Sakima on "Project Peach" and Gay Hookup Culture - PAPER Magaze

Contents:

• MEET SAKIMA, THE POP CROONER WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT GAY SEX
• MEET SAKIMA, THE POP CROONER WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT GAY SEX
• GAY AGENDA, DEC. 1: VIRGIA DELEGATE-ELECT DANI ROEM IS A METAL HEAD; PL TRIXIE MATTEL, SAKIMA, & MORE

MEET SAKIMA, THE POP CROONER WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT GAY SEX

In the four songs, the 26-year-old platum blon mak clear: ’s about time we hear about gay sex on the rad. On the heels of his EP’s release, Billboard talked to the risg star about challengg clichéd mastream gay trop, the importance of Grdr and how Zayn Malik spired one of his tracks: “His songs are really ol now that he’s not that really s–t boy band.

Then there’s this third part of that is lyricized a way that is tryg to ph forward the ia of gay narrativ be more reprented wh pop mic and not g the ual trop that you might fd wh gay artist.

A lot of the gay trop wh popular mic for now are eher keepg really lovey-dovey or keepg really safe. Your song “He’s Trippi, ” for example: there’s no nyg that this song is om a gay perspective. Specifilly g words and phras that are appropriate to — our generatn and our morn day kd of experienc as gay people.

MEET SAKIMA, THE POP CROONER WHO WANTS TO TALK ABOUT GAY SEX

Which is absolutely fe but for a while, but as a gay artist ’s like, the realy of straight artists beg able to e pronouns whichever way they want, and then gay artists not beg able to do that, has been a real stark issue. Why do you thk ’s so important to do that as a gay artist? I thk most gay people growg up as kids and teenagers and young adults, their experience wh mic is one of a nstant — what’s that silly game?

Gay sex pecially. Wh my lyrics is the ia of takg phras or vobulary that you might be faiar wh om heterosexual mic, pecially sexualized heterosexual mic, and applyg to a gay narrative. “Imma pour out” and those trop — the ias of btg alhol and sex and thgs like that –I’m tryg to take that and then, as a gay man, e male pronouns wh the vobulary and brg a new ntext to .

I’m makg a py of pop mic, but then appropriatg to my experience as a gay man. But I never associated as beg somethg that was overtly gay bee isn’t lyrilly overtly gay, on the face value. It wasn’t until I was olr that I realized what has almost bee a gay cliché wh that song.

GAY AGENDA, DEC. 1: VIRGIA DELEGATE-ELECT DANI ROEM IS A METAL HEAD; PL TRIXIE MATTEL, SAKIMA, & MORE

There’s the visual metaphor of the Greek amphheater and ’s set wh a gay club.

What’s tertg is that wh that, wh this visual metaphor of the amphheater and the gay club, is queer people who are sexualized a Tom of Fland-que fashn and ’s almost a ritured versn of what ’s like to experience gay clubs as a member of the LGBTQ muny. That specific energy that n only really arise om the eedom and safety that is created by gay clubs.

You allud to this earlier, but why do you thk mastream gay micians are so PG the days? Which then puts the rponsibily back down to the listeners to really support and engage wh that work that is explorg gay narrativ beyond beg PG — and beyond beg jt lovey-dovey, borg, like f–k me. How do you thk Grdr and other gay datg apps has affected the gay muny?

I thk thgs like Grdr and Tr and apps like that, that allow gay people to meet other gay people, whether ’s for a drk or jt a f–k — whatever the purpose of , I thk ’s really important. Essentially ’s the ia of the gay club beg a safe space where you n meet those people, but your phone and wh a much wir work. I thk has been massively posive and important element of our morn society, pecially of the morn gay muny.