Trans Musicians You Need to Listen to
By Laurine Payet, Music Journalist
This Trans Awareness Week, we’re bringing exposure to our favourite artists who identify as trans, non-binary or genderfluid. It’s harder for trans creatives to surround themselves with a safe team that only has their best interests at heart. It’s harder to get signed by a record label, a touring agent, a manager. It’s harder to have their music listened to. We’ve curated the most exciting trans artists that will elevate any playlist.
Formally known under the pseudonym Toast, the Brooklyn based singer-songwriter Claud (they/them) creates synth-based indie pop for the ears of everyone, but especially for the softest feelings of the queer community. After focusing their high school years on their creativity through guitar and singing, Claud Mintz saw their career take off while opening for artists such as Bleachers, the Neighbourhood and Girlpool. The songwriter combined influences from the 90s alt-rock scene to the top charters of the noughties in their debut album ‘Super Monster’, released under Phoebe Bridgers’ record label Saddest Factory. The track ‘Soft Spot’ is likely to be your own soft spot.
“I think words are important. To call a person by their chosen gender is to honor their spirit, their life and contribution.” - ANOHNI
Originally the lead singer of the Mercury Prize Winner band Antony and the Johnsons, ANOHNI (she/her) has now taken her own path in music. Born in the UK and raised in California, the singer grew up with artists such as Culture Club and Soft Cell. This scene will build who she is now as a creative. A lot of people recognized her track ‘In My Dreams’ in the acclaimed TV show Euphoria. Her debut album ‘HOPELESSNESS’ as ANOHNI is a cinematic masterpiece, combining strong and powerful beats with the deep and intense voice of the singer. She became the second openly transgender person nominated for an Academy Award - for Best Original Song.
We have talked about her in the past but it is never enough. The Los Angeles-based singer Kim Petras (she/her) is a leading artist in the LGBTQ+ community as well as the pop scene. Originally from Cologne in Germany, Kim Petras has been a fast-rising sensation since the self-release of her debut single ‘I Don’t Want It At All’ in 2017. Blending electropop, dance-pop, EDM and mainstream pop, Petras has actually been crafting her music since her teenage years, releasing the EP ‘One Piece of Tape’ – not available anymore - in 2011. The pop icon has recently released her latest single ‘Future Starts Now’, a definite club bop.
“Nowadays where everything else is polluted, art remains the only pure form of communication; only art speaks the real truth about society and you can't tame it.” – Andrea di Giovanni
London has seen its own star rising and it is Andrea di Giovanni (he/she/they). Originally from Italy, the genderqueer artist plays a contemporary pop sound that has even reached television in the Netflix show “Tiny Pretty Things” with the hit song ‘Shame Resurrection’. Andrea’s debut EP ‘Permission’, released in 2019, features a lead single ‘Forbidden Love’, honoring Silvia Rivera and other LGBTQ activists. Called “The Next DIY Pop Star”, ADG released their first long-play ‘Rebel’ earlier this year.
What began as the persona of a teenage girl character on a YouTube video in 2010 turned out to be a hip-hop star a few years later. Mykki Blanco (she/her; they/them) made her musical debut in 2012 with the EP ‘Mykki Blanco & the Mutant Angels’. She soon after saw her career rise through the release of her five albums and mixtapes, including her latest LP ‘Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep’ last summer. The record includes collaborations with other queer artists such as Blood Orange and Big Freedia. Mykki Blanco is a blend between lo-fi instrumentals and powerful vocals oscillating between rapping and singing. She bends the codes of genres and cannot be defined. From a punk and Riot Grrrl background, there is a large variety in her sound.
“I identify as a trans Latina woman, and yet, I don't want to encourage anyone to think that my gayness has been banished. And when I talk about gayness, it's funny because I'm not thinking about who I'm attracted to. It's a form of cultural production that is individual and collective, which I don't ever want to renounce.” – Arca
The Barcelona-based multi-talented artist Arca is back again. Ahead of the release of her upcoming album ‘Kick ii’, the producer and musician have released a handful of singles, including the successful ‘Born Yesterday’ with Sia. The song ‘Queer’, released a few days ago, features her non-binary peer Planningtorock. The two artists got together to produce a bop that give us a sense of the album to come.
You can find an extended playlist of our favorite trans artists here. This time the playlist is collaborative, which means we can all add our top picks to platform our own idols, and make this a platform to give exposure to minorities in the music industry.
