It’s Pride season, and there are a select few songs that you just can’t avoid around this time. Everywhere you turn it’s Gloria Gaynor surviving and Gaga declaring that she was in fact born that way, and you can hardly walk into a Boots without the Village People booming over the intercom.
It might be “fun to stay at the YMCA”, but not when you’re just running in looking for something to treat your UTI. Seeing the world embrace our culture through music is a heart-warming phenomenon, but as the great Cheryl Cole once sang: too much of anything can make you sick. There’s only so much feeling mighty real one queer can do.
If you’re looking for something different to get you feeling proud, here are our top Pride Anthems for when you’re over Somewhere Over the Rainbow:
Erika Jayne – How Many Fucks?
Zero. Zero. Zero. DONE. The gayest housewife to stomp onto reality TV, she’s the filthy rich Beverly Hills resident that doesn’t give a damn. Often dubbed the queen of West Hollywood, and goes nowhere without her flock of adoring queer glam squad. She famously told her manager “I’m going to give the gays everything they want”, and with this single she sure did. This is the perfect hit if you’re rocking a particularly risqué outfit, and need that zero fucks energy.
Lauren Harries – I Am A Woman
It was quite, err, surprising when transgender trailblazer Lauren Harries decided to get into music, but we were still here for it. Along with a monochromatic music video featuring dramatic candelabras and draped chiffon, I Am A Woman details her feelings around her trans-ness. “I’ve done some things that would make your toes curl” and we can believe it. Once the jazzy saxophone kicks in, the tune swiftly picks up and is arguably a bop. You keep doing you, Lauren.
RuPaul ft. Big Freedia – Peanut Butter
“She spreads her thighs just like Peanut Butter.” Internationally known as the queen who brought drag to the masses, RuPaul has a wide and varied music catalogue, where some songs are most definitely better than others. This track is one of her most booty-shaking, and with the assistance of New Orlean bounce queen Big Freedia, it manages to get the most flat-arsed among us throwing that back out.
Beth Ditto – Oo La La
We stan an indie rock queen. She’s known for her avant-garde lewks that have cemented her as the rocker darling of the fashion world, from walking for Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs to performing at Gucci’s Post-Cruise Concert. As a queer person herself, her music really speaks to an inner queer rage with a dainty veneer of mysticism. ‘Oo La La’ brings together everything we love about Ditto, from bouncing, thundering beats to a kitschy-cute hook featuring all of her GCSE French.
Grace Jones – Slave to the Rhythm
The artistry. The beauty. The androgyny. Grace Jones served it all on a glistening silver platter. She provided the eighties club scene with the sound that came to define it, and “Slave to the Rhythm “became her biggest commercial success. The track epitomises queer culture’s love for its nightlife, and why it’s been so instrumental to our liberation. The accompanying music video also brought forward a highly-influential queer aesthetic to the mainstream.
CupcakKe – LGBT
Truly the queer anthem of this generation. “Shit on everything, need some potty training”, its poetry is palpable. This is the ally anthem because you better get out of their way when they’re rolling with the LGBT. This could be seen as the rapper pandering to her big gay following, but we don’t want to be that cynical since she’s using her platform to move the cause forward. Plus she’s only TWENTY-TWO! Go get ‘em CupcakKe. She proves she truly knows the gays as she spits her bars, rapping “I’m talkin’ tight jeans, good hygienes”.
Cher – SOS
What could be gayer than a Cher cover of an Abba song? A song from her life-affirming album Dancing Queen was a must for this list. A standout was this cover of SOS which brought back the heavy camp energy that was in the original, that Pierce Bronson didn’t quite succeed in serving with his cover. At its roots, this song is about not being able to call out for help from the people that are closest to you, which us queer people can relate to.
Troye Sivan – Bloom
BOTTOMS UNITE! When prince of the twinks Troye released this hit back in the August of last year, it was quickly instated as the official anthem for twinky bottoms. It’s all about inviting someone to indulge in your garden, so the subtext isn’t so ‘sub’ about being a sub. This is another hit about sexual liberation, all about entering the arena of sex for the first time. Sivan himself declared: “I wanna play that song at every Pride.” We’re just here trying to make the dreams of the prince of twinks come true.
Kim Petras – Do Me
She’s prettier than you, and she knows it. She’s feeling her sexual liberation in this latest hit, and nothing says Pride than feeling your sexual fantasy. This German kawaii, trans candy treat is all pink latex and rainbows and we’re living for it. “Give it to me harder, I can take it”, she’s both talented and ambitious. This is the song you play when your prancing around your bedroom sticking iridescent gems to your ass cheeks before slipping into the day’s skimpy outfit.
Kevin Fret – Soy Asi
Trail-blazing Latin trap artist Kevin Fret gained a cult following a few years ago, marrying the super-macho trap attitude with his gender-fluid looks. He insistently used his platform to bring forward LGBT+ issues, and was a shining example for queer artists wanting to cultivate a career in alternative music genres. He ultimately fell victim to the hatred he advocated against, shot dead in Puerto Rico aged 24. His song “Soy Asi” (I’m Like This) illustrates his talent and why he became so popular, with the bragging lyrics flaunting his fierce personality. “As much as they want to hate me, I’m like that”.
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