MAPPING THE QUEER CHICAGO OF “RAPBRARIAN” ROY KINSEY For most of history, LGBTQ people were forced to remain hidden, pushed underground by codes both legal and moral. Thanks to activists both past and present, for many it is much easier to be queer today, albeit less so when your identity has so many intersections like that of Roy Kinsey, a Chicago born and raised anomaly, who is Black and queer-identifying but also a rapper and librarian.
Kinsey’s recent Chicago Reader cover
Read the Reader article: “Chicago Reader Rapbrianan Roy Kinsey Finds His Voice in Queer Hip Hop”
His work is as likely to appear in a museum as a performance stage and has also been featured on the cover of the Chicago Reader, in Billboard, NPR, WBEZ, the Chicago Tribune, an LA Times. A recent video, exploring black queer identity and spirituality, premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Recently, he led a series of performances and exhibitions with the Chicago Public Library’s seasonal book and theme programming of race and music, One Book, One Chicago. His professional development in librarianship fueled his desire for self examination that he reports back in rhyme. By day, Kinsey is a librarian in YouMedia, a dedicated library and space for teens located in several branches Chicago Public Libraries. We compiled this map of places, both past and present, which have been key in the development of Kinsey’s many overlapping identities. Among them are many of the city’s beaches, highlighting the importance of the city’s public spaces for both visibility and community-building.
Fetish is a recent single from his forthcoming album that tackles the marginalization of Black men within the LGBTQ community.
Blackie: a story by Roy Kinsey, is Kinsey’s fourth studio album that touches on effects of racism, the Great Migration, addiction, violence, mental illness, and sexuality. It samples both his grandmother and James Baldwin!
