Out rapper MNEK recently dropped his debut album, Language, and the critics are raving.
“It’s a moving and important work, and one that reminds us why MNEK is the pop star we need in 2018.” – NME “An assured and stunning pop patchwork… joyous and slammed with hits, it’s worth the wait” – Q Magazine
With over a billion streams to his name, the 23-year-old U.K. artist is focusing on his own recording now after working with such artists as Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Little Mix, Madonna, and Diplo.
His latest single from the collection, “Correct,” is easily a standout.
PAPER Magazine calls the track, “a call-to-arms for queer people the world over to command the respect we deserve, not to mention a catchy, grimy, island-riddim bop if there ever was one.”
And Billboard wrote, “‘Correct’ busts out an array of MNEK’s flows for a swaggering, hyperactive display of his songwriting chops, his smooth voice hopscotching over a skittering beat.”
In a gay world where hyper-masculinity is often revered, singer/songwriter/director John Duff has drops his first pop creation celebrating femininity and fluidity – “Girly.”
“It’s about freedom. It’s about expression. It’s about equality. Above all, it’s f*cking fierce,” Duff said.
The music video for “Girly” pays homage to several of Duff’s top pop queens including Madonna (“Hung Up”), Mariah Carey (“Heartbeaker”), Britney Spears (“Stronger”), Beyoncé (“Crazy in Love”) and Christina Aguilera (“Come on Over”).
As the kids say, “it’s iconic.” The music video also features Drag Race superstars Bianca Del Rio, Willam and Mariah Balenciaga.
Rejecting what he calls toxic masculinity, Duff’s mission here is to promote honest and genuine self expression.
John Duff (photo: Magaly Chacon)
“You could have your pump on – two plates. Or get your pumps on – first date. No one cares just pump the bass, full speed ahead don’t pump the breaks.”
Duff says he has been told in the past he “would do better in the industry by playing up my masculinity.”
Duff found that approach to be insulting not only to his creativity but who he is in general. Instead, he decided to throw down his girly gauntlet.
Via press release:
“Being girly, or being a girl for that matter, is nothing to be ashamed of. The video was created from those same frustrations. While paying homage to some of my greatest female influences, I wanted to highlight the sexualization of female performers and how absurd it looks to simply replace the ingenue with a hairy man.”
And speaking of ‘throwing down,’ the music video features a hysterical bathroom brawl between Duff and Bianca Del Rio.
The adorbs Duff recently told OUT, “I wanna say it was 7am. We’d been filming since midnight the night before. We were completely on edge, falling apart. He and I started boozing. So, we were a little tipsy filming it. We had a blast. We always cackle.”
Duff also wanted to bring some fun back to pop music.
“I feel like in music, we’re missing some joy,” Duff also shared with OUT. “I don’t see pop stars presenting fun. I see dark, sexual, honestly evil energy coming out of most popular music.”
“There’s a place for funny people, and there’s a place for happy people,” the 28-year-old added. “I want people to feel happy and no pressure to be anything else.”
There’s no denying “Girly” is packed full of fun. Not only does the track have a catchy hook, but Duff is uber-adorbs.
Plus, alongside his Drag Race guest-stars, the whole cast presents as a rainbow of diversity.
Bravo!
Check out a couple of Duff’s Instagram tributes to his pop divas below.
Rod Thomas aka Bright Light Bright Light (image via Facebook)
Regular readers know I love me some Bright Light Bright Light. Check out the third track – “Uh-Huh!” – from Bright Light Bright Light’s upcoming EP, Tough Love. “With ‘Uh Huh!’ I wanted something much more fun and playful,” Thomas told Billboard. “It’s an upbeat, summery song about not overthinking.” You’ve got some serious George Michael influence (in a good way), and some sassy horn blasts in just the right places. Oh yeah, you’re gonna bounce. Get ready and hit play. Tough Love comes out Sept. 21, coinciding with a performance at Manchester Pride and a U.K. and Europe tour.
Out musician and producer MNEK drops his latest single, “In This Crazy World,” today in advance of his upcoming album, Language.
Promising his debut album to be a ‘black, gay, pop experience,’ the 23-year-old musician describes the new album as, “So special to me because it’s something I’ve put my heart and soul into writing and producing and singing.’”
The lyrics go right to the personal as “In The Crazy World” ruminates on not only race issues but coming out:
A father is disappointed by his son, Somewhere in this crazy world He’s told him that he’s in love with someone, Let’s high and mourn him He’s coming out, he can’t keep it in Somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, somewhere in this crazy world tonight
“I’ve waited for the day my debut album is released my entire life, so naturally, I’ve designed it to be listened to from start to finish,” shares MNEK. “Every song flows into each other in a way that tells a sonic story. I’ve learned so much as a musician over the years and most importantly as a young man.”
After signing his first publishing deal at the age of 14, MNEK has spent the past ten years in the music industry writing and producing for A-list artists like Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Beyoncé.
At 23, the U.K. artist now has one billion streams to his name, between his early material and wider collaborations. “Never Forget You,” MNEK’s duet with Zara Larsson, topped Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart and has been certified 3x Platinum in the U.S.
His most recent single, “Colour” featuring Hailee Steinfeld, (which OUT Magazine called “the song of the summer”) reached a massive 25 global New Music Friday playlists and streams now surpass 17 million.
Additionally, his single “Tongue” was named as “one of the best songs of 2018” by PAPER Magazine, which hailed the track’s “deliciously seductive lyrics, a sick bassline, and killer vocals.”
MNEK has announced a three-date U.K. tour in October, making stops in Manchester, Birmingham, and London.
Language drops September 7, and you can check out “In This Crazy World” below:
• Miami-based InstaHunk Andrew Serkin (above) took a break from the sun. #LuckyUs
• An Oklahoma school district briefly shut down this week after people purporting to be parents of students used social media to make violent, epithet-filled threats against a transgender girl. “If he wants to be a female, make him a female,” one user wrote. “A good sharp knife will do the job really quick.” Another post read, “You know we have open hunting seasons on them kind. Ain’t no bag limit either.”
• Regarding the still-unfolding and massive molestation scandal wracking the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, Catholic League president Bill Donohue today told followers the alleged victims were not raped: “they were groped or otherwise abused, but not penetrated, which is what the word ‘rape’ means.” #SRSLY
• A new twist in the #MeToo movement: An 11-month Title IX investigation recently found New York University Professor Avital Ronell responsible for sexually harassing her gay student, Nimrod Reitman.
• GQ Magazine got in hot water for calling these guys “stocky.”#Stocky???
• Omarosa Manigault Newman‘s tell-all Unhinged claims that Ivanka Trump hated the Saturday Night Live sketch that labeled her “complicit” in March 2017. According to Omarosa, Ivanka was “thin-skinned and could not seem to take a joke.”
• The California Senate has approved AB 2943, a bill that could protect LGBTQ people statewide from undergoing gay conversion therapy. The bill passed in the state Assembly in April. After heading back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote, the bill will hopefully be signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.
• Donald Trump’s military parade this fall is shaping up to cost $80 million more than initially estimated. The parade, slated for Nov. 10, is now estimated to cost $92 million, blowing way past the original $12 million estimate.
• Queer artist Anthony Starble recently teamed up with The Klassiks to create an sexy EDM remix of his latest single, “Paperweight.” The new mix adds a catchy synth line and bass drops that kicks up the intensity from the original.
With Scissor Sisters still on hiatus, frontman Jake Shears continues to journey on solo including a recent turn on the Great White Way in the hit musical, Kinky Boots.
Now, Shears is releasing his first solo album titled – what else? – Jake Shears.
Billboard gushes, “The result overflows with the opulence of orchestral Seventies pop — as if ELO and the Bee Gees got together to make a Muppet fantasia of Cajun rock.”
While the Elton John influence is unmistakable, Shears shares his own musical voice and vision as only he can.
• Fox News host Laura Ingraham got in hot water revealing her racism during an on-air rant saying “massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people” thanks to “both illegal, and in some cases legal, immigration.” Ingraham later recanted saying her message had nothing to do with race or ethnicity.
• The Puerto Rican government has submitted a report to Congress counting the death toll in the wake of Hurricane Maria at over 1,427, much higher than the 64 deaths acknowledged as the current official count.
• Attorney General Jeff Sessions got testy saying the virulently anti-LGBTQ law group Alliance Defending Freedom (representing every anti-gay bigot you can find) isn’t a hate group even though it is.
• Out artist Ryan Beatty drops his latest single, “Powerslide.”
Grammy Award-winning Culture Club has dropped its first new single in nearly 20 years in advance of a new album, Life, due for release October 26. Boy George announced the news via Facebook this morning.
The new track, “Let Somebody Love You,” written by singer Boy George, guitarist Roy Hay, bassist Mikey Craig and drummer Jon Moss, has been popular at the band’s recent live concerts. This is the first time its available as a studio track. The song continues the band’s tradition of embracing a classic reggae-infused sound.
“Love is revolution / War and famine too / If you’ve the hunger in your heart / Let somebody love you”
The last single released by the band was all the way back in 1999 with “Cold Shoulder.”
Boy George
Culture Club had planned to release new music in 2015, but the album was eventually shelved with no explanation.
Known for huge hits in the 1980s like “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” and “Karma Chameleon,” Culture Club has racked up sales of over 150 million albums worldwide despite having released only 5 albums.
The band’s frontman, Boy George, gained worldwide attention for his asexual/androgynous appearance coupled with his gift with a quick quip. In addition to a successful solo career, George has also released successful albums as a DJ.
Listen to the new single, “Let Somebody Love You,” below.
London-based recording artist Raph Solo recently dropped the sexy music video for his song, “Broken Hearts,” which is the second single from his Word Of Love album.
Raph describes his current musical style as “POPTECSOL,” a new sound that combines pop, tech, and R&B soul.
With “Broken Hearts,” Solo waxes melancholy as a mythological warrior-turned-prisoner who must conquer his fear and wrestle his demons to reclaim his crown amid a dark, edgy musical landscape.
“I wrote the song a few years ago at around the time I met my partner,” he said. “We were both newly out of major relationships that had left us broken and bruised. While the love making was hot, the baggage I carried from my past caused a lot of friction and undue fear in our relationship.”
“Broken hearts heal with time,” he sings on the fantastic track. Raph should know. Before meeting his partner, he experienced 7.5 breakups in nine years (one of the splits only scored a 0.5 on his pain-o-meter).
His hardest failed relationship was with a man he regarded as a father figure. “It crushed me. It changed my perception of love,” he admitted. “Though I still believe in love, I don’t view it through rose colored glasses anymore.”
Born to Lebanese/Chilean parents on the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria, West Africa, the singer, songwriter and music producer has released four full-length albums: Finally/The Album, Am I Too Much?, The Anonymous Icon, which features the hit singles “Star” and “Good Morning London,” and Word of Love, which features his 2017 summer hit from last summer, “Love Lives.”
Though fantasy, the video depicts the song in the way Raph’s love life truly unfolded. “It’s all shamelessly romantic and heroic,” Raph laughs, “but that’s me.”
The shackles he wears in the video are meant to symbolize the emotional baggage most people carry from failed relationships. Says Raph, “If you can free yourself from the shackles, you will one day reign over love.”
“Broken Hearts is about letting go of past loves, embracing what is new, and working to extend that love into tomorrow and beyond.”
