Tina Turner, the voice behind iconic songs like ‘Proud Mary’, ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’, and ‘Nutbush City Limits’ has died at age 83. Turner passed away at her Küsnacht home near Zurich, Switzerland, on Wednesday, May 24, after a years-long battle with intestinal cancer. Like many of us, most found out about Tina’s death in this facebook post.
Although Turner was a naturalised Swiss singer, she was originally born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, in 1939. As a child, Turner began her career as a singer by joining her church’s choir. Eventually, she crossed paths with her
future ex-husband, Ike Turner. The established musician invited Tina to join his band, formally kicking off her music career.
Tina and Ike Turner were a musical power couple for 15 years until Tina suffered domestic abuse at the hands of her thenhusband. The couple was later divorced in 1976, a decision that led to Tina Turner launching her own solo career in the early 1980s.
Turner’s story of being a survivor of domestic abuse, as well as her powerhouse voice, have made her an instant icon in the LGBTQ+ community alongside the likes of Gloria Gaynor, Cyndi Lauper and Whitney Houston.
Her status as a “gay icon” has been upheld throughout her career by her participation in explicitly LGBTQ+ events such as the first-ever Gay Games. Held in San Francisco in 1982, Turner performed at the opening ceremonies of the international LGBTQ+ sporting event.
Turner would return to San Francisco in 1997 to perform a medley of songs at the Macy’s Passport fashion show in support of education, research, and services for those living with HIV/AIDS.
“Tina Turner was a truly iconic recording artist and was widely revered among the LGBTQ community,” said Kevin Robert Frost, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), in a statement following Turner’s death.
“Her music and her extraordinary talent brought communities of people around the world together, and who couldn’t admire her extraordinary passion, energy, and resilience? She will be greatly missed.”
Over the course of her decades-long career, Turner raked in an impressive 12 Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 alongside her ex-husband Ike. In 2021 Turner was re-inducted as a solo artist.
Unfortunately, Turner was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016, followed shortly thereafter by a kidney transplant the next year.
“One of my early career goals was to become the first Black woman to fill stadiums around the world,” Turner told the Today show two years ago. “At the time, it seemed impossible. But I never gave up, and I’m so happy I made that dream come true.”
Rest in power.
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can find the original article in yahoo ! news here: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tina-turner-lgbtq-icon-hiv104729244.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNhLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAL V_H_d7k460EZgRs5UKchhc85lMMg64xh-U7oDUsQvLySsjBTWfR5XUrvvrGxtXZUVCYGYNjfqdHbCKKusVWpvyTytcKnMRIom7a2ToMSceAnoezl86uJZnJrPmu7tzkbFrKd3GYMLC5JvhSNMHNNo70ySw9UHUIb8whnyAaqY
First things first. I titled this “Pride in the country” but it’s not some nationalistic Trumpian rant but rather an ode to how sweet things are happening in sweet places.
Some of you may know I live in the country – deep in the country. Our nearest neighbours are thirty horses, the nearest village is Warkworth Ontario, population about a thousand. It’s a farming community that has, since the two decades we’ve lived in this area, transformed itself into a destination for tourists. Its picturesque main street has a trendy laid-back vibe which draws in shoppers and others attracted by what The Globe and Mail once called ‘the gayest little village in Ontario.” Somehow it all works. It’s a pleasant community to live in. The farmers and the gays and those settling here having fled the big city, just like we did way back when, all seem to get along.
Our main street has its smattering of pride flags all year round. The United Church sports one too. So does the school. We have a rainbow crosswalk. We’ve had drag storytelling at our little library in town without incident. My partner and I are openly gay, fly the flag on a 20-foot pole in our front yard. My HIV-positive status is well known too, with zeros issues arising from that. We’ve held AIDS fundraisers here. I’ve been in the local paper, front page even. And yet Warkworth has never had a Pride Parade or other Pride events. Until now.
Pride means many things to many people – a celebration, a protest, a tribute to historic events like Stonewall, a party, a source of community togetherness, sometimes a flashpoint for divisions within the community. Here in little Warkworth, as we celebrate our very first Pride, things are looking a little different. For one it’s a collaboration between the decidedly straight, though Pride-friendly, town business association and the Pride organization active in a nearby larger community. The foremost message of ours is one of inclusion.
“We believe that everyone deserves to be included” say the organizers “and our Pride event is a testament to that.” That’s a very “Warkworth” spin on Pride and I’m fine with it. It’s simple and it’s honest and it works for this place and this time.
What does a very small-town Pride look like? Certainly not a blocks-long hooting and hollering throng nor exposed flesh nor a parade of beer company floats. Nothing corporate. No police in sight or even arguments for or against their presence. Instead, our main street will be closed off to all but pedestrian traffic for the day. There will be live music, a beer garden, giant puppets, drag queens. There will be drag story-time, I’m guessing without protest. In fact, our organizers seem to like drag. There will be drag bingo, drag ‘n shop, (whatever that is). One can question why drag and pride have become so synonymous even in rural Ontario, and I do, but this is our first parade. It has to be colourful and fun and just a little outrageous – and drag does all that. The point is, though, not so much what our pride looks like but the fact that the village finally has one.
It’s not that this part of Ontario (we’re half-way between Toronto and Ottawa) hasn’t celebrated Pride before. Peterborough, 45 minutes away, has had a humungous pride parade down its main street for years. Trent Hills, the municipality in which our village of Warkworth is situated. is still in fledgling status pride-wise but has tried to engage the community for several years through a collective called Trent Hills Pride. That organization has had its share of hits and misses but last year’s parade through the streets of Campbellford, a car-a-van rather than a march, was both fun and well attended. Dozens of flagbedecked cars with giddy occupant weaving and waving to Gloria Gayno r anthems belting from their speakers do tend to get noticed, and that’s the point.
Back to Warkworth’s first, local prides like this tend, I think, to be less political than their big city sisters -and yet more politically relevant, if that makes sense. The point is they are there when once they were not. That’s not going to be lost on the local populace. “We have arrived”, if ever there was any doubt, is the message. Call it inclusion, call it acceptance, call it bravery for some, even. I call it well overdue.
HAPPY PRIDE EVERYONE!
Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health of People Living with HIV: an
educa>on series by Gilead Sciences
Wri$en by Deborah Norris
I had the opportunity to a/end an online session of the Connexion educa6on series being put on by Gilead Sciences. This year’s theme “Long Term Success” is focusing on aging with HIV. The session I a/ended was on cardiovascular and metabolic health of people living with HIV. There will be two more sessions: one on cogni6ve and mental health of people living with HIV, register here:
h/ps://stanleyparkcrea6ve.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LuCbN5N4SbWnmZ9JmAx1 Mg#/registra6on
And HIV and Women’s health, register here:
h/ps://stanleyparkcrea6ve.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lHzGM
UTKmhXqOUdH3o7Q#/registra6on
They are taking place the next two Fridays, June 2 and June 9th at noon Eastern 6me.
The first thing I noted was that Dr Tsoukas made an effort to be approachable. Oeen medical professionals have a tendency to present material in a very dry way, filled with medical terminology. He did not do this. The informa6on he provided was easy to understand. He also answered the ques6ons put to him by the audience honestly and
openly. The only thing I would’ve wanted was the involvement of a person living with HIV. I see that the next session also does not have a person living with HIV involved but the one a=erward has a woman living with HIV who is a well-known acAvist and peer researcher. Gilead needs to step up its game by involving people living with HIV in their knowledge exchange acAviAes, either several people living with HIV in a panel discussion, a person who has experienced the issue being discussed or a peer researcher in the area.
This session focused on cardiovascular and metabolic health, in parAcular what is puDng the cardiovascular health of people living with HIV at risk. Of course the usual suspects were discussed: inflammaAon caused by HIV that is untreated, lack of exercise, eaAng unhealthy food, stress, smoking and using substances and weight gain. CATIE has put out a publicaAon that echoes these and talks about “the ongoing replicaAon of HIV in your body [which] causes your immune system to be in a conAnuous state of high-level inflammaAon.” (hMps://www.caAe.ca/hiv-and-cardiovascular-disease). I asked Dr Tsoukas about this and whether there has been permanent inflammatory damage done to people who are long term survivors and who did not have access to anA-retroviral treatment (ART) to bring HIV under control in the pre-anAretroviral era. He agreed that this was the case. This means, however, that long term survivors and people aging with HIV need to be aware of the risks of cardiovascular disease and take steps to prevent and/or miAgate it.
Some of the steps that can be taken are obvious: try to eat healthy foods, reduce stress, take your HIV medicaAons, exercise, quit the use of tobacco and other substances, maintain a healthy weight. But Dr Tsoukas acknowledged that not everyone can do these things easily. He talked about how it is important for pressure to be put on governments to recognise that ensuring that people living with HIV have the ability to act on these things is going to prevent hospitalizaAons and death Some HIV clinics now have psychologists, nutriAonists and social workers who assist with these things but it is not universally accessible.
When we are talking to governments, we need to emphasize that community social supports are essenAal to the long-term health and well being of people living with HIV. There needs to be an investment made in the provision of these supports. Your HIV specialist should also be checking your cholesterol, triglyceride and blood sugar levels, monitoring your blood pressure, and geDng baseline cardiac tesAng to ensure that if there are changes, you have reference points. Talk to your HIV specialist about these risks and ensuring that you have access to what you need to ensure long-term cardiovascular health.
Those of us aging with HIV, especially long-term survivors from the pre-ART era, have the ability to live long and healthy lives with HIV. But that will only happen if we have the supports we need to achieve this.
Today I’m talking with Richard Berkowitz, one of our most important ac:vists. If you’re reading this, you’re indebted to him. I met Richard on Facebook a@er he “liked” a track I did as a PSA to the Ballroom scene called “H-I-Vogue.” Then we met in ManhaKan for a previous interview: [ h"ps://pinkplaymags.com/2018/11/world-aids-day-reflec<ng-back-on-an-epidemic/ ]
When COVID began, many of us living with HIV remembered what it was like in the early days of AIDS. So, for this Pride Edi:on of POZPLANET, let’s talk to someone who, 25 years before Prep, found a way to celebrate gay sex, even amid the terrifying days when AIDS first began.
Richard with his lover, Gay Pride 1982
AK: First, how are you? You’re a very long-term survivor.
RB: I’m great, considering I tested HIV posi:ve in 1984. In the 1970s, the doctor I saw for STI [sexually transmiKed infec:on] check ups, Joe Sonnabend, turned out to be a world class virologist. He never believed exposure to HIV was an automa:c death sentence, which was all gay men kept hearing I just heard a CDC official urging more HIV tes:ng because “symptoms may not show up for 10 years.” In the early 1980s, Sonnabend saw how doctors trea:ng gay men with AIDS forgot the old credo, “first do no harm.” Joe protected me from the dangerous
treatments that hastened early AIDS deaths, so I lived long enough to get the first drugs that controlled HIV in 1996. When you’re young you fear gegng older but a@er your friends die in their 20s and 30s, older is life they never got to live
AK: Last month was the 40th anniversary of publishing “How to Have Sex in An Epidemic: One Approach” – the booklet many consider the inven:on of safe sex before Prep [taking HIV meds to prevent gegng infected]. How did it come about?
Dressed for work, 1982
RB: Safe sex guidelines came from a sex worker – me. In 1982, I was a busy S/M escort with a large clientele. When I woke up to AIDS, I stopped having sex. My lover thought I went insane, so we broke up. Sonnabend asked me and the late ac:vist Michael Callen to write to warn and wake up gay men about AIDS. HIV wasn’t iden:fied yet, so we made mistakes. We called for the end of urban gay “promiscuity”, but I had doubts. My clients kept sending me flowers and asking why I disconnected my phones. Then one night a client rang my doorbell. I explained AIDS to him assuming that would be the end of that, but he said, “Can’t you just put on your leather and boots, let me worship you and jerk off?” As soon as he le@, I plopped down at my typewriter and typed, “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic.” That was my eureka moment.
I began pestering Sonnabend about ways to make sex safe. He told me that his pa:ents with a history of oral and penile STIs were not showing signs of AIDS, that only his pa:ents with a history of anal STIs [recep:ve penile intercourse] were. He wanted me and Callen to promote condom use, having fewer partners and more las:ng rela:onships. But because of my sex work, I realized many forms of sexual in:macy were already safe or could be made safer. In 1983, our guidelines could have stopped the sexual transmission of HIV, but some older gay leaders did all they could to stop us. They were mor:fied that we celebrated gegng fucked safely. They only wanted us to talk about being vic:ms of a virus. But Callen and I were 26 the post Stonewall genera:on. We escaped the gay sex shame of Larry Kramer’s era. The 1960s riots that ignited Gay libera:on were about refusing to be vic:ms! Callen and I bonded over that.
With Michael Callen, 1985
AK: You once told me to beware of publicly cri:cizing PrEP. Do you s:ll feel that we should not say anything disparaging?
RB: When it came to science, I always wrote what Sonnabend told me; he was the expert, not me. I wanted sexually ac:ve gay men to have the ero:c freedom of the 1970s safely. Sex isn’t all we are, but it’s been vital to who we’ve been for a reason. In our community, PrEP is what safe sex is. They don’t know anything else. But it always had its dangers. We’ve been lucky so far but stay tuned. Sexually transmiKed meningi:s has been killing gay men in recent years; but there’s a vaccine. “Monkey” pox was easy to control: We had drugs to treat it and gay men responded quickly. Covid was a kick in the ass, but the NYC Health Dept. issued safer sex guidelines inspired, they said, by our booklet.
PrEP serves our neoliberal age which demands solu:ons that serve corporate profits, but that’s no reason to aKack it. I would have died 30 years ago without Big Pharma. There were never any profits to make from safe sex. Sonnabend and I leaned socialist. We wanted to save people from the clutches of the medical establishment, Big Pharma, a life:me of medical appointments, bills, and government surveillance. Condoms mean different things to different people. For some, its repression; for others, its freedom. You’re the only gay man on planet earth who contacted me about the 40th anniversary of our booklet.
AK: Are you shocked by that?
RB: Sad, not shocked. Safe sex was about more than sex, it was about finding community-based solu:ons instead of wai:ng for a government that rarely deserved our trust. I tried to get those stories published for 40 years, but I failed. We count every new HIV infec:on but not the mul:tudes of ordinary people who figured out early that safe sex made sense and embraced it. It comes down to who gets to write history. The first 5 years of AIDS were the most radical and
produc:ve. Act Up didn’t start un:l 5 years later Americans are used to history that celebrates achievements and erases mistakes. We want David (AIDS ac:vists) slew Goliath (Big Pharma, the government.)
AK: Is the U.S. heading for a different kind of Civil War. All the an:-gay laws going up in red states. I worry for my family and friends who are there.
RB: Americans keep being told we’re a divided na:on by the people in power who are doing the dividing! Most Americans agree on raising corporate taxes, a living wage, affordable health care, protec:ng Social Security. Even a right-wing Fox news poll showed that 80% of Americans want to ban assault weapons. Despite mass shoo:ngs every day, Americans can’t stop it: the gun lobby has more control over our government than 280 million ci:zens. Our government doesn’t want us figh:ng the system that economically vic:mizes all of us; they keep vic:ms figh:ng other vic:ms. Trans and “woke” issues have been so distorted to infuriate Americans that figh:ng “woke” is now the top issue for Republicans. Saving Social Security that they need to live is second. That’s scary. I haven’t been this frightened since AIDS began. Most Americans support abor:on, but it’s gone. If they can do that, what will they do to queer issues?
Richard Berkowitz
The lost story of AIDS is what do you do when your world collapses all around you? Who merits our trust? Who’s an expert? AIDS taught Callen and me to never give up hope, but Callen and I worked our hearts out to make that hope ra:onal and accessible to others. Young queer ac:vists are doing that now, figh:ng issues beyond LGBTQ rights. Our fight never seems to end but we must consider if what we’re saying invites allies or makes enemies We’ll always be in the minority.
On August 15th, 2018 Richard Berkowitz met with for the first ?me POZPLANET Magazine founder and editor, Alphonso King Jr at The Chelsea Piers, New York City and have been friends ever since.
We cannot fix the future without recognizing the past and Richard’s book is important. Be sure to pick your copy of “STAYIN’ ALIVE (The InvenEon of Safe Sex) here:
hHps://www.amazon.ca/Stayin-Alive-InvenEon-Safe-Sex/dp/0813340926
EDITORS NOTE: During publicaEon of this interview, Florida governor Ron DeSanEs passed a law criminalizing public displays of drag. In Wilton Manors, a largely gay town, organizers have cancelled Pride events. On May 25th, Orlando’s drag restaurant HAMBURGER MARY’S filed a lawsuit against the governor because the new law is too vague and basically says that drag shows are considered lewd acEvity, sexually explicit shows, disorderly conduct, public exposure, obscene exhibiEons and inappropriate for children to see. The owners allege that their restaurant bookings fell 20% aeer the law was signed and cauEoned customers to no longer bring their children to the shows.
Find out more from NPR here:
hHps://www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1177727539/hamburger-marys-orlando-lawsuit-floridadesanEs-drag-show
Sonnabend, Callen & Berkowitz, 1993
Interviewed by Alphonso King Jr
Last year at The POZ-TO Awards we honored ten Canadians for their activism. It was a great evening and I felt like I helped introduce our community to some people who are doing the work behind the scenes to help those living with HIV. And today we are going to introduce you to one of them...Mr. Gabriel Jarquin. And I have to tell ya I'm a little jealous of his body. He is in great shape! But I'll let him tell you why.
JE: Hello Gabriel...thank so much for doing this interview. I know you're a busy man and between your daily exercise and your work with the Pride & Remembrance Run you probably have a full schedule. How are you?
GJ: Thanks for having my Jade. I’m doing very good. Trying my hardest to be present in this crazy world as I feel life is always moving so quickly. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we were both in Montreal at the World AIDS Conference. And you know I never stop running. Summer is my favourite time to run so I take full advantage. Truly the best time of the year!
JE: Let's get a little background on you for our readers...would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Have you always lived in Toronto?
GJ: I was born in Nicaragua and moved to Canada as very young child. I grew up in Kitchener and moved to Toronto at 18 for University. I’ve now passed the threshold of living in Toronto longer than I have where I grew up so I’m proud to say I’m a Torontonian.
JE: So, I ask this of everyone who is interviewed for this column...how long have you been HIV+ and what made you decide to come out about your status?
GJ: I been HIV+ for just over a decade. It’s been quite a journey. When I was diagnosed, I was not in a good place. It was a very hard time for me and I didn’t even know why. I simply wasn’t happy in life as a gay man. Fortunately, through therapy I have been able to rid myself of shame, self-hate and religious trauma in order to be the person that I am now. Growing up in the evangelical Church did a number on me. And not a good one. What’s interesting is that my faith had a lot to do with my healing.
It was my friend Myles who inspired me to not only be open about my status but accept it and own the story that comes along with it. I was so taken by someone who was so authentic and strong while living their truth and not being held down by shame and stigma. I wanted what they had and they helped me through my journey of self-love and sharing my story.
JE: So, as I mentioned I am a little jealous of your body since you are in such great shape. How long have you been a long distant runner and how did you start?
GJ: Oh man, I’ve been running since elementary school. It was the only sport I enjoyed and thankfully I was fast. It was my safe place growing up and it continues to be so. I ran in high school as well as university before taking a decade off and coming back to the sport in 2016 a
few years after my diagnosis. Running has been part of my healing and allows me to practice self-love and support others.
JE: So, last year you tapped me to be the DJ for the Pride & Remembrance Run on Pride Saturday morning here in Toronto. How did you get involved and what exactly is the "run" for?
GJ: As I just shared, running has had such a positive impact in my life since a young age. I was at a point 3 years ago where I was looking for an opportunity to give back to the running community and I saw a position open on the Pride and Remembrance Association’s board of directors who organize the run. I saw this as the perfect intersectionality between my passion for running and my queer identity. I’m now the Co-President of the association and very proud of the work my amazing team volunteers their time to do. The Run has a long history in the local queer community. It was started by the founder Alan Belaiche in 1996 as a memorial to his friend who died of AIDS.
You ask me what the Run is: The Run is a celebration. It’s a remembrance of all the queer community has endured and triumphed over. I also see it as celebration. It’s a way for individuals to celebrate pride in a different way. Outside of the bars and clubs. It’s also a community event that brings queers and ally’s together in the spirit of pride and running. Over the years our participants have raised over $2.7 million dollars benefiting 2SLGBTQ+ organizations many of them who help those living with HIV/AIDS. I think you can understand why this event is so close to my heart. It’s more than a race. The Run represents who we are as a community.
JE: Are there any other organizations or projects you work with that we should know about?
GJ: I’m a National Ambassador for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) which is how you and I met. I’m very thankful for CANFAR for allowing me to share my story but more importantly for the knowledge I continue to gain surrounding what’s going on in the HIV/AIDS world and what needs to be done. I’ve also met some remarkable people including yourself! I’m always happy to see you at all the events and you continue to inspire me.
Last year I started a running program with the Aids Committee of Toronto’s Positive Youth Outreach. I coach and mentor a group of HIV+ youth. We run together weekly in the spring with the goal of completing the pride & remembrance run in June. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to meet such amazing youth. I’m getting teary just thinking of my boys!
JE: And before we let you go...what advice would you give to a seasoned drag queen who would like to be in better shape? Or what would you advise someone who would like to start running to improve their health?
GJ: Get moving! It doesn’t matter in what form but whatever makes you move, keep at it. I find I can run so much simply because I love doing it. So find your passion in movement and lean into that.
Listen to the mix here: https://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny/ear-candy-june-2023
Download the video of this mix here: https://krakenfiles.com/view/jLE4f9WiD1/file.html
Check out DJ Relentless’ Mixcloud page: https://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny
Check out DJ Relentless’ HearThis page: https://hearthis.at/djrelentlesstoronto
Damn...the year is flying by! It's already June and everyone is gearing up for a hot summer. I am glad that the warmer weather is here but nervous for the world and the state that it is in. We've got twenty-one tracks to talk about and lots of current events to discuss in this mix. There’s legends like Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire along with LGBT artists like Jade Elektra, Kim Petras & Saucy Santana in this month’s mix. Nicki Minaj & Afrojack make a couple appearances and my crush on Jack Harlow is still hangin’ around. We’ve got a lot of new music on the horizon. Some of the tracks are bangas and others are trash. Trust me to give you my honest opinion.
So, let’s get started shall we?
I guess the world and DJs are clamoring for some kind of new Rihanna track…and that’s why remixers keep digging up her old tracks and breathing new life into them. We start our mix with the Dan Bravo & Madsko Remix of her 2009 release, “Te Amo”. Honestly…I never heard the original but the lyrics and the production lends itself well to that Moombahton sound.
I joked a couple months ago that Nicki Minaj has begun her assault on the Pop charts. Well, I think she is not playing around. Borrowing a page from the 90s RuPaul book of be seen at all cost, Nicki is back to popping up on any and every record she can do a guest spot on while dropping her own tracks. “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” has summer hit wriAen all over it! With catchy lyrics and a Lumidee sample from “Never Leave You” I’m sure this will climbing the Hip Hop charts.
Our third selecEon is kinda historic. I don’t think I’ve heard of any male Hip Hop arEst featuring an openly gay male rapper on his record. AGer all the bullshit with Da Baby, Lil Boosie and their remarks about Lil Nas X, it is refreshing to see someone “live and let live” in the world Hip Hop. Holding on to this toxic masculinity image has not proven to further your careers. It’s a new day and Eme to stop perpetuaEng this stereotype of what a black man is supposed to be. The image of the “thug” plays right into Jail Culture and Baby Daddy Drama. So, you know I’m gon’ throw all my support behind “Pinot Noir” by IDK featuring Saucy Santana & Jucee Froot And I’m lovin’ the use of the Michael Jackson sample from “I Can’t Help It” (wriAen by Stevie Wonder).
Now, there has never been a secret about my crush on Jack Harlow. I love straight corn-fed boys who are unbothered by a black gay man. I’m not gon’ try to convert ya! You’ll never compete with my fantasies in my head anyway. So, I’ll just support your music from a far. His latest single is “They Don’t Love It”…but I do. I’ll be sliding this one into my sets as oGen as I can.
So, our fiGh selecEon has many remixes and mashups but I chose this Jimmy Kimmel performance because to transiEons into a Club speed to get me up to where I need to be to tell the rest of this story. I had not heard of Coi Leray unEl the remixes started pouring into my VJ groups. And “Players” has that Old Skool Hip Hop feel about the lyrics that screams a hit. I don’t know if she will be the next Nicki Minaj or Cardi B but she will be a summer contender in 2023.
Okay…if a 90s nightmare were to happen to me right now it would be a reboot of “Who Let The Dogs Out?” Well, it’s happening! “Dogs” by IShowSpeed (really stupid name) & Kai Cenat is exactly that….a reboot of that horrible song! I thought the 2019 documentary about the origin of that song was the last of hearing it. But no! These idiots have rewriAen it as a new rap song. Hate is not strong enough of a word to explain how I feel about this travesty of music.
I haven’t played a big rave or fesEval event in a while, but I am assuming that if I was going to, our seventh track “Shockwave” by Afrojack & R3HAB would be a great choice. Lots of energy and a party video lends itself to some programming for my VIDEODROME mixshow on Saturdays on Mixcloud.
“On & On” by Armin Van Buuren & Punctual featuring Alika is our eighth track. Another Club Banga that I’m sure would get the kids goin’. Too bad I’m not spinning for a big arena event any Eme soon.
So, about a month ago the collaboraEon between Kim Petras and Nicki Minaj called “Alone” dropped and every DJ I know hated it…because of the Alice Deejay sample of “BeWer Off Alone”. One of the most annoying overused sampled songs of the 90s in the world! It wasn’t unEl we all got the Craig Welsh Remix that we breathed a sigh of relief that there is a version that we can play and program in our sets. Do I love this version? Nope. But it’s funcEonal for any future requests.
You know…GalanZs is one of those duos that I can take or leave someEmes. I mean, I loved their collab with Dolly Parton but most of the Eme I consider them to be filler. But the Midnight Mass Remix of “Runaway” is kinda catchy. I can see myself programming this for my floor.
Our eleventh selecEon is “La Bomba” by Sak Noel and I loves me some La=n infused Club tracks! You can’t go wrong with a Sak Noel track! There’s always a great producEon and you know it’s going to be a great bridge into or out of a LaEn set.
Now, the fact that my alter-ego Jade Elektra dropped her album Legendary, Darling! last November has not made me toot my horn every Eme we dropped a single or remix. But I have tried to keep you informed of the ones that I thought would be great addiEons to your library. Well, this month we dropped her collaboraEon with DJ/Prodicer Tim LeWeer called “Can You Feel It”. Honestly, I had forgoAen that I had done these vocals over a year ago. But it’s a hot track and I’m definitely including it in my Pride sets this month!
You ever hear a track or a song and then it gets stuck in your head? Well, “Beggin’” by Chris Lake featuring Aluna is one of those songs. It has an addicEve hook and the producEon makes me wanna move. I don’t know about ya’ll but I’m definitely gonna play it!
So a decade ago I heard a mashup of Madonna’s “Holiday” and Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me”. And while I have a couple of remixes and even a 2 Step mix of “It Wasn’t Me” featuring Rikshok, I sEll wished there was a proper Club remix. Well, I got my wish. The SSOL & Alves Remix is a great version to play for a dance floor.
Apparently our fiGeenth selecEon is the Jared Jones Remix of “Does He Love You” by Reba McEnZre & Dolly Parton and is a reboot of Reba’s hit back in the 90s. Of course, Country music was not on my radar back in the 90s since I was geang quite the educaEon about House & Club in The Big Apple. But I’ve listened to the original and I welcome Jared’s version with open arms!
It seems like “Alone” seems to be a theme. I’m not kidding! There are at least five or six songs that just came out that have the word “Alone” in their Etles. Our sixteenth track is “Alone Again” by Chico Rose featuring Afrojack & Mougleta. The great thing about the hook on this one is it is modeled off of the chorus of SZng’s “Englishman In New York”. I know most of you young ones out there are not gonna know this song at all but for those of us who remember it is a preAy cool use of a hook.
One of my favourite Cerrone’s classic tracks is “Supernature”. And I was really surprised when I found a new release by him called “A Part Of You”. Nothing like a full-on Disco track in the year 2023! I love that he hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel or change genres. He’s always been Disco and is always gonna be Disco. Great producEon and a funky animated music video…I’m in!
I remember walking north on 7th Avenue just past the Fashion InsZtute of Technology back in 2006 and being stopped by Kevin Aviance who told me that NeYo was about to come out in VIBE Magazine. Of course, that never happened (nor did I think it would). But every Eme he has a new song I think about that incident. And “Mexico” by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike featuring NeYo & Danna Paola brought it all back to me again. Like most of Neyo’s songs, they’re Poppy and kinda rememberable but nothing that I would sEck in a Eme capsule to preserve.
Our nineteenth selecEon is “10 Out Of 10” by Oliver Heldens featuring Kylie Minogue. Now…there is not a music video as of the wriEng of this arEcle but VJ Zenman did a lovely job
of taking footage of hot guys to make one. Kylie just dropped her new single “Padam Padam” but I find it to be another boring filler track. Hopefully someone will do a hot remix that will grab my aAenEon. But this collab is kinda nice. I’ll definitely be spinning this one.
So, I’m not really understanding how the genre K-Pop works. I guess just because a Korean arEst or group makes a song then it is called K-Pop whether its Pop, Hip Hop, Trap, Club or House. So, this Amice Remix of “Cupid” by Fi^y Fi^y is called K-Pop instead of Pop House. Not really loving this one but it is not as annoying as BTS.
And we close out our mix with one of my personal Pick Hits, “Watch Me” by Sevek. I don’t know much about Sevek but his name has popped up a few Emes over the past year and I suspect it will be popping up over our summer. So keep an eye out for him.
Be sure to check out my RELENTLESS PRIDE 2023 MIX here: hAps://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny/relentless-pride-2023-mix
As well as my RELENTLESS CLASSIC PRIDE MIX #9 here: hAps://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny/relentless-classic-pride-mix-9
And my RELENTLESS BALLROOM MIX #6 here: hAps://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny/relentless-ballroom-pride-mix-6
