Culture

Queer Love Mixtape: 5 Rising R&B and Hip-Hop Artists You Need to Know


As characteristically bold as the planet, Marzz is a vivacious R&B singer-songwriter on a quest to equip listeners with the creativity and confidence to manifest their own paths in life. Raised in Louisville, Kentucky, the young artist grew up singing in the church where many of her family members were ministers. After years of suppressing her queer identity, she eventually came out in high school and pursued her dreams of breaking into the secular music scene. “[Understanding my identity] impacts my music by being able to help me be confident in who I am,” Marzz tells them. “That confidence helps me push my ability to express myself without any negative feeling, regret, or judgement.”

Marzz’s vocal dexterity and skillful vibrato, reminiscent of R&B vocalists from the turn-of-the-millenium, caught the attention of the legendary producer Timbaland. He recently reached out to Marzz to create a couple of tracks, one of which is “Cleopatra,” on her latest EP, Love Letterz. The project is blooming with vivid emotions, providing the perfect tracks to play while breaking it off with the boo who’s not really your boo. (We recommend “Countless Times.” Thank us later.)

SIAIRA SHAWN

Courtesy of the artist

Siaira Shawn is a multifaceted artist, co-runner of the label Over Everything Music, and an educator. The San Francisco artist’s versatility has garnered the attention of both the music and television industry alike, with her hazy, mid-tempo 2018 track “Wrong Speed” landing a prominent spot in season 3 of Issa Rae’s critically acclaimed HBO series, Insecure. Later that same year, the musician delivered Tender, a silky EP glazed with poetic love stories about her encounters with women and her own inner shortcomings. “Islands,” off the new project, is a slick R&B track about taking preliminary caution at the beginning of a relationship. Shawn shows off her smooth, smoky vocals, paired with dreamy, bass-heavy beats, making it the perfect backdrop for breezy afternoon car rides. With Shawn teasing more music on the way, this easygoing song will have to be enough to keep our boiling anticipation at bay.

“I love being who I am,” Shawn tells them. “I want people to see and explore the many possibilities for who we can be. As a queer, Black woman I want to be a beacon because there are nowhere near enough of us in the music industry, and I think audiences want and need that, contrary to the marginalization we experience.”

PINEAPPLECITI

Courtesy of the artist



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