial is a form of appropriation. | | | |  | The Ringer | | In the wake of the uprisings stemming from the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, dozens of new songs have tried to make a statement. But few-if any-have captured the moment. | | | | | Rolling Stone | | In the years since 2000, Dylan has renewed his creative energy and produced a catalog of songs that stand alongside any past era of his career. | | | |  | Twenty Thousand Hertz | | Can you steal from yourself? Can you copyright a mood? We look back on some important copyright cases that could have an impact on the entire future of music making. | | | |  | Variety | | Genna Batson, who graduated last month from Syracuse University 's Bandier Program with a music business degree, was about as poised for a career in the concert industry as a senior without a nepotistic benefactor could be. | | | |  | XXL | | A rapper's voice is just as important as the content of their music. When you think about the greatest rappers of all time, you can instantly mimic how they sound. | | | |  | Paper | | On Chromatica, Rihanna is banned and iced coffee sells by the gallon. | | | |  | Office of Copyright | | When the Copyright Office released it's report on Section 512 of the DMCA on May 21, 2020, it largely concluded that the law was not working as intended, and that "Congress' original intended balance has been tilted askew." This conclusion did not sit well with the websites, ISP's and OSP's. And at 198 pages and 1041 footnotes, it's a lot to unpack. | | | |  | Austin Chronicle | | Following last week's Barracuda closure, a domino effect will continue without emergency city funding. | | | |  | Texas Monthly | | After living most of my life in Texas, I finally gave Willie Nelson a serious listen and learned a few things about my Nigerian mom. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | "How you gonna keep me down?" The spiritual closing track from "Untitled (Black Is)," out now on Forever Living Originals. | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2020, The REDEF Group | | |
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