h#ps://www.poz.com/ar0cle/2023-top-hiv-news-stories
2023 Top HIV News Stories In 2023, POZ readers were drawn to memorials, Latino advocacy, HIV crime laws, love stories and obituaries of AIDS advocates. As a new year approaches and we reflect on the past 12 months, a look at the most popular HIV news headlines of 2023 reveals that POZ readers were drawn to a topic that has never dominated our year-end lists before: obituaries. In previous years, a few obituaries of AIDS advocates would appear among the top stories, but in 2023, a total of five made the 20 most-read news items, including the top two spots: The duo that garnered the most page views was a July obituary on Stephen Pieters, the gay minister living with AIDS who was interviewed by evangelical icon Tammy Faye Bakker in a 1985 segment of her show Tammy’s House Party (that groundbreaking moment was recreated in the 2021 Oscar-winning film The Eyes of Tammy Faye, starring Jessica Chastain). The second-most viewed HIV news article was the obit on epidemiologist Stephaun Elite Wallace, PhD, a Black scientist, social justice advocate—and house ballroom legend—
whose work addressed HIV and COVID-19 health disparities, notably among AfricanAmerican and LGBTQ populations. Perhaps it’s no surprise that obituaries remain of high interest. These remembrances of advocates offer profiles of courage and inspiration and glimpses of history and communities, all while illustrating the progress we’ve made (and the challenges that remain) in the fight against HIV. For example, if you read the combined obituaries of Mary Lucey and Nancy Jean MacNeil—who died within hours of each other—you will learn about ACT UP Los Angeles and the unique obstacles faced by women and prisoners living with HIV. Similarly, other popular articles in 2023 focused on past eras of the AIDS epidemic, such as the No. 7 story, “A Look Back: Eazy-E’s Death and a 1995 Hip-Hop Concert for HIV Causes,” the No. 14 spot’s “Adam Lambert Stars in Historical AIDS Drama “Fairyland,” Says It Resonates Today” and No. 19’s “Magic Johnson Did NOT Contract HIV From a Hepatitis Vaccine.” Then there’s the somewhat salacious controversy at the heart of the No. 9 item: “Does This Proposed AIDS Memorial Look Like a Giant You-Know-What?” But POZ readers also focused on the here and now. Latino issues took precedence with “Latinos in Georgia See Rising HIV Rates While Other Groups See Declines [VIDEO]” and “Listen to Latino LGBTQ Love Stories That Raise HIV Awareness” at No. 3 and 5 respectively. Our year-end list also includes evergreen topics such as HIV criminalization (“Watch the ‘HIV Is Not a Crime’ Commercial”), AIDS walks and HIV clinics (“HIV Headlines Two Big Events During One Week in Chicago [VIDEOS]”) and HIV Testing (“Urging the CDC to Recommend HIV Testing for People 65 and Older”). Awareness days, federal budgets,
injection drug use, LGBTQ homeless youth, and spotlights on HIV-related video series round out the list. In case you’re wondering whether we’ve overlooked stories about CRISPR gene therapy, HIV vaccine trials or folks who were cured of HIV, well, we didn’t forget them and neither did our readers. Those topics appear in POZ’s year-end list “Top HIV Science Stories of 2023.”
We are sexual beings and should not be ashamed of that. Harness your pride, your sexuality and take control of your sexual health to help build a generation free of HIV and stigma. Get tested. Know your status. Get PrEP or the meds you need to be healthy. More info here: https://mybodymyhealth.org/sex-positivity
NOTEABLE DEATHS OF 2023
R.I.P. AIDS Advocate Angela Lansbury The beloved star of TV, 1ilm and stage died at age 96. January 9, 2023 • By Trent Straube Legendary actress Angela Lansbury, perhaps best known for portraying Jessica Fletcher on TV’s Murder, She Wrote, died October 11, 2022. As tributes and obituaries recounted her decades-spanning career in film, television and Broadway, many highlighted an aspect of
her eclectic life that fans today may not be aware of: Lansbury was a pioneering and vocal HIV and AIDS advocate.
“During the worst years of the AIDS crisis, Angela Lansbury was a staple at AIDS benefits, helping raise millions of dollars to fund AIDS research & patient care,” tweeted LGBTQ historian Eric Gonzaba in a post that included a newspaper clipping about Lansbury appearing in an Aid for AIDS holiday card. In an article titled “Let’s Not Forget What Angela Lansbury Did During the Worst Years of the AIDS Epidemic,” Queerty.com rounded up several other posts and comments about the actress’s HIV advocacy. Lansbury voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney’s 1991 hit Beauty and the Beast.Wikipedia Lansbury was so well known for her support of HIV and AIDS causes that in November 1996, Broadway hosted a fundraising event titled Angela Lansbury—A Celebration. At the time, Lansbury was at the height of her celebrity. She had become a household name thanks to Murder, She Wrote, which ran from 1984 to 1996. And she had voiced Mrs. Potts in Disney’s 1991 hit Beauty and the Beast.
The event, Playbill reported, “honored both Ms. Lansbury’s remarkable acting career and her tireless efforts against AIDS, raising over one-million dollars for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.” The evening included appearances by luminaries of the Great White Way, such as Stephen Sondheim, Jennifer Holliday, Nell Carter and Bea Arthur, all of whom attested to her incredible HIV advocacy. The AIDS epidemic reached a milestone that year: In early 1996, combination antiretroviral therapy became available, which effectively meant that an HIV diagnosis was no longer a death sentence. At the tribute, Lansbury gave a speech in which she discussed HIV advocacy and recounted her friendship with director-producer Barry Brown and his former partner Fritz Holt, who produced Gypsy and who died of AIDS. “Never give up the fight until the war is won,” she told the audience. “And we will win!”
Of Course Leslie Jordan Advocated for HIV and AIDS Causes The comedic actor died unexpectedly last month. Along with “Will & Grace” and his Instagram posts, Leslie Jordan’s legacy includes HIV work.November 11, 2022 • By Trent Straube The beloved Emmy-winning actor, singer and comedian Leslie Jordan, perhaps best known for playing Beverley Leslie on TV’s Will & Grace, died unexpectedly in a car crash October 24 at age 67. Since then, Jordan’s trademark Southern drawl and energetic banter have become ubiquitous as fans and colleagues post memorials, interviews and favorite clips—
and there’s a lot to choose from, as his career spanned several decades and included advocacy for the HIV and LGBTQ communities. Among the hilarity and entertainment Jordan brought into the world, he championed LGBTQ equality, simply by being an unapologetically open gay man and sharing his journey from self-loathing, religious-based shame to acceptance. He also spoke frankly about his struggles with alcoholism and addiction. And he supported HIV and AIDS causes by volunteering at nonprofits, raising awareness and lending his star wattage to numerous fundraisers—for example, by serving as the grand marshal and host of the 30th annual Nashville AIDS Walk in 2021. In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, before lifesaving meds became available, Jordan was living in Los Angeles, a city whose gay community was devastated by HIV. At the time, he volunteered at Project Angel Food, delivering food to people who were homebound due to AIDS. “Leslie was more than just a supporter of Project Angel Food—he was family,” the organization’s CEO told the Washington Blade recently. “When Leslie first moved to LA in the ’90s, he wanted to help people with AIDS, so he volunteered as a driver for Project Angel Food. Leslie presented Project Angel Food with the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce’s Creative Business Award in 2019 and was such a joy to be around. Our hearts ache [at his passing].” Jordan himself recounts that period of his life and how HIV affected his generation, in a 2017 HuffPost interview with Jamie Davis. The following anecdote from the interview captures Jordan’s trademark storytelling flair: “And I think we realized [early in the epidemic that] as a community we have to take care of our own. I was around for the beginning, you know, PLA [people living with AIDS], buddy
systems, this and that, and you know I was fired from Project Angel as a volunteer because I couldn’t get the food there because…some of these people…I had four meals I had to deliver, and I was supposed to deliver it and keep moving, but I was the only person they saw.
“Sometimes I would sit and I would talk, and they’d say, ‘They’re not getting their food until 4!’ so they let me go from that, and I’ll tell this story really fast, there was a lady named Cassandra Christianson who in 1983 or 4…2, 3, or 4…was walking through Miami airport and bumped into Mother Teresa…literally bumped into her and she said, … ‘Oh, Mother Teresa, I’m a groupie…you don’t know what a groupie is, but rock stars have groupies. I’m a Mother Teresa groupie. And I’m a transition nurse with cancer patients and I’ve studied with Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, On Death and Dying…and we all try to keep people alive, but how do you allow sometime to die and die with dignity?’ And Mother Teresa said to her, ‘Have you heard of AIDS?’ And Cassandra said, ‘Well, my thrust is cancer.’ And the woman said, ‘Well, we’re going to need a lot of work in this arena.’
“And she came back, and she started this organization called Project Night Light, and I was one of the 12 founding members. It was me and this wonderful actor named Dan Butler who’s used all of this in a one person show…made a fortune…[Laughs.]…but anyway, he and I, Dan Butler, he was on Frasier, and he’s gay, but he played a straight man…he played Bulldog, the sports commentator, so he would go to big gay events, saying, ‘I’m not a straight man, but I play one on TV!’ with a big sign. But anyway, Dan Butler…and we jumped in. And that’s when we started combing the halls [of hospitals and AIDS wards] with banana popsicles [to offer to folks with dry throats, a common problem for many] and
sitting with people. And you know, I’ve personally held 18 men in my arms…that had no family, no friends there when they drew their last breath on the earth… ‘Oh, can I go home now?’”
Two weeks before he died, Jordan was interviewed for CBS Mornings regarding his new gospel album (he was also a singer) and the unexpected following he gained during the COVID-19 pandemic by posting witty snippets and stories on Instagram.
In one of his last Instagram posts, dated October 24, Jordan joined Nashville songwriter/producer Danny Myrick for what he titled “Sunday Mornin’ Hymn Singin’” in which he sings the gospel tune “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.”
A Retrospective I began writing for POZPLANET in September of 2022 after being invited by Alphonso King Jr, the editor. I love writing. I have since I was a kid. So, this was a great opportunity for me to write about what I know best, after 32 years: living with HIV as a woman. In September 2022, Alphonso interviewed me about the International AIDS Society Conference, living with HIV as a woman and being an activist. It was my first opportunity to tell my story in such a prestigious magazine for people living with HIV. I was then invited to continue to write pieces for the magazine. I felt so honoured! Canada, like most places in the world, has left women living with HIV behind. Research has started to ensure inclusion of women living with HIV, but I still see research that has very small numbers of women. The Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS) was considered ground-breaking and yet it was first carried out in 2010: a full 20+ years after HIV research began! The majority of agencies across Canada that provide support to people living with HIV do not have women specific care. In fact, there are more agencies that focus solely on men living with HIV than women living with HIV in Canada. POZPLANET giving space for women living with HIV to talk about our issues is so important. It sends the message that we matter.
The first article I wrote was in the October 2022 issue. I talked about my life after my diagnosis and the things that I had to deal with as a mother of 2 very young children. The article from November of 2022 focused on the findings from the Canadian HIV
Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS). CHIWOS is a ground-breaking study of women living with HIV. This study has identified so many important things but one of the things that stood out for me as a woman living with HIV was the need for people living with HIV to be at the centre of anything that is done to support us. Peer support was identified as crucial to the support needs of women living with HIV and we have a long way
to go before those needs are met. Currently, HIV Edmonton has changed its mission and vision to focus on peer led initiatives. It would be wonderful if all agencies in the HIV sector took their lead. I hope to see a future here in Edmonton, and across Canada, where people living with HIV are at the centre of the HIV response. My December 2022 and January 2023 articles focused on interviews I did with some women living with HIV in Canada. I was struck by how similar the issues were and yet how different we all are. It reminded me that cookie cutter/one size fits all approaches will never be successful because we all have unique needs. Again, when people living with HIV are at the centre, peers can respond in ways that would speak to them. I interviewed a Black woman who is an immigrant and the issues she faced when she was first diagnosed. I interviewed a cisgender, White woman who was diagnosed as a child, who was not given the support she needed when she transitioned to adult services and still deals with issues around how to disclose her status to new partners. These people are two examples of how the system is failing women living with HIV when they are first diagnosed and years after their diagnosis. I am proud of the articles I have written for POZPLANET. I hope they have shone a spotlight on the issues for women living with HIV and issues that people living with HIV face, like stigma, and resonate. I am looking forward to the coming year. I hope I can continue to shine a light in the corners of the Canadian response to HIV and in doing so to hopefully make the lives of people living with HIV better as we navigate our lives. I hope everyone had a rest filled and peaceful holiday season and look forward to connecting with you all in our New Year of 2024. ~Deborah
EDITOR’S NOTE: We at POZPLANET Magazine are fortunate and excited to continue to work with you and give a home to the stories and issues you decide to share with us and our readers. You have been a blessing and breath of fresh air to us by giving a voice to women living with HIV. Thank you.
To start the New Year off POZPLANET Magazine is hoping to share more stories from around the world. And we cannot think of a better story to share than that of Arda Karapınar (Panosian). One of Türkiye's most successful activists… Arda is a member of the New York-based Prevention Access Campaign U=U Global Community Board, a member of the Scientific Committee of the HIV Glasgow Conference 2024, an IVLP Fellow of the US State Department's leadership program, and the founder of Red Ribbon Istanbul, Türkiye's leading HIV information provider. It is our pleasure and honor to introduce our readers to his work. AK: In our Facebook exchanges, I believe you said I should call you Arda. So, I will. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us. How are you today, Arda? ARDA: I have the privilege of chatting with you and POZPLANET readers on one of the last days of a hectic, tiring, but productive year. I couldn't have imagined it to be better than this. And I promise this will be a conversation in which I don't try to show myself different from who I am. I talk as I am, and I hope it will be a conversation worth reading. AK: I’m sure our readers would like a little background on you. Where are you originally from? And how many different languages do you speak? ARDA: First, please let me say hello to POZPLANET readers through you. Perhaps we may have met or even met some of them, at least on social media. I hope this interview will be an opportunity for them to get to know me and my work and for me to get to know them more closely. I was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkiye, and am a member of the Armenian minority community. I lived in Belgium for a few years. In recent years, most of my time has been spent traveling between Turkiye and Belgium, often in connection with my HIV activism work. I speak English, a bit of Armenian, and of course Turkish. AK: I hope you don’t mind, but we always ask how long our featured person has been HIV+? At what age were you diagnosed, and what was that experience like?
ARDA: If I may, I will answer the question from a slightly different, much more personal perspective than expected. In the end, we are all made up of our stories, and we build our biggest, most general story with the reactions we give or fail to give to the things that happen to us in our lives. My encounter with HIV not as a virus but as a phenomenon, in other words, as a teacher, a guru, happened on World AIDS Day in 2009, which is also my birthday on 1 December. As a result of the stories shared in a large group of friends and the awareness that followed those stories, I was confronted with everything I had heard about HIV, everything I thought I knew, but more than that, I was confronted with the person I thought I was, and I realized that I was not that open-minded and accepting person I thought I was. What was shocking for me was not HIV but this fact.
It took me a while to accept that I was not the person I thought I was, but I made it. Once I got over that personality shock, I was very interested in HIV, not as a virus, but as a means of activism and making the world a better place to live in, and to tell you the truth, I loved it.
In those days, I was still acting for theatre and TV and interested in politics, but I quickly prioritized HIV activism and the scientific dimension of the work and started to learn. In the months that followed, I had already started working as a project coordinator in an association in Türkiye after a few weeks of volunteering. In the following years, together with my friends, I founded Red Ribbon Istanbul, Türkiye's leading HIV Information provider, expanded my international network, started working with organizations such as EATG and PAC, and today, -in your words- I am somehow an important global activist. To briefly summarise, I am grateful that HIV shook me and later became my best teacher. If I had not been working in the field of HIV as a result of those events, I would not be the person I am today. The saying that everything that happens to us has a reason is not a saying in vain. Believe it in your heart. AK: I looked you up, and you do a lot of advocacy work for the HIV+ Community in Europe. Would you mind telling us about what your titles are and how you became such an important activist for your area?
ARDA: Thank you so much for thinking I'm important. It's a generous compliment, and to be honest, in the old days it would have boosted my ego and made me very proud. But in all sincerity, it doesn't matter now. Because it's not about
being important; it's about using your talents and resources to do important work that supports people who need help, solves problems, and shows them that the world is a wonderful place where good people live and are worth living in... I hope my work and titles serve in the direction I underlined above. As for titles, I am one of the founders and volunteer Board Chair of Red Ribbon Istanbul, the leading HIV information provider in Turkish. In addition, I am a member of the U=U Global Board of the NYC-based Prevention Access Campaign, a member of the scientific board of HIV Glasgow, one of Europe's major scientific conferences on HIV, and an active member of the Belgium-based European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG). I am also proud to share that I am one of the organizers of HIVIstanbul, the only community-based HIV conference covering the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) and Eastern European and Central Asian countries (EECA) regions. In addition, I give talks and broadcasts on spiritualism on YouTube and Spotify, a subject I am intensely interested in outside of my HIV activism. And I continue to work as a writer to earn a living. The basis of all this is, of course, being curious and, together with this, appreciating and loving the work I do. I have never seen a person fail in any job they love and respect. I constantly endeavor to protect respect and love for my work and to work with this meticulousness. As mentioned earlier, all these things do not make me an important person, but if any of my work affects people's lives and makes them feel good, I can be happy thinking that it is valuable and vital work. AK: Here in Canada and the U.S. the Undetectable Equals Untransmittable Campaign has made some progress (not enough in my opinion but progress non the less). I’m curious…how is the U=U Campaign doing in your region? Do people know about it? ARDA: I understand why you feel that U=U has not progressed enough in the US and Canada. I hear similar views often, and there is some logic to them. It's something that needs to be discussed at length. Still, I think the bottom line is that until U=U came along, we didn't have a collective campaign on this scale that was globally widespread and managed to unite the whole community around it. The fact that U=U was able to do it in such a short period of time made it seem as
if we could quickly solve all the problems that had accumulated over 35 years. This kind of optimism is suitable for a while because it can provide a new wave of energy to the frustrated and tired communities and prepare them for a new movement with fresh motivation. However, when we look back at all the problems accumulated over nearly 40 years, we realize how much work we have to do and how high the expectations from U=U are. It took a while for our frustrated and tired community to discover how to use the U=U message most effectively after the initial excitement of welcoming U=U because it is a strong and clear message that has no parallel in the past, neither in HIV nor in any other field. This is why it is normal for someone looking at the history of the campaign from the momentum of 2023 not to see the time we have spent understanding how to use the U=U message most effectively and to think that we have yet to come far enough.
Selfie with Anthony Fauci
As I have repeated hundreds of times, U=U is the most important, vital, and realistic of all the tools we have so far and will have in the future, not only in the field of HIV but in all similar advocacy areas. It is possible to make similar statements about U=U for Tuürkiye and MENA. We have come a long way thanks to activists like me who are determined and not afraid of paying the price. The community has embraced the message, especially infectious physicians, who are on the side of science and support the statement. Aren't there shortcomings? Of course, there are. There should be shortcomings so we will be more motivated to work harder and find creative new ways. Fundamental changes take time. We will succeed. None of us should doubt that. AK: What is the most difficult part of being an HIV activist in Türkiye and MENA region? ARDA: I used to answer this question with political, economic, or social difficulties, but now I understand these are small problems. Anyone can do activism in conditions without financial, political, etc., problems. The biggest challenge is trying to do consistent work in a region with a high concentration of people who quickly become overly emotional and make decisions based on emotional fluctuations rather than logical lines. In such a situation, making rational plans and building medium- or long-term strategies is almost impossible. Trying to find permanent solutions to chronic problems under conditions where there is a lot of uncertainty and I can only see a little ahead of me is a bit tiring. I must work harder and be more alert and creative than an activist working in the Netherlands, Germany, the US, Canada, or elsewhere. But I look on the bright side, and I don't complain. All these challenges have provided me with side benefits such as being practical, focusing on finding more creative solutions in a shorter period, and developing my leadership capacity. I am so grateful for all the challenges I have faced so far. AK: Are there other areas that you would like to expand your advocacy to? ARDA: There is. There will come a time when I am interested in volunteering in general, mechanisms to motivate people to volunteer, and volunteer management, but not yet. For now, I do not intend to go into a field other than HIV. In this regard, I am very interested in the US because it is a geography where
the circumstances, practices, public-civil society relations, and NGO structures are entirely different compared to MENA and Europe, and I like to put myself in such challenges. This is the only way to both build capacity and touch more people's lives. My presence in the Prevention Access Campaign (PAC) requires me to be a little bit more involved in the US, but in 2024, I plan to work more in the US, even for a while. AK: And on a more personal note…. you are a very handsome man. I’m sure someone reading this would love to know if you are single. Do you have a partner, or are you married to your work? ARDA: Thank you for another compliment. I feel spoiled today. As you know, handsomeness and beauty are relative, and being liked is perhaps the Achilles' heel of all of us. So even though I pass it off with a polite thank you, it is also true that I like to hear it. I can answer yes to both parts of the question. But instead of married to work, I would prefer to say married to life. I respect my work and try to take care of it. When I feel that I cannot show this respect and care, I do not work. In fact, this is my attitude towards life in general, which is reflected in both work and relationships. Yes, there is a special person in my life whose existence I am grateful for and from whom I derive support. The attitude I said above that I adopt for life, in general, is also valid for my work and all my relationships. I think this is the secret of success at work and relationship satisfaction. Thank you again for thinking I am handsome and expressing this. AK: To find out more about Arda Karapınar (Panosian) click here: www.ardakarapinar.me and www.instagram.com/minasardapanosian Is there anything else you want to share with our readers before I let you go? ARDA: It was great to be here with you, to record this wonderful conversation, and to get closer to POZPLANET readers. I cannot thank you and the POZPLANET team enough. You have given me a wonderful gift as we enter 2024. I want to take this opportunity to wish you and POZPLANET readers an excellent 2024. 2023 has been a very tough and tiring year. I hope that 2024 will be a much more positive, fun, and solidarity-filled year for our global community. And I hope
there will be events where we can meet POZPLANET readers in person. I really want this very much. AK: Well, I think I have taken up enough of your time. It has been so great to learn about such a fascinating man who is doing such important work not only for Istanbul but for the world. Because in my opinion, when you help change minds where you live you are helping to change the rest of the planet. Keep up the good work and I hope our paths cross again.
Listen to the mix here: https://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny/ear-candy-january-2024 Download your free video of this mix here: https://krakenfiles.com/view/mUpKBGsjdN/file.html Check out DJ Relentless’ Mixcloud page: https://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny Check out DJ Relentless’ HearThis page: https://hearthis.at/djrelentlesstoronto HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that this year brings us closer to realizing that our answers are actually within us. Our solu7ons are right in front of us. The things we wish could be are within our grasp if we are willing to work towards them, work with others and most of all LISTEN. And speaking of listening….I’ve got twenty-one new tracks to talk about in our first EAR CANDY ar7cle of 2024. I promise that there will be something for everyone to enjoy somewhere in this mix. I may not have enjoyed all of the selec7ons, but someone out there will. My job is to bring these songs to your aJen7on. So…let’s get started shall we? To start our New Year, I’m gonna dredge up Canadian Popstar, Drake. I no longer wanna call him a Hip Hop ar7st. Since we just celebrated 50 years of Hip Hop, I kinda want to dis7nguish what the genre really is and how authen7city plays a part in what we used the term for. Drake is not a Hip Hop ar7st to me. He uses the esthe7cs and grammar but does not come from the roots of what the culture says Hip Hop is. Drake, Eminem, Macklemore and all these K-Pop ar7sts who are doing Hip Hop themed music are Pop Music. And however they got the aJen7on in the genre is one note. I don’t wanna hear another whiny rap about how you are surviving the fame you have garnered from a Hip Hop moniker. So, your latest video release of “Polar Opposites” does nothing for me. You want me to pay aJen7on? Move in the direc7on of House Music like your tracks, “Massive” and “SDcky”. Those are interes7ng. This is just droning on and on about the same the shit over and over. Go raise your son. Get some life experiences under your belt and grow with your child.
Victoria Monét apparently has been around since 2010. But like my grandmother would say “They could make a whole world ou9a the stuff I don’t know”. I guess her material just didn’t crossover enough for this Pop-head to recognize her. Anyway…her latest single “On My Mama” did get my aJen7on and while being a downtempo R&B groove it has remnants of that OldSkool-Baby-Makin’-Music of the 70s. Am I 7red of lyrics about givin’ up da pussy and how good da pussy is? Yup. But at least this isn’t the same ol’ produc7on that is coming down the pike over and over again. Some thought was put into it. I mean…learning that Cardi B and Offset have been separated for a while just makes “Bongos” sad and probably explains why it didn’t do as well as “W.A.P”.
Our third track is a good example of what the future looks like since TikTok and A-I seem to be taking the place of crea7vity. “Nostalgia” is an A-I generated track of JusDn Bieber, Bad Bunny & Daddy Yankee. It even generated a music video from photos of each ar7st. While it seems interes7ng to ponder what-ifs about duets and collabora7ons between ar7sts who are no longer with us and those who we wished would have worked with them, I find this just as dangerous to our culture and world as what A-I is going to do to our poli7cs and educa7on. Anyone can tell A-I to do anything for their own purposes and once it hits the internet it is out there forever like trash floa7ng through space. Up next is Pharrell Williams, Swae Lee & Rauw Alejandro with “Airplane Tickets”. You know…twenty years ago I would have said Pharrell was the future of Pop music. His innova7ve work with ar7sts like Kelis, Britney Spears, JusDn Timberlake, Ludacris, Usher, No Doubt and so many others seemed like he could do no wrong. But honestly…ever since his single for “Despicable Me” soundtrack, he hasn’t really had a major hit for himself or anyone else for that maJer. And yes…he was always stylish and really deserves his posi7on at Louis VuiUon as the new menswear crea7ve director but I kinda feel his moment as a Popstar has passed. This new single does nothing for me.
It's not o_en that a Reggae song catches my aJen7on. It has to have a good hook or some kind of new style to really make me go “Hey…that’s pre9y good.” Everyone knows that since I am not Caribbean this is not my forte or taste in music. But every now and then one does and the new Mr. Vegas track, “Money Mike Walk” did just that. I don’t know what most of the lyrics are saying but the rhythm and flow of it sounds like it would work in one of my sets.
Our sixth selec7on is a prime example of what I wish most ar7sts would do a_er a legacy of being in the industry. Live your life and stop trying to chase a_er the kids for an audience. Mary J Blige is doing just that! I feel like Mary is goin’ back to her R&B roots and enjoying being the grown woman that she is with her latest single “SDll Believe In Love” featuring Vado. It sounds like some old 90s Hip Hop Soul and I love it! I love when Hip Hop crosses over into House terrority. And “Eastside Girl” by VIC MENSA featuring Ty Dolla $ign does just that. I used this track to transi7on into a higher BPM to move the mix along. Will this be a big hit? I don’t think so but it’s a fun track for now and breaks up the monotony of what’s going on in Hip Hop and R&B right about now. We need something new and innova7ve to happen in Black Music this year. Before you read the next review, I want you to look at this clip: hJps://www.youtube.com/shorts/qyKUkDs-2xw Now…thank God for remixers because the original version of “Skee Yee” by Sexy Red is just plain ass boring! At least the DJ Scene Remix gives us DJ’s something to work with. The lyrics are 7red and uninspired. We don’t need another Hip Trap track about anutha Hood Bitch. What are
we saying to the rest of the world about our people? Is this what we want all young black girls to aspire to? Ya’ll need something else to work towards. Ya spinning ya wheels and goin’ nowhere! Watch a fuckin’ news program! Learn something about what’s goin’ on in the world instead of keeping yo’ mind in your neighborhood. You might realize that you have a voice and standing the world. Did you know that Black Women basically decided the last U.S. elec7on? Think about that for a moment. And speaking of Black women who helped changed the conversa7on….Beyoncé’s Renaissance film amassed around $33.5 million worldwide as of December 12th. Unfortunately, the box office took a dip in its second and third weekends. And while I predicted she would run circles around Taylor SwiZ’s concert film, I was wrong. Proving once again that black women cannot be more popular than white women (sarcasm). I guess Bey’s embrace of the LGBT Community did not translate like the sappy family friendly lyrics of the Country ar7st that she so politely gave the microphone to back in 2009 to finish her acceptance speech a_er Kanye West interrupted her. Taylor will always be the poor rich girl who got snubbed by the angry black man. Just think…if Beyoncé had not allowed her to finish, we would not be having this conversa7on. Taylor would have stayed in her lane as a Country ar7st and we would have moved on.
But I digressed. I just wanted to let my readers know that I am willing to admit when I was wrong. I’ve embraced Taylor a couple of 7mes but at the moment I am really sick of her. And once the football fans start boo-ing her she’ll be back on the shit list again.
But for the latest single by Beyoncé called “My House” I did not care for the original. But the Too Many IDs Remix slowed down to 125 BPMs is doing it for me. These Ballroom kids with their 135-145 BPM tracks are killin’ me. This ain’t no aerobics class! The elegance and skills of voguing are lost at such speeds.
Our tenth track comes from this year’s Super Bowl Hal_ime feature and Las Vegas show performer, Usher. “Good Good” featuring Summer Walker & 21 Savage is quite the R&B jam. Throw in a Jelly Clarkson Club Mix and you got yourself an all-around Dance hit! From the clips I’ve seen from his Vegas show, what makes it so popular is that you never know who might show up to see him and join him in a number or two. Back in the October issue of 2023, I did a remix of The Rolling Stone’s single “Angry”. I heard the commercial-bilty in their lyrics and felt it could be dance-able. Well, Purple Disco Machine must have heard it too because their remix of “Mess It Up” is brilliant! Before we get into the next track, I need to talk quickly about the female Pop Diva posi7on. From Madonna to Britney Spears to Lady GaGa…these eras will never happen again. It seems like every couple of years there is another new blonde to take over the charts but none of them have the staying power of these three. And that is mainly because the internet has created a void that none of these new girls can fill. Things happen online in seconds so nothing is las7ng.
Our next selec7on is the Denero Remix of “Exes” by Tate McRae. When I heard “Greedy” I felt like Canada had its next Pop Princess. And I s7ll believe that she will do well over the next year. But I don’t think there will be any glass ceilings broken with her. Unless she can act, produce and write, she’s gonna fade like Carly Rae Jepsen did a_er “Call Me Maybe”. The thirteenth track is “Big F U” by David GueUa featuring Lil Durk & Arya Starr. There’s nothing like a good “Fuck You” track a_er a breakup. And this is preJy good one. I used the extended version but I am hoping there will be some good remixes coming soon. I’d love for there to be a Freejak or Dirty Disco remix. So, over the past six years I have become friends with Juno winner Simone Denny (most famous for her 90s hit with Love Inc, “Superstar” or the theme song from the first season of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, “All Things Just Keep Ge_ng BeUer”). A few years back when I was working with producer Bryan Greenwood, he had some vocals he had recorded with her and we put them on a track called “Realness” for my alter-ego Jade Elektra. At the 7me, Simone’s management would not allow us to use the vocals. But I am hopeful now that we will re-record that song and even work on a couple of new ones in 2024. Miss Denny was a featured guest performer at the 2023 POZ-TO Awards where she also presented Shaun Proulx with his honor.
Well, un7l we get to work on our feature projects, I decided to take one of her songs and give it a liJle makeover. Our fourteenth track is the Relentlessly Touched Vocal of “Your Love Fades Away”. The original is more of a Rock produc7on, but I wanted to give it a more Lounge House feel. Let me know what you think… So by the 7me I heard the DJ AGA 2k23 Funked Up Mix of “Dreamers” by Jung Kook, I was already sick of him and his borage of music videos. The only thing that made me happy about this video and single was that it is probably his last for a liJle while. I read that he and Jimin are the last two members of BTS that have had to join the Korean Military. This would explain his label’s urgency to release as many single singles as possible. I loved “3D” and “Seven”. Didn’t love “Standing Next To You” as much but this “Dreamers” song is just plain fluff. For our sixteenth selec7on I went for a 90s inspired House track called “Touchdown” by Beyond Chicago. This sounds like it was taken directly from the soundscape of my days dancing with abandonment in the chapel at the Limelight in NYC. I would have loved this one back then. It was epitome of Patsy’s line “Dull soulless dancing” from the 90s UK hit TV show Absolutely Fabulous. I guess what’s old is new in this case. Retro reincarnated. The No Thanks Remix of “Chill Like That” by Sunday Scaries x PICKUPLiNES would be an example of today’s dull soulless dance music. While I don’t think this will be a classic, it is a fun track for right now. I’d rock this in one of my sets for a big dance floor!
Remember earlier when I spoke about the 7me period of Pop Divas not happening again. Well, Slayyyter is another example of that statement. While her video for “I Love Hollywood” could totally be a Lady GaGa visual, I think Slayyyter has completely channelled GaGa for her new album “Starfucker”. And I realize that GaGa is not doing her sch7ck anymore. That early 2010s period is gone. The internet has wiped it away and anything copying it will only be forgoJen in a maJer of weeks.
The resurgence of that 80s Pop Dance sound is in full swing. I keep hearing more and new tracks that sound like something I would have been forced to dance to as a person of color in a gay bar back in my hay-day of sneaking in when I was a teenager. “One On One” (even an 80s song 7tle of Hall & Oates – but it’s not a cover – shame about those two figh7ng and getng restraining orders) by The Knocks & Sofi Tukker. Cute track. Don’t think I would have appreciated it if it were a song back then. Too many R&B Dance songs being ignored by white gay DJs back then. I think Olivia Rodrigo is in that Taylor SwiZ lane as far as Pop music goes. I don’t hate her. But her music is not speaking to me. I just wonder if she’s going to go the Billie Eilish route where you come into the charts on a par7cular sound but cannot maintain it. Olivia is not as annoying as Taylor but “Get Him Back” is pure teenage dribble. And not even the Dirty Disco & Pillow Biters Club Mix could make me like this one. And to close out the mix I used the Beat Thrillerz Mix of “Agora Hills” by Doja Cat. This another ar7st that I am kinda sick of. The baby talk vocals don’t appeal to me when I know she could sing. But I guess it’s important to keep 20 something year old boys rock hard while they listen to your lyrics. I’m hoping that some new ar7sts come in the game and flex some other aspects of being crea7ve and not just copycats following the TikTok trends.