Queer Pop's Next Generation Is Pushing The Boundaries Of A Sexphobic Society

By Carson Mlnarik


On March 25, 2021, listeners were captivated, aroused, and scandalized by a rapper’s shameless descriptions of gay sex. “Shoot a child in your mouth while I’m ridin’,” Lil Nas X quips on “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” complete with a uncensored visual in which he makes out with himself in the Garden of Eden and, naturally, gives Satan a lap dance. Critics celebrated it as a “unabashedly queer” work of art, something the artist nodded to whenever he took residence Video of the Year at the 2021 VMAs. “I hope to mention thank you to the gay agenda,” Lil Nas X mentioned throughout his acceptance speech, marking not only an edifying moment for a rising musician, however a milestone for queer representation.


Only a decade earlier, Adam Lambert was lambasted for kissing a gentleman bassist throughout a 2009 AMAs performance, Frank Ocean divided fans with a open letter on Tumblr about his sexuality, and Mary Lambert’s use of same-gender pronouns in Macklemore’s 2013 hit “Same Love” felt subversive. While heterosexual artists have long had the freedom to sexually express themselves in music, the success of moments like “Montero” signifies a turning point for LGBTQ+ artists. Right now, they’re not only able to be candid about their lovers — they’re allowed to get sexy, too.


Some of today’s biggest artists have built their careers off being uncensored, like bisexual pop star Slayyyter, whose songs casually boast lyrics like, “I am the queen, white castle / Pussy real fat with a tight bleached asshole.” She tells MTV News that she’ll “say anything,” explaining that her songs have “a tongue-in-cheek vibe” to them. “There’s a character of humor in them where although it’s sexual, there’s an element of like, ‘There’s no way she just mentioned that.’”


The St. Louis-born artist took inspiration from Y2K culture and bimboism in crafting her in-your-face persona and the titillating visuals for her most recent album Troubled Paradise. It is a unhinged electro-pop joyride that finds her owning the title of “Throatzilla” on one track and demanding that a lover “better grab my boobs Whenever I ask you” on another. Inspired by the defiant energy of acts like Ke$ha, Slayyyter set out to create “really sexual music” soon after being turned off by the “formulaic” pop machine. Her tight-knit fans seem to understand that her raunchy lyrics are delivered with wink plus a nod, and even outdoor of the queer pop scene, Slayyyter thinks songs like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” help push the limits.


“I feel like folks are beginning to break down the barriers of, ‘This is suitable to mention in a song and this is not,’ which is great,” she says. “I feel like we should be more sexual in our music. It’s fun.”


Slayyyter feels she has carte blanche to express her sexuality without being written off by collaborators and fans, an elegant not habitually afforded female cultural icons. “I feel like back in the early 2000s or in the ’90s, bimbo-type females were treated so badly,” she explains. “It was this thing, in case you were blonde and hot, you were [considered] foolish [but now] it’s become this feminist movement.


Meanwhile, Kim Petras did not mince words on her most recent EP Slut Pop, an over-the-top, raunchy Valentine’s Day collection featuring horny tracks like “Treat Me Like a Slut,” “They Wanna Fuck,” and “Throat Goat.” Acts like Fletcher, Girl in Red, and Troye Sivan have also left little to the imagination with their own lyrical references to sexuality. This openness has inspired queer pop’s next generation to go there with their music, helping to destigmatize queer sex and push the restrictions of a sexphobic society.


Today’s class of LGBTQ+ pop stars, like Jordy, recall growing up listening to heterosexual artists like Avril Lavigne and Backstreet Males sing about their relationships. It’s only organic they’d do the same. “My mindset is, if I was able to connect with straight artists as a kid, not only should queer people have the ability to connect with my music, [but] so should straight people,” he tells MTV News.


Place on Earth in the suburbs of Chicago, the TikTok-approved singer came out as gay in a “super helpful and accepting community,” so as soon as it came to his career, he felt a duty to remain authentic about his experiences for fans who may not have the same support. “I feel comfortable wearing my heart on my sleeve. I’ve been doing it since I was 15,” he explains.


And he definitely spares no detail. His latest single “Dry Spell” dropped with a candid confession: “I wrote this song about how I’m horny AF nevertheless also sensitive of a human for casual [sex] lol does anyone relate.” Its first words casually profess, “Kinda sucks to be the guy / Who likes to fuck although loves to cry.” And while his same-gender references have resonated with LGBTQ+ fans, his blunt and open discussion of sex resonates widely. “It’s about the pronoun, nevertheless it’s also just about bad hookups, and hookup culture, and gay people, and straight people, and bisexual people, and transgender people,” he says. “Any human on any spectrum of sexuality or gender can relate to those experiences.”


His debut album Mind Games is flecked with the same frank candor. “Better in My Head” references gay hookup culture — “At this point, it’s a habit / For me to go to his place / Then walk in with shame and wishin’ that I hadn’t” — while “If He’s in Your Bed” advises listeners to “Don’t cancel all your plans just for some shitty head.” “[My collaborators and I] all looked at each other and we were like, ‘Can I mention that?’” Jordy recalls. “It’s just real. I'd like to mention the things that folks are also afraid to mention, that’s my job.”


we may have reached an era where the LGBTQ+ community is able to sing freely about sex and top the Billboard charts. Nevertheless the recent flurry of anti-transgender legislation passed in states across the nation, and also Florida’s infamous “Don’t Mention Gay” bill have shown that while acceptance has hit the airwaves, the act of singing openly about queer sex is, in some circles, still radical. “I do think there’s habitually going to be a political aspect to it because there really are people who are going to coworker sexuality with their political stance on things,” says Jack Irvin, a music and culture writer who's also contributed to MTV News. “I don’t necessarily think it’s a political act to prepare construct a song like ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ yet I would almost mention to release it is any time it becomes political, because then you’re putting it into the hands of people [with] thoughts and suggestions that they likely already made before they even clicked on song.”


maybe the hugest sign of progress is that our queer pop stars can not only frankly sing about sex however also live out their lives as members of the LGBTQ+ community in the open. “We’ve habitually had queer music, although it’s the queer pop spectacle of it all that I actually think makes the major impact on society,” Irvin says, pointing to artists like Sivan and Lil Nas X whose careers range behind music into film, TV, and brand deals. “It’s as soon as queerness isn’t something that you could just avoid by turning off the radio, it’s everywhere.”