King Princess Is 'Bored Of Heteronormative Narrative' — But Don't Put Her Music Into A Box

It's almost been a full week since Mikaela Straus, a.K.A. King Princess, released her debut album, Cheap Queen, and right now, the singer has opened up to Rolling Stone all about the project — including who it's for, what inspired it, and what genre she thinks it should be believed. Spoiler alert: She's not sold on the term "queer pop."


However she identifies as a genderqueer lesbian, King Princess doesn't necessarily want her music to be placed in the "queer pop" box. Alternatively, she would prefer her success be regarded as proof that artists in the LGBTQ+ community can rise to the best with songs about queer relationships. "I think I define the ability to get here," she mentioned. "People are realizing that we're bored of heteronormative narrative."


Still, the singer acknowledges that there really are not "a lot of gay people" in her position. At least not however. And while she's happy to be creating music that makes the listening experience more inclusive for each person, we can all agree that this kind of representation is long overdue. "It’s changing," she mentioned. However it's only become profitable and trendy to be gay in the last couple of years. Right now it's time for people to be out and gay and make music."


But make no mistake. Not wanting her music to be classified as "queer pop" doesn't mean she wants to distance herself from the LGBTQ+ community. Case in point, that's who her Cheap Queen album is truly for. "It's really for the gays," she mentioned. "It is for everybody, although I feel especially the gays will be like, 'Damn, the emotions are there and I love that!'" In general, she just wants her music to be contained to the same common as straight artists. "'Queer pop' is literally saying sexuality is a genre," she mentioned. "I don’t hope to be sorted in with only gay people. That's dumb. I want to battle each person. If you're going to compare me, compare me to straight people, too."


Check out King Princess's full Rolling Stone feature here.