Free Music Friday: Roes/Angel Haze

Listener discretion is advised!

     On July 10, 1992 Raykeea Raeen-Roes Wilson was born in Detroit, Michigan to a single mother (their father died before they were born). Formerly known as Angel Haze, as of March 2018 the rapper now goes by the name Roes. Roes is pansexual and agender and will be referred to with the singular “they” for this article.

     When Roes was a kid their mother moved the two of them into the house of a preacher but Roes later called the religious leader a cultist. As the result of being a part of a cult, Roes was witness to manipulation and domestic abuse. On top of this, Roes was sexually assaulted by a family friend. Because of these negative childhood experiences, Roes turned to writing as an outlet. When they were 13 Roes won a school competition and subsequently got their first poem published. Initially Roes wanted to be a gospel singer or songwriter but when they were 18 they started making Youtube videos of them freestyle rapping.

     Their first mixtape “King” was released July 12, 2011 followed by mixtapes “Voice” (July 19, 2012) and “Reservation” (July 17, 2012). “Reservation” includes the songs ‘New York’, ‘Werkin’ Girls’, and ‘Hot Like Fire’. On October 5, 2012 they released the EP “New York” via Republic Records. Their fourth mixtape “”Classick” followed on October 25, 2012.

     In late 2013 Roes released a cover of a popular song each day for 30 days, the collection of these covers became known as “30 Gold” and included a freestyle to ‘Same Love’ by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. In December of 2013 Roes and their record label had a disagreement over the release date of their debut album “Dirty Gold”. On December 18th Roes leaked the entire album via their Soundcloud. It was quickly removed by label executives who then decided to release the album December 30, 2013. “Dirty Gold” was supported by singles ‘Echelon (It’s My Way)’ and ‘Battle Cry’, which features Sia.

     On September 14, 2015 Roes released the mixtape “Back to the Woods”, which featured the songs ‘Impossible’, ‘Babe Ruthless’, and ‘Moonrise Kingdom’. The mixtape is intended to hold fans over until they release their sophomore studio album. Roes released 'Resurrection' in March of 2017, the first single from their upcoming studio album.

For Fans of: Nicki Minaj, MIA, Lil Kim
Download Link: http://www.datpiff.com/Angel-Haze-Reservation-mixtape.373768.html
Website: https://www.angelhazemusic.com/
Credits: MusicRoamer, Wikipedia

Free Music Friday: Princess Nokia

Listener Discretion is Advised!

     Puerto Rican rapper Princess Nokia was born Destiny Nicole Frasquei on June 14, 1992. Her mother died from AIDS when she was 10. From age 9 to age 16 she lived with a physically abusive foster mother. Afterwards she lived with her grandma in New York City. Nokia is bisexual and says that growing up in NYC where there is a substantial LGBT+ community was foundational to her life. She began her music career by performing at gay clubs and found a following in the LGBT+ community.

Nokia started to write raps when she was 16. Her first song ‘Destiny’ was recorded in 2010 and released mid-2012 via Soundcloud and Youtube under the moniker of Wavy Spice. Her second single ‘Bitch I’m Posh’ went viral. Nokia’s third single ‘YAYA’ is inspired by her Taino heritage. Singles ‘Dragons’ (which is Game of Thrones inspired), ‘Honeysuckle’, ‘Vicki Gotti’, and ‘Versace Hottie’ followed.

The rapper’s alter ego, Princess Nokia, debuted with the song titled ‘Nokia’. She released “Metallic Butterfly” on May 12, 2014. “Honeysuckle” followed in 2015 and “1992” in 2016. On September 8, 2017 Nokia released her debut album “1992 Deluxe” via Rough Trade Records; the album is essentially a re-release of her 2016 mixtape with some added tracks.

On April 13, 2018 the rapper released her commercial mixtape “A Girl Cried Red”. The 8 song set is described by Nokia as an “emo mixtape”. In an Instagram Live chat, the rapper said “Everybody wants to put on this facade that they have it all together and I wanted to write a mixtape that was about falling apart and being a fucking mess.” The mixtape is available to purchase on iTunes, Google Play, and the Rough Trade Records site.

For Fans of: MIA, Solange, Junglepussy
Download Link: https://topmixtapes.com/mixtapes/view/Princess-Nokia-1992.18648.html
Website: PrincessNokia.org
Credits: Music-Map, Wikipedia, Remezcla.com, Uproxx.com, RoughTradeRecords, Pitchfork

Free Music Friday: Mykki Blanco

    Listener discretion is advised!

     Mykki Blanco, born in Orange County, California in 1986, is a rapper, poet, and performance artist. Blanco identifies as trans/multigendered and has gone by male pronouns at some points in life and female pronouns at others. For the purpose of this article (for clarity and consistency) I will use female pronouns because Mykki Blanco is a feminine persona.

     June 17, 2011 Blanco published a poetry book via an OHWOW imprint; it was titled "From the Silence of Duchamp to the Noise of Boys". May 9, 2012 Blanco made her music debut with an EP based off the poetry book "Mykki Blano and the Mutant Angels". The EP included songs 'Head is a Stone' and 'Join My Militia'.

     November 9, 2012 Blanco released her first mixtape "Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss". It featured singles  'Wavvy', Haze.Boogie.Life', and 'Kinpinning (Ice Cold)'. May 21, 2013 saw the release of another EP "Betty Rubble: The Initiation", which featured the songs 'Feeling Special' and 'The Initiation'. In May the following year Blanco released "Spring/Summer 2014" EP.

     October 28, 2014 Blanco's second mixtape "Gay Dog Food" was released; it boasted features from Cakes Da Killa, Cities Aviv, James K, No Bra, and Kathleen Hanna.

     June of 2015 Blanco made public her HIV+ status. She didn't expect to receive as much support following her announcement as she got - she even thought that it would hinder her music career. Thankfully she was wrong and later that year was signed by !K9, an independent label. On September 16, 2016 Blanco dropped her debut album "Mykki", which included the songs 'High School Never Ends', 'The Plug Won't', and 'Loner'.

For Fans of: Brooke Candy, Zebra Katz, Cakes Da Killa
Download Link:
Website: MykkiBlancoWorld.com
Credits: MusicRoamer, Gay Star News, Wikipedia, MTV

Expectations by Bebe Rexha

     Bleta “Bebe” Rexha born August 30, 1989 is a singer/songwriter of Albanian-Macedonian descent. Her first foray into the music industry was in 2010 as vocalist of Black Cards - a side project created by bassist Pete Wentz while his band Fall Out Boy was on hiatus. The intention was to release an LP but after a series of delays only ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Fame’ was released. In January of 2012 Bebe Rexha left the band to pursue a solo career. Rexha followed that up with posting covers and a few originals online such as 'Ride Till You Die' featuring Voli.

     Warner Bros. Records signed Rexha as a solo artist in 2012. She then began to write songs for other artists such as ‘Like a Champion’ by Selena Gomez and ‘Glowing’ by Nikki Williams. Her most notable co-writing credit is on ‘The Monster’ by Eminem featuring Rihanna; the song won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Performance and reached number one on the on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

     On May 12, 2015 Rexha released her first EP “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”. The EP was supported by two singles: ‘I Can’t Stop Drinking About You’ and ‘I’m Gonna Show You Crazy’. She continued to write for and be featured in other artist’s songs from ‘Me, Myself & I’ by G-Eazy to ‘Hey Mama by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj and Afrojack. The latter song didn’t initially credit Rexha even though she sings the chorus and background vocals but as of June 2015 it does credit her as a featured artist.

     In 2016 singles ‘No Broken Hearts’ featuring Nicki Minaj and ‘I Got You’ were released. Initially meant for her debut LP the songs became a non-album track (No Broken Hearts) and the only single off the first installation in an EP series called “All Your Fault”. On January 6, 2017 “All Your Fault Pt. 1” was released.

     The first single from “All Your Fault Pt. 2” ‘The Way I Are (Dance With Somebody)’ featuring Lil Wayne was released May 19, 2017 with the full project following on August 11, 2017. The second single off the project ‘Meant to Be’ featuring Florida Georgia Line was released October 24, 2017. It reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs for 26 weeks becoming the longest charting Country song by a woman.

A third installation of the “All Your Fault” series was planned but instead morphed into an LP titled “Expectations”. Both ‘Meant to Be’ and ‘I Got You’ will appear on the album as well as promotional singles ‘Ferrari’ and ‘2 Souls on Fire’ featuring Quavo. The album is set to be released June 22, 2018.

For Fans of: Zara Larson, Halsey, Selena Gomez
Website: http://www.beberexha.com/
Credits: MusicRoamer, Wikipedia

Free Music Friday: Le1f

Listener discretion is advised!

     Born Khalif Diouf on April 6, 1989 in Manhattan, New York, Le1f (pronounced "leaf") is a rapper and producer. His first foray into the music industry was as producer of tracks for Das Racist - including their first ever single 'Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell' (2008). 

     On April 9, 2012 Le1f released his debut mixtape "Dark York", which featured the viral single 'Wut'. The song going viral is particularly noteworthy because Le1f is an openly gay artist in Rap - a genre known for being homophobic. The lyrics in 'Wut' don't shy away from discussing his sexuality with lines such as "I'm the kind of jawn closet dudes wanna go steady on" and "Ukrainian cutie- he really wanna cuddle, the fever in his eyes he wanna suckle on my muscle."

     In November of 2012 Le1f had a feature on 'Fuckin the DJ', a song off Mykki Blanco's mixtape "Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss". The same month he also released an EP with artist Boody; it was called "Liquid" and featured the single 'Soda'.

     On Januray 28, 2013 Le1f released his sophomore mixtape "Fly Zone", which featured the song 'Spa Day'. The project included features from artists such as Spank Rock, Haleek Maul, Kitty, DonChristian, SAFE, and Rahel.

     On September 18, 2013 Le1f released his third mixtape "Tree House", which includes the song 'Hush Bb'. In an interview with Fuse the rapper said of the project, "Tree House is all these love songs over experimental trap beats... I want people to have sex to it."

     Le1f released his debut studio album "Riot Boi" on November 13, 2015. The album contains songs that feature artists Junglepussy, House of Ladosha, DonChristian, Miss Geri, and Dev Hynes.

For Fans of: Remy Ma, Iggy Azalea, and Lizzo

Download Link: https://indy.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/24118/le1f-tree-house.html

Website: http://www.riotboi.com/

Credits: Wikipedia, Genius, Fuse, Music-Map

Coloured by Priscilla Renea

 

   Singer/songwriter Priscilla Renea was born on September 14, 1988 in Vero Beach, Florida. She says she always knew that she wanted to be a singer and sang wherever she could from high school football games to her father’s Navy events. She states that her dream was supported up until high school at which point she was encouraged to get what she calls a “real job”.

     When Renea found out about Youtube she started uploading videos of herself singing and found fans. She was one of the first to utilize Youtube as a stepping stone for a career. She released music independently before being signed to Capitol Records. Her debut album “Jukebox” was released December 1, 2009 and contained the singles ‘Dollhouse’ and ‘Lovesick’. The album only sold 1,200 units in its first week but was lauded by critics. After the second single ‘Lovesick’ failed to garner chart success Renea’s label stopped promoting the album.

     Renea turned to writing songs for other artists and found much success. She wrote songs for artists including Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Mary J. Blige, Train, Pitbull, Miranda Lambert, and Madonna. Her versatility is notable - she’s written in the R&B, Country, Hip Hop, and Pop genres and her new music showcases different sides of the artist.

     Renea’s first placement after her own album was in 2009 with a song called ‘Happy Hour’ by UK singer Cheryl Cole. The following year Renea wrote four more songs for Cole including the number 1 UK hit ‘Promise This’; for Rihanna she wrote ‘California King Bed’ a song that has been certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. For those who don’t know the certifications are based on sales of songs (in this case digital sales) starting at 500,000 copies for Gold, 1,000,000 copies for Platinum, 2,000,000 copies for Multi-Platinum, and 10,000,000 copies for Diamond.

      In 2011 Renea co-wrote songs by Kelly Rowland, Demi Lovato, Cher Lloyd, and Mary J. Blige. She also wrote ‘My Last’ by Big Sean and ‘Who Says’ by Selena Gomez and the Scene; the former was certified Gold and the latter was certified Triple Platinum. In 2012 she co-wrote songs by Madonna and Bridgit Mendler. She also co-wrote the Gold certified ‘Popular Song’ by Mika which either featured herself on guest vocals (the explicit album version) or Ariana Grande (the clean single version).

     2013 was her biggest year yet. She wrote songs for K. Michelle, Tamar Braxton, B.o.B., and Chrisette Michele. Her biggest hit was ‘Timber’ by Pitbull featuring Kesha, which went Six Times Platinum! In 2014 she co-wrote ‘Somethin’ Bad’ by Miranda Lambert featuring Carrie Underwood which went Platinum. In 2015 she co-wrote songs by Mariah Carey and Monica as well as ‘Worth It’ by Fifth Harmony featuring Kid Ink which went Triple Platinum. In 2016 Renea co-wrote songs for Nick Jonas, Meek Mill and Pusha T, Fantasia, and Sabrina Carpenter; ‘Thumbs’ by Carpenter went Gold. In 2017 she co-wrote songs for Brooke Candy, ZZ Ward, Train, and Kelly Clarkson; ‘Love So Soft’ by Clarkson went Gold. For a playlist of some of the songs written by Renea follow the link here.

     On April 6th 2018, Renea released a dual music video for the songs ‘Gentle Hands’ and ‘Heavenly’ via the Paper Magazine website. The article included an interview with the singer who said of the music video, “I want viewers to walk away feeling magical and full of love because I love, love. This video beautifully showcases my personality, my tender and loving side along with my goofy side."

     On May 21, 2018 TheBLACKMedia released an interview with Renea on their Youtube channel entitled “Priscilla Renea The 2018 Interview: Talks Youtube, #1 Hits, Sexism And More”. The video is just 2 minutes over an hour long and contains interview interspersed with performance shots. If you want to learn more about Renea’s childhood or hear about her long journey to where she is today then I highly suggest you watch it here.


     Priscilla Renea’s sophomore album “Coloured” will be out June 22nd and will feature a country/blues sound and the songs ‘Family Tree’, ‘Gentle Hands’, ‘Heavenly’, and ‘Lets Build a House’. All four songs are available to listen to on Youtube here.


Website: http://www.priscilla-renea.com/
Credits: Wiki, Paper Magazine, Music-Map, TheBLACKMedia
For Fans of: Chrisette Michele, Elle Varner, Ledisi

2018 LGBT+ Pride Playlist

                                    Listener discretion is advised!

As much as I love musicians who are allies to the LGBT+ Community I wanted to showcase music by individuals within the community. Listen to the playlist here.

1. GUY.exe by Superfruit
2. Secrets by Mary Lambert
3. Strut by Adam Lambert
4. Sanctify by Years & Years
5. Bloom by Troye Sivan
6. Strangers by Halsey ft Lauren Jauregui
7. Flesh by Simon Curtis
8. Thinkin Bout You by Frank Ocean
9. Same Love (Freestyle) by Roes aka Angel Haze
10. Delicate, Petite & Other Things I’ll Never Be by Against Me
11. Hey by Le1f
12. Stay by Steve Grand
13. Boyfriend by Tegan and Sara
14. I’m the Only One by Melissa Ethridge
15. What I Need by Hayley Kiyoko ft Kehlani
16. Wake Me If I’m Dreaming by Rocco Katastrophe
17. Kingpinning (Ice Cold) by Mykki Blanco
18. This Promise by Sam Tsui & Casey Breves
19. Devil’s Backyard by Mya Byrne
20. Someone to Call My Lover by Alyson Stoner
21. Housewife by Jay Brannan
22. Make Me Feel by Janelle Monáe
23. Call It Off by Shamir
24. Kaleidoscope by Courtney Act

I hope you like at least some of the songs on the playlist. Let me know if there are any artists that you'd like added to the playlist. Thanks everyone! I hope you're all having a safe and happy Pride!

Free Music Friday: Simon Curtis

Singer/songwriter Simon Curtis first gained recognition for the role of Royce

Du Lac in Nickelodeon’s 2009 TV musical “Spectacular!” Later that year he worked with

producer Jeff “Jaidon” Wells to focus on his music career. The result was the electronic

album “8 Bit Heart”, a concept album about a robot looking for love. Curtis released the

album for free via his website where more than 150,000 copies were downloaded within

the first two weeks of its release. This was a notable feat considering it was all done

independently. ”8 Bit Heart” features the songs ‘Delusional’, ‘Diablo’, ‘8 Bit Heart’, and

‘Beat Drop’.

On June 7th, 2013 Curtis released his second album “R∆” via the iTunes store; “R∆”
stands for Robot Army, a reference to his fans, and features the singles ‘Superhero’ and
‘Flesh’. Upon its release the album reached #20 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums
Chart.

Curtis released a free EP entitled “WWW” on October 12th, 2013. Upon the release
of the project he was criticized for the album artwork being “too gay”. In response Curtis
officially came out saying “Love that I’m getting so much heat for my new album artwork
being “too gay” on national coming out day… with that said, I am gay.”

On March 20th, 2014 Popjustice announced that Curtis had joined fellow singer/
songwriter Ro Danishei aka Wolfy to form electropop duo Wrathschild. On February
23rd, 2015 the duo released their debut EP “Birds”, which featured the singles
‘Fall into Love’ and ‘Angeles’.

Curtis released another freebie in January of 2015, an EP called “Love, S”. The EP
features four new tracks as well as two remixes of “R∆” single ‘Flesh”.

Curtis released “Super 8 Bit Heart” to iTunes on January 8th, 2016. It is a reworking
of the songs from “8 Bit Heart” so if you enjoy the free version consider purchasing this
version. Listen to it on Youtube here: Super 8 Bit Heart Playlist

For Fans of: Adam Lambert, Sam Sparro, Britney Spears

Download Link: http://simon-curtis.com/eightbitheart/

Website: http://simon-curtis.com/

Credits: Wikipedia.com, Popjustice.com, Poparazzi.com

Happy Pride Month

To celebrate LGBT+ Pride Month I will be posting about LGBT+  artists for the month of June. 

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Pride. 

Let me know if there are any LGBT+ musicians you'd like me to feature. Thanks!