As June is international Pride Month, dedicated to celebrating everyone in the community, we’ve picked out our favourite LGBT+ songs from the artists on our line-up…
MNEK – ‘Tongue’
Music mogul MNEK describes his leading single ‘Tongue’ as “very up-tempo, it’s fun, it’s sexy, it’s sassy, it’s gay as hell.” The music video shows him making eyes at a man across a table at an extravagant and artsy dinner party, playing on the more common boy-meets-girl format we usually see. On the subject of his fictional love interest, MNEK told Vice “It’s almost more personal that a straight actor played the part because that stretches the boundaries of black masculinity further than where they currently rest. So if the straight man is comfortable enough about his sexuality to cosplay as a gay man in a music video then I think that will speak to people, at large.”
Years & Years – ‘Sanctify’
Years and & Years’ frontman Olly Alexander has become one of the most recognisable gay icons of the decade since the band’s explosion into the mainstream in 2014. Alexander strives to be a strong LGBT+ representative who stays true to his sexuality when writing music and creating the accompanying music videos, and ‘Sanctify’ is no different. Said to be a crossover of Britney and religion, the single celebrates homosexuality as a blessing rather than a sin, while the music echoes the Oops!… I Did It Again star’s 2001 sound.
alice – ‘Girls X Boys’
Pop’s biggest newcomer alice uses her latest track ‘Girls X Boys’ to express her freedom in exploring her sexuality, with the music video portraying her dancing around a dimly lit house with another woman and a man. In her statement about the song she said “GIRLS X BOYS is all about being rid of labels and being open minded to try anything at least twice! When we wrote it I was adamant that the lyric should be inclusive of everyone. I hope it talks not only to my generation but to everyone. The vibe of the track is definitely representative of my darker side and I like that it’s about exploring things sexually whilst also expressing my confidence as a woman and an artist.”
Rita Ora – ‘Girls’ (feat. Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX)
RnB superstar Rita Ora has made waves in her huge collaborative track as she sang about her own experiences with women while joined by fellow feminist pals Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX. The song, which some have referred to as a “bisexual anthem”, received high support from Years & Years’ Olly Alexander as he admired her acceptance of her sexuality. She performed the pop-rap track at LGBT+ support organisation The Trevor Project’s TrevorLIVE event in New York last week.
Jake Shears – ‘Creep City’
‘Creep City’ is The Scissor Sisters’ frontman Jake Shears’ debut release since the band’s hiatus in 2012, but it’s like he never left. The video is as sassy as ever, featuring Shears dancing around in a string top at a cabaret surrounded by women performing burlesque and later on shows him in drag while rocking a neat moustache. The whole affair is exciting and definitely isn’t lacking in sequins or extravagant costumes.