In a new remix
for her first single from the album, “Break My Soul,” Beyoncé has teamed up
with the Queen of Pop Madonna to make a “Vogue” remix that not only gays up the
already-gay disco song, but also gives Queen Bey a platform to list off some of
the Black queer legends that have influenced her.
The new album
was dedicated to her gay Uncle Jonny and “all the pioneers who originate culture,” and features
samples of Black queer artists like Big Freedia, TS Madison, Honey Djon, Syd,
Moi Renee, MikeQ, Kevin Aviance, and Kevin JZ Prodigy.
Now, on the
new "Break My Soul - The Queens Remix," Beyoncé is paying even more
tribute to the culture makers, listing off some great Black queer women artists
and then shouting out some of the legendary houses of the ballroom scene who
have influenced not just her, but all of pop music and culture.
“Rosetta
Tharpe, Santigold/Bessie Smith, Nina Simone,” she sings, name-dropping Sister
Rosetta Tharpe, the queer Godmother of Rock’n’Roll, and bisexual Empress of the
Blues Bessie Smith. As she continues to list names of Black women artists, she
also mentions gender nonconforming icon Grace Jones and queer singer Lizzo
while listing off other iconic names like Nina Simone, Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott,
Kelly Rowland, Janet Jackson, Toni Braxton, and more.
But if you
thought the queer shoutouts ended there, you’d be totally wrong! Queen Bey then
calls herself “Mother of my house” and pays tribute to other royalty by listing
off some of the most iconic houses of the ballroom scene.
The first
house she lists off is the legendary House of Xtravaganza, founded by Hector
Xtravaganza and led by Angie Xtravaganza as one of the first Latine houses in
the ball scene. Next up are House of Revlon, founded in 1989 and represented on
the third season of HBO Max’s reality series Legendary, and the
legendary House of LaBeija, founded by icon Crystal LaBeija and led by the
legend Pepper LaBeija from 1982 to 2003.
Next, she
shouts out the House of Amazon and House of Aviance. House member Kevin
Aviance’s 1996 single “Cunty” is also sampled on the track “Pure/Honey” and DJ
Nita Aviance did another remix of “Break My Soul.” She then moves to the House
of Balmain, House of Ninja (which was featured in the documentary Paris
Is Burning), and some more recent houses, including the House of Lanvin and
House of Telfar.
Bey finishes
up by paying tribute to the Houses of Ladosha, Mugler, Balenciaga, and Mizrahi,
making sure that we know all of the legendary and iconic houses that have
influenced her.
It’s beautiful
to see so many Black and other QPOC icons getting their dues in such a huge
song. Pop music comes from the Black queer community and it's time we said
“thank you,” just like Beyoncé does on this song.
SOURCE: OUT DOT COM
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