Pride

05 Aug 2023

NYC High School Student Charged With Hate-Motivated Murder in Killing of Dancer O’Shae Sibley

Police have arrested a 17-year-old high school student on a hate-motivated murder charge in the fatal stabbing of a professional dancer during an altercation between two groups of friends at a New York City gas station last weekend.

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Police took the teenager into custody Friday (Aug. 4) in connection with the killing of the 28-year-old O’Shae Sibley, who was gay. Authorities declined to release the defendant’s name.

“Parents lost a child, a child, to something that was clearly a hate crime,” Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, said Saturday during a news conference outside the Brooklyn gas station where Sibley was killed July 29.

The stabbing occurred after the two groups got into a confrontation at one of the gas pumps, where Sibley was dancing with his friends to a Beyoncé song. Authorities said Sibley’s group was being taunted by the other group before the confrontation ended in violence.

Beyoncé would later pay tribute to Sibley on her website.

Security camera video showed the two groups arguing for a few minutes. Both sides had walked away when Sibley and a friend abruptly returned and again confronted one of the young men, who had stayed behind recording on his phone.

In the video, Sibley could be seen following the teen and then lunging at him before the two disappeared out of the camera’s view. A moment later, he walks backward into view, checking his side, and then collapses to the sidewalk.

Lee Soulja Simmons, the executive director for the NYC Center for Black Pride, also spoke at the news conference.

“We wrestle with people within our community constantly facing discrimination — not just because you’re Black but because you represent LGBT” communities, he said.

“The fact that he was doing nothing more but voguing and dancing here, he did not deserve to die in that way,” Simmons said.

One of Sibley’s friends who was there, Otis Pena, said in a Facebook video that Sibley was killed because he was gay, and “because he stood up for his friends.”

One witness, Summy Ullah, said in interviews that the men complained that their behavior offended them as Muslims.

Some leaders of the area’s Muslim community condemned the slaying.

“The weight of this loss is felt deeply, not just by the family and friends of O’Shae, but by all of us who value life, peace and justice,” Soniya Ali, the executive director of the Muslim Community Center, said Saturday.

“As Muslims, we are committed to stand up for justice, even if it means standing against our own selves,” she said. “We unequivocally condemn the unjust murder of O’Shae.”

Sibley performed with the dance company Philadanco in his native Philadelphia and in New York, where he took classes with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Ailey Extension program.

04 Aug 2023

Queer Jams of the Week: New Music from Kali Uchis, Demi Lovato, Towa Bird & More

As we move toward the end of summer, there’s still time for you to find your song of the summer from your favorite queer artists. Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.

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From Kali Uchis’ team-up with El Alfa and JT to Demi Lovato’s collaboration with LE SSERAFIM, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:

Kali Uchis feat. El Alfa & JT, “Muñekita”

Get ready for your new sexy summer anthem. Kali Uchis invited Dominican dembow superstar El Alfa and City Girls member JT for her flirty new single “Muñekita,” where the trio strut their way down a delicious Latin beat, spitting Spanish bars about how truly fabulous they all are. On her own, Uchis could have made an excellent Spanish-language anthem — but with Alfa and JT in tow, it’s a party you’ll never want to leave.

LE SSERAFIM feat. Demi Lovato, “Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard’s Wife”

How should a K-pop act like LE SSERAFIM capitalize on a viral banger like “Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard’s Wife?” Their answer is to invite pop-rock icon Demi Lovato onboard for a verse. The bones of what made “Eve” such a great song remain fully intact — from the house-inspired production to the delicious vocals from each member. But with the addition of Lovato, jumping back into her dark-pop era for a bossed-up verse, “Eve” ascends to even greater heights.

Towa Bird, “This Isn’t Me”

Just three singles into her career with Interscope, Towa Bird is already proving to be one of the most exciting new artists on the scene. “This Isn’t Me” only adds to her already prestigious discography with a tender but gritty indie rock anthem about finding yourself stuck in a social quagmire where you simply do not belong. Fuzzy guitars, chunky drums and an expertly restrained vocal all make “This Isn’t Me” a perfectly-crafted ode to social anxiety.

Teddy Geiger, “Never Enough”

With her latest single “Never Enough,” Teddy Geiger just can’t stop thinking about consumption. Over a delirious and often hypnotic melody, the singer-songwriter examines our insatiable craving for more and more of just about everything. “Once you have a little bit of something, it’s never quite enough; when the show has been binged, you want more of it,” she told Billboard of the new song. “You’re always left feeling like there’s something lacking, unless you can come to peace with the feeling itself.”

Durand Bernarr, “Kiss from a Rose” (Seal Cover)

We didn’t know that we needed to hear one of the most uniquely talented voices in music covering a ’90s soul staple — yet here we are! Durand Bernarr took on Seal’s iconic “Kiss from a Rose,” opting to keep what works about the soft-rock-meets-soul anthem, and letting his unbelievable voice do the work. Throughout this marvelous cover, Bernarr proves again why he is perfectly situated to become the next big star in R&B — all you have to do is press play to find out why.

Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Weeks playlist below:

01 Aug 2023

Teddy Geiger Prepares to Embrace ‘the Truest Version’ of Herself on ‘Teresa’: Exclusive

Back in 2019, a little over a year into her transition, singer-songwriter Teddy Geiger decided to spend three months in Madrid reconnecting with herself. Visiting friends and family, Geiger wanted an escape from her life in Los Angeles and a chance to reflect on all the change the last year of her life had brought.

It didn’t take long for that period of reflection to fuel Geiger’s inspiration, leading to a series of songwriting sessions while on vacation. “I had a little makeshift setup at the kitchen table for recording with a guitar and a bandurria,” Geiger tells Billboard. “I was stepping into being seen as female in the world, and this allowed me to take the time to express that.”

The result of that three-month Spanish sojourn is Teresa, Geiger’s upcoming sophomore LP under her solo moniker teddy<3>

Where Geiger’s debut album as teddy<3>LillyAnna, widened its scope to encompass myriad ideas and genres, Teresa thrives in its cohesion. Soaked in luscious dream-pop soundscapes that smoothly transition from one track to the next, the forthcoming album soundtracks an artist fully immersing herself in a distinct persona.

As Geiger tells it, that was largely the point; every part of Teresa, from its production to its title, lends itself to a specific vision of herself. “Teresa became the truest version of myself,” Geiger says. “I started writing the name on the shower wall and using that as a reminder to say, ‘Okay, there’s this essential person in me that I want to feel connected to and be able to express fully.’”

The name itself came from an innocuous interaction with a stranger on the streets of Spain in 2019 — when Geiger told them that her name was Teddy, they immediately mistook her name for “Terri,” thinking it was short for Teresa. “We went back and forth for a minute, and eventually I was just like, ‘You know what? Yeah. I like that,’” she says.



A clear-cut example of the existentialist songwriting Geiger explores throughout Teresa is “Never Enough,” the project’s second single debuting exclusively on Billboard. Over a relentless guitar line that slowly devolves into a hypnotic pop beat, Geiger’s faded voice ponders at what point she’ll finally reach satisfaction with what she has.

“I remember being really fixated on the idea of wondering when enough is actually enough,” Geiger says of the new song. “Once you have a little bit of something, it’s never quite enough; when the show has been binged, you want more of it. You’re always left feeling like there’s something lacking, unless you can come to peace with the feeling itself.”

Much like the rest of the songs written on Teresa, “Never Enough” comes from a place within Geiger that she doesn’t often get to access. For the last decade, Geiger largely made her living as a sought-after songwriter in the industry, known primarily for her close collaboration with pop star Shawn Mendes; her work on the singer’s 2019 hit “In My Blood” earned a Grammy nomination for song of the year.

To this day, Geiger says she “loves” songwriting with and for various artists — in the last two years, she’s written for artists ranging from P!nk to Meghan Trainor to Machine Gun Kelly. But she also points out that the skill set required as a songwriting partner is significantly different from what’s needed to write for herself.

“When I work with other artists, I always want the ideas to come from them — I will very rarely pitch whole ideas to artists, but rather just be there to support whatever their vision is,” she says. “So, to try and turn that process back on myself and relearn how to do it felt like a challenge.”

Despite the difficulty, Geiger says she is immensely proud of the work she put in on Teresa. For the first time in a long time, she says she finally feels like she has a grasp on her identity as well as her career as an artist. “It’s been really nice to focus on what it feels like, what it sounds like and what it looks like for me as an artist at this point,” she says. “It took some time, but I’m now feeling really focused on myself and my artistry.”

28 Jul 2023

Queer Jams of the Week: New Music from Sam Smith, Anne-Marie, CHIKA & More

Summertime may be in full swing, but it’s never too late to find your song of the summer. Billboard Pride is here to help with the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.

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From Sam Smith’s new collaboration with Calvin Harris to Anne-Marie’s new album, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:

Calvin Harris feat. Sam Smith, “Desire”

Each time Calvin Harris and Sam Smith have teamed up to make music, the results have been blissful — whether it was the cooled-down stylings of 2018’s “Promises,” or the disco euphoria of this year’s “I’m Not Here to Make Friends.” Their latest collaboration “Desire” follows in those same footsteps; a thundering trance beat and a set of stuttering synth lines perfectly match with Smith’s delicate vocal, as they declare that just “the thought of you is keeping me awake.”

Anne-Marie, Unhealthy

Trying to encapsulate what Anne-Marie’s Unhealthy is all about is like trying to grab a fish with your bare hands — just when you think you have a good grasp, it manages to wriggle away. But that’s part and parcel of the accomplishment in the pop singer’s latest LP; Unhealthy is about embracing chaos and learning to accept what can’t be fully understood. The sonics match that theme — Anne-Marie oscillates between gorgeously-sung ballads (like “You & I” featuring Khalid), angsty pop-rock anthems (“Haunt You”), and pure pop anthems (“Trainwreck”), the British phenom refuses to just be one thing, when she can be everything.

CHIKA, Samson

Much like the titular Bible character, Chika is ready to find strength in what makes her vulnerable. On her full-length debut Samson, the rapper goes beyond proving why she deserves recognition for her pen game, and acknowledges the emotional turmoil that has plagued her life for the last few years. Embracing blatant honesty to devastating effect, Chika burns bridges (“Mad”), flexes her skills (“Prodigy”), and weaves a compelling narrative web of an artist rejecting her position as an overlooked superstar. Chika didn’t mince her words, so we won’t either; Samson is a masterpiece.

Shamir, “The Beginning”

Looking for a throwback to the late ’90s? Shamir has got you covered with “The Beginning,” a scrumptious pop-rock jam that’s ready to transport you straight back to the age of Savage Garden and Third Eye Blind. It’s fitting, then, that the lyrics to the delectable new song are all about looking back on the good old days of a relationship, and realizing that maybe they weren’t as “good” as you thought they were. “The Beginning” is just another reason why Shamir remains a vital voice in the indie pop-rock scene.

Kidd Kenn, “Coming”

That’s Mr. Kenn, if you’re nasty — and “Coming” will certainly encourage you to access your nasty side. With his latest single, rising rap star Kidd Kenn is happy to go full “WAP,” but this time for the gays, flexing all of the various way that he can get his lover hot over an entrancing melody and booming beat. Yes, “Coming” is exactly what it sounds like — a hip-hop banger for you to press play on immediately.

MAY-A, “Something Familiar”

When Hamlet said that we would all “rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of,” MAY-A felt that. On her latest single “Something Familiar,” MAY-A gives into comfort over consistency, basking in knowing the person she’s with well, even if she doesn’t really like them all that much. Add in her updated, rocked out sound to give the song a boost of adrenaline, and you’ve got yet another jam from the rising star.

Jaboukie, “not_me_tho”

If you want to work yourself to the bone to get ahead, that’s just fine — just don’t expect Jaboukie Young-White to join you. On his latest single off of his upcoming new album, the comedian-turned-writer-turned-actor-turned-musician is skewering hustle culture with a carefree, shrugged-off anthem. Throwing up a middle finger to late-stage capitalism, “not_me_tho” is Jaboukie at his most effortless, laughing at the social climbers sweating their way to the top as he casually waves at them from his self-made pedestal.

Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:

28 Jul 2023

No, Troye Sivan Is Definitely Not a Bottom: ‘This Is Something I Want to Clear Up’

Troye Sivan would like to set the record straight — well, not straight per se — about some rumors that have pervaded the internet for the last few years.

On a recent episode of Emily Ratajkowski’s High Low podcast, Sivan declared once and for all that he is not a bottom. “This is actually something I want to clear up,” he told the model-actress. “I wrote this one song called ‘Bloom,’ right? It’s about bottoming. And the lyric is ‘I bloom just for you.’ And people took that and ran.”

Continuing, the Australian pop star said that the queer community online thinks that he is “some crazy power bottom,” when that is simply not true. When asked by EmRata if it was “annoying to have to clarify that,” Sivan said it was not. “I think sometimes people are just surprised, maybe if they go on a date with me, and I’m like, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m not a bottom,’” he said.

Fans expressed their varying levels of shock in the comments section of a TikTok clip, with one saying “I did NOT have ‘Troye Sivan is a strict top’ on my 2023 bingo card.” Some fans, though, felt that Sivan had been pretty clear through his lyrics. “I’ve always understood that. Like he’s saying ‘I bloom JUST for YOU,’” one commenter wrote.

The new clip comes during a big week for Sivan — his latest single “Rush” recently debuted across 12 different Billboard charts, including a No. 77 debut on the Billboard Hot 100, marking his first entry on the chart since 2021’s “You” with Regard and Tate McRae, and his highest debut on the chart to date.

In an interview with Billboard shortly after the song was released, Sivan said that he was already thrown off by the extremely warm reception it received. “I know that I’m really super happy about it, and I also think I am a little bit intimidated,” he said. “It’s a good intimidation, because it just makes me think, ‘Damn, we’ve got to make a great video for the second single.’”

Check out the clip of Sivan on EmRata’s High Low below:

28 Jul 2023

JoJo Siwa Recalls Being ‘Blackballed’ by Corporations After Coming Out

Since publicly coming out back in 2021, internet star JoJo Siwa has made a point of being as outspoken as possible for her community — and apparently, some organizations did not appreciate that.

During her appearance on Thursday’s episode of The Viall Files (July 27), Siwa said that amidst the “overwhelming” attention she received after coming out, there were a few corporations that were upset with her decision to speak about her sexuality publicly. “I had a lot of people of corporations [who] told me that I made the wrong choice and that I shouldn’t have come out,” she said. “[They said] that I shouldn’t tell my young demographic that I’m gay.”

Siwa then went on to say that many of those same people then “blackballed” her from working with them. “They kind of shunned me from their corporations in a way,” she said.

While the prospect of being blacklisted by certain companies would be daunting to many, Siwa says she didn’t let it bother her. “I don’t want to work for a company [or] represent something that doesn’t support who I love,” she said. “If somebody has a problem with me telling little kids that it’s okay to be who you are and love who you want to love and do what you want to do, then we don’t need to be friends.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that Siwa locked horns publicly with a major corportation; back in 2021, the star called out Nickelodeon for not allowing her to perform original songs from her movie The J Team while on tour. “These are MY songs, MY voice, MY writing. Does this seem fair???” she wrote at the time.

Check out Siwa’s full interview on The Viall Files in the video above.

28 Jul 2023

JoJo Siwa Doesn’t Regret Calling Out Candace Cameron Bure: ‘I Gotta Stand Up for My People’

In the months since internet star JoJo Siwa publicly called out Full House actress Candace Cameron Bure, she’s had a lot of time to reflect. Now, she’s ready to talk about why she doesn’t regret her statements.

During her appearance on the Thursday (July 27) episode of The Viall Files, Siwa looked back on her public spat with the actress and said that in hindsight, she stands by her statements. “It gave me a sense of, ‘OK, you and her are never going to agree, you and her are never going to be friends’ … I am never going to be able to change her,” she told host Nick Viall. “I wish she was able to be a little more open, a little more accepting. I’m OK with calling her out in the way that I did.”

The controversy began when Siwa posted a TikTok in July 2022 in which she quietly referred to Bure as the “rudest” celebrity she’d ever met. When fans pressed her for the story, Siwa shared that Bure refused to take a photo with her at the premiere of Fuller House when she was 11 years old, which hurt her feelings.

Eventually, Bure and Siwa talked and patched things up, with the YouTube star deciding that she would just not speak about the actress publicly anymore. “I actually had a little bit of [a thought] like, ‘Ah I shouldn’t have posted that,’” she told Viall. “She didn’t need that, I didn’t need that, so let’s learn the lesson for next time.”

Then in November, Bure did an interview with The Wall Street Journal, during which she said that her new slate of Christmas films on Great American Family would “keep traditional marriage at the core” by not including LGBTQ storylines. Siwa, at the time, responded to the news by calling her statement “rude and hurtful” to queer people everywhere. “Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+ [people], but then also talk about it in the press,” Siwa wrote at the time.

Talking to Viall, Siwa said that the intention behind Bure’s exclusion is what got her particularly angry. “She wanted to do a movie about that to put down LGBTQIA [people], and that she was specifically going to make movies that had no representation of LGBTQIA [people],” she said. “When you’re doing it out of spite to say that, ‘Too much is about LGBTQIA [people] and you guys suck and I want to make a movie about traditional marriage and you’re not traditional,’ that got to me a little bit.”

While Siwa said that she once felt bad about her criticism of Bure, she’s since decided that she doesn’t need to apologize for disagreeing with someone who doesn’t support her community. “That’s my people,” she told Viall. “I gotta stand up for my people.”

Check out Siwa’s full interview on The Viall Files above.

26 Jul 2023

J-Pop Star Shinjiro Atae Comes Out as Gay During Fan Event

J-pop idol Shinjiro Atae is ready to open up to the world about his sexuality.

During a free fan event at Line Cube Shibuya in Tokyo on Wednesday (July 26), the Kyoto-born singer officially came out to his fans as a gay man. Speaking to a crowd of approximately 2,000 fans according to a press release, Atae spoke at length about his decision to come out and what he hoped it meant for fans struggling with a similar process.

Atae then took to his Instagram to announce the news to the rest of his fans who were unable to attend the event. “To all my fans, today was a very special day for me,” he wrote. “For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself … but now, after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man.”

Acknowledging that for a long time he “could not even say it” to himself, the J-pop singer said that he eventually accepted who he was and decided to share his truth with the world. “I’ve come to realize it is better, both for me, and for the people I care about, including my fans, to live life authentically than to live a life never accepting who I truly am,” he wrote.

Atae first debuted as a founding member of the popular J-pop group AAA, which debuted in 2005 and went on hiatus in 2021. Since joining the group, Atae also began his own solo music career, which has garnered him over 11,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

To celebrate his coming out, Atae released a new song and music video titled “Into the Light.” Throughout the English track, Atae details living life as different versions of himself before stepping into the titular light, telling his fans that “You opened the door/ So I could open my heart.”

Along with revealing that he would be releasing the full footage of his speech from the fan event on Thursday (July 27), Atae closed his Instagram post by thanking his fans for their unwavering support throughout his career. “When I think of my work in the entertainment industry and the many things for which I am grateful, it is my relationship with my fans that first comes to mind,” he wrote. I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for standing beside me over the years. I’d also like to thank my family, friends, staff members and my fellow AAA members for providing me their full support throughout this process.”

Check out Shinjiro Atae’s full Instagram post, as well as his music video for “Into the Light,” below:

26 Jul 2023

Troye Sivan ‘Pulling the Brakes’ on Reaching Out to Stray Kids’ Hyunjin After TikTok Video Elicited Scary Responses

Troye Sivan was having some fun last month when he made a playful plea to his followers to help him track down his celebrity crush. While teasing his thumping new single, “Rush,” Sivan posted a thirst trap fan edit of Stray Kids singer Hyunjin in which the 23-year-old pop star was depicted dancing in slow motion.

“Anyone know how to reach this man,” Sivan captioned the clip.

But now, in a new interview with Apple Music’s Travis Mills, Sivan said some of the comments he received on his light-hearted attempt at digital flirting with the K-pop singer he first met — and took a selfie with — at Dua Lipa’s “La Vacanza” Versace fashion show in Cannes in May have made him reconsider his public plea.

“I’m even nervous to talk about it now,” he told Mills with a skittish laugh. “I thought he was super, super, super sweet and, obviously, so beautiful. And then I deep-dived and was like, ‘this guy is insanely talented.’” Sivan said he put up what he thought was a “cute” TikTok reach-out message, but some of the responses made him re-think his plan.

“I got a lot of nice messages, like a lot of people being like, ‘this is cute,’” he said. “But I also got a lot of death threats and stuff like that. So, I am pulling the brakes on that.” That said, Sivan added that if a chance came to possibly collab with Hyunjin in the future, he would do that in “a heartbeat.”

Sivan’s original TikTok was followed by a second one in which he said it was the last time he would “publicly crush” on a K-pop star, joking that the Hyunjin reach out almost got him “murdered.” Sivan’s follow-up to his 2018 album Bloom, Something to Give Each Other, is due out on Oct. 13.

Check out the interview below (Hyunjin talk begins at 16 minute mark):

23 Jul 2023

The 1975 Cancels Shows in Indonesia and Taiwan Following Malaysia LGBTQ Controversy

The 1975 are canceling shows in Indonesia and Taiwan after the band’s set was cut at a Malaysia music festival following frontman Matty Healy‘s comments about the country’s anti-gay laws and kissing his bandmate on stage.

The British pop-rock group was scheduled to perform at Jakarta’s We the Fest on Sunday (July 23) and at the Taipei Music Center on Tuesday (July 25) as part of their 2023 Asia tour. The band announced in a statement on Sunday that both performances have been called off.

“The 1975 regret to announce that their forthcoming shows in Jakarta and Taipei will no longer be going ahead as planned,” the 1975 wrote in a statement posted on We the Fest’s Twitter page.

“The band never takes the decision to cancel a show lightly and had been eagerly looking forward to playing for fans in Jakarta and Taipei but unfortunately, due to current circumstances, it is impossible to proceed with the scheduled shows.”

The cancellations come after Healy slammed Malaysia’s LGBTQ laws as “f–king ridiculous” before sharing a prolonged kiss with bassist Ross MacDonald at the country’s Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur on Friday (July 21). The following day, event organizer Future Sounds Asia announced that the remainder of the three-day fest had been canceled.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia, and those convicted face up to 20 years behind bars.

The 1975’s Good Vibes set was cut short after Healy, who has long been outspoken about LGBTQ rights, ranted about Malaysia’s restrictive laws banning homosexuality.

“Because you are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progressive and cool,” he told the crowd in video circulating on social media, noting that he had pulled the show Thursday in protest before deciding not to let fans down. “But, I’ve done this before. I’ve gone to a country where it’s — I don’t know what it f–king is. Ridiculous. F–king ridiculous to tell people what they can do with that and that. If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can f–k off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before and it doesn’t feel good, and I’m f–ked off.”

The set ended early shortly after Healy kissed MacDonald, with the frontman telling festival-goers, “All right, we just got banned from Kuala Lumpur. See you later.”

See the 1975’s Asian tour cancellation announcement below via We the Fest’s Twitter page.