Same Love
It’s not often a rap song carried a message of support for anything gay let alone marriage equality, therefore it came as quite a surprise to many to hear a rap tune supporting gay marriage had sneaked into the US top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
Rap duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released the song Same Love, quite some time ago, February I believe and as the momentum for equal marriage across the US has increased so have sales for the enchanting tune. Last week it sold the most it ever had since it was released, an amazing 110,000 copies, pushing it into the charts.
The song comes from the duo‘s latest album and focuses on Macklemore’s personal experiences, thoughts and feelings around the issue of same-sex relationships and equal marriage. The accompanying video also features the lives of a gay couple, including a happy marriage and can be seen on YouTube.
The lyrics were inspired by Referendum 74, where voters in the US state of Washington voted to uphold a law legalising equal marriage.
Many believe the song, which also features vocalist Mary Lambert, gained an added impetuous recently because of the US Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of same-sex marriage, in two cases recently. It jumped from 28 to 16 in the Hot 100, as well as surging from 23 to 8 on the US Digital chart.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis rose to fame in the UK last year with the song Thrift Shop, which topped the UK chart and the follow up Can’t Hold Us, is currently in the top 20 in the UK, having been on the chart for around 16 weeks.
Same Love is surprisingly evocative and packed with energy, passion and meaning. A worthy addition to any music collection.
Jason Shaw talks to Brandon Anderson
Gay writer, broadcaster and Rainbow Post contributor Jason Shaw interviews American singer song writer Brandon Anderson about his latest single ‘I’ll Keep On Driving’ his career and life that took him from the midwest to New York.
You may not know his name, at least not yet, but Brandon Anderson is on the cusp of great things, this handsome young man is already an award winning singer/songwriter who hails from Wisconsin, USA. He creatively blends folk with piano rock with a pinch of other alternative influences to create a delightful sound that he terms ‘edgy folk rock’. It is a sound when combined with his provoking lyrics is already garnering many fans all over America and further afield around the world.
He was born and raised in a Mormon family from Kenosha, a medium sized city on the western shores of Lake Michigan, Wisconsin, USA. Music was a key background ingredient to life in Brandon’s home during his early years, yet there was always something creative hiding under the surface and Brandon got involved with school plays and school musicals as a kid. It was during his early teenage years when his family situation changed that Brandon began to have questions not only about his own Mormon faith but also about his sexuality. There were questions he needed answers to, but at the time answers seemed few and far between. However it wasn’t long before the young adolescent found the perfect outlet for his creative desires and ideas which was putting pen to paper and writing songs.
Brandon is now a resident of New York and regularly plays gigs at many of the Big Apples premier singer/songwriter hotspots as well as touring across America. It is along these travels that he picks up stories, ideas and inspirations that form the basis for many of his songs. Indeed his latest album, Guitars and Grievances, is largely inspired by the stories of hardship, human spirit and grievances he picked up along the way.
His latest single is a perfect example of just that, taken from Guitars and Grievances, I’ll Keep Driving is a moving, evolving story inspired by a young gay fan’s sense of despondency, isolation and the desire of seeking out a better place to be. Brandon’s effervescent voice delicately conveys the emotion with surprising depth echoing feelings that we can all identify with at some stage during our lives, at least to some degree.
Lady Gaga and The Trevor Project.
Jason Shaw’s article first published as Lady GaGa Honored With Hero Award on Technorati.
“Our young people are at the centre of a health crisis, and vocal leaders like Lady Gaga and technology leaders like Google Inc. have stepped up to help change our culture,” David McFarland, interim executive director and CEO of the Trevor Projec
“Our honorees are working with the Trevor Project to make a better today and a brighter tomorrow for youth. We are proud to honor Lady Gaga with the Trevor Hero Award and Google Inc. with the Trevor 2020 award for their work to help young people express their true selves with pride.”t, said in a statement.
New Benetton Ad
Italian clothing giant United Colors of Benetton has unveiled its new campaign, featuring unlikely men kissing. I love this new ad, it’s provocative, strange, controversial and is bound to set a million tongues wagging.
Three advertisement banners were revealed in Italy yesterday as part of the company’s UNHATE campaign.
Two were unveiled in Milan, one featuring Barrack Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao sharing a kiss, and another with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel. It’s rather sad that a third, has been pulled, which featured Pope Benedict kissing Egyptian imam Mohamed Ahmed el-Tayeb. Now that really would have caused a stir and put a cat among the pigeons.
New Film – Homophobia
Jason’s article first published as Project Homophobia on Technorati.
Fresh from the amazing success of his short film The Boy Next Door (vimeo.com/8916870), that has been watched nearly two million times on YouTube alone, director Gregor Schmidinger returns with news of his latest project. This time the talented 26 year-old film maker turns his attention to the contentious issue of gay bullying. Which, following the deaths of many young people recently, like Jamey Rodemeyer, is an even more important and emotive than before.Continue reading →
Glee’s First Time episode comes to UK TV screens tonight.
A Glee episode set to air in the UK tonight will portray the show’s critically acclaimed gay couple losing their virginity.
The episode also follows them and one of the show’s main straight couples as they consider taking their relationship to the next level.Making music TimPermanent
Special music feature from Howard Stump.
TimPermanent is about to release his latest collection of music. I first heard his music at the beginning of the year when he released Marker, a wonderful EP. My appreciation only grew when he released an acoustic cover of Robyn’s song, Dancing On My Own. He is about to release another EP, Resident. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy, and it is outstanding.
I first covered Tim through the release of Marker. You can find that here. Tim has been an out and proud performer since he was part of the socially-conscious anti-folk duo Testosterone Kills. As a solo performer, he weds electronica with infectious Pop and heartfelt lyrics.
Continue reading →
