God-Des and She

Last updated

God-Des and She are an American hip-hop/pop/soul duo from the Midwest, composed of Alicia Smith (God-des) and Tina Gassen (She).

Contents

Since they appeared on the Showtime hit series The L Word in 2006, [1] they have sold more than 30,000 albums and toured the world.

God-Des is currently home-based in Austin, Texas and has been a regular on the club scene there since 2004.

Activism

A documentary about God-Des and She was released in 2014, entitled “God-Des & She: Never Give Up.” [2] The film is named after one of their songs “Never Give Up” which is for children who are bullied and feel lost, and discusses affirming identities within the LGBTQIA+ community. The group is largely focused on activism within the LGBTQIA+ community, and wants to build an even bigger community in which they tackle the ever-growing problem of bullying. God-Des and She uses songs like “Never Give Up” as a platform to bring awareness, especially in schools. They believe there is not enough awareness especially within academic institutions, for far too many kids that identify as LGBTQIA+ have been severely threatened, bullied, and discriminated against. They hope to provide a curriculum to schools throughout the United States in order to educate teachers, faculty, and students about LGBTQIA+ issues and how to be allies. [3]

TV appearances

Discography

YearTitleLabel
2004 RealityGod-Des & She Music
2005 Awesome EPGod-des & She Music
2007 Stand UpGod-Des & She Music
2009 ThreeG & S Records
2009 United States of God-des & SheG & S Records

Nedra Johnson's song "Scooter Phat" features God-Des & She

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non Phixion</span> American hip hop group

Non Phixion is an American hip-hop group from Brooklyn, New York City. Though the group did not become a household name during their initial period of activity, the Village Voice said Non Phixion was "integral to the timeline of underground hip-hop." The group endured a series of missed opportunities on their way to their only LP release and broke up after their first decade. In the months leading up to the 20th anniversary of their formation, the group reunited and as of 2021 was still active and touring. Their logo is a direct nod to the Canadian metal band Voivod.

Tanzanian Hip-hop, which is sometimes referred to Bongo Flava by many outside of Tanzania's hip hop community, encompasses a large variety of different sounds, but it is particularly known for heavy synth riffs and an incorporation of Tanzanian pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CocoRosie</span> American musical group

CocoRosie is an American musical group formed in 2003 by sisters Sierra Rose "Rosie" and Bianca Leilani "Coco" Casady. The group's music has been described as folktronica, freak folk and "New Weird America", and incorporates elements of pop, blues, opera, electronica, and hip hop. The group has released seven studio albums, La Maison de Mon Rêve (2004), Noah's Ark (2005), The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (2007), Grey Oceans (2010), Tales of a GrassWidow (2013), Heartache City (2015), and Put the Shine On (2020), and two EPs, Beautiful Boyz (2004) and Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food (2009). They released their sixth album Heartache City on their own record label, Lost Girl Records.

Brazilian hip hop is a national music genre in Brazil. From its earliest days in the African-Brazilian communities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the genre has grown into a countrywide phenomena. Rappers, DJs, break dancers and graffiti artists are active across the complete spectrum of society blending Brazil's cultural heritage with American hip hop to form a contemporary musical fusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Mic</span> 2002 single by Nas

"One Mic" is a song by American rapper Nas, released April 16, 2002 on Columbia Records and distributed through Ill Will Records in the United States. It was issued as the third single from his fifth studio album, Stillmatic (2001). The single peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Nas's third top-fifty hit on the chart.

<i>Pick Up the Mic</i> 2006 American film

Pick Up the Mic is a documentary film, released in 2006, which profiles the underground homo hop scene, which is a subgenre of hip hop that includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender artists. The film was directed by Alex Hinton.

QBoy is a UK-based rapper, producer, DJ, writer and presenter. He is one of the original few out rappers in hip hop circa 2001 that became pioneers of the new subgenre colloquially known as "homo hop". QBoy is currently a DJ and promoter of popular LGBTQ club night and party 'R & She: The Queens of Hip-Hop & R&B' which hosts events in London, Berlin and New York City.

Joseph Thomas Lee, better known by his stage name Deadlee, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is based in Los Angeles, California, is of Mexican American and African American descent, and launched his career in 2000. In 2002, he released his critically acclaimed first album 7 Deadlee Sins. The follow-up album, Assault With a Deadlee Weapon, was released in late 2006.

Tori Fixx is one of the first openly gay hip hop artists. He also produces music for other noted queer performers. He is based in Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lil Mama</span> American rapper (born 1989)

Niatia Jessica Kirkland, better known by her stage name Lil Mama, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer. She experienced top 10 Billboard placements at 17 with her debut album VYP (2008), which debuted at number 25 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned her four major singles including her staple song and dance anthem "Lip Gloss", earning her two Teen Choice Awards and Monster Single of the Year nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards. Kirkland gained further attention in pop music after a collaboration with Avril Lavigne for the remix of her hit single "Girlfriend".

MondoHomo Dirty South is an alternative queer music & arts festival that debuted in Atlanta in June 2007, during the first U.S. Social Forum. MondoHomo was the love child of Kiki Carr, Ria Pell and Nikki Chotas, and was inspired by Olympia, Washington's Homo-a-Gogo Festival.

Mélange Lavonne is an American rapper.

LGBTQ representation in hip hop music has existed since the birth of the genre even while enduring blatant discrimination. Due to its adjacency to disco, the earliest days of hip hop had a close relation to LGBT subcultures, and multiple LGBT DJs have played a role in popularizing hip hop. Since the early 2000s there has been a flourishing community of LGBTQ+ hip hop artists, activists, and performers breaking barriers in the mainstream music industry. Despite this early involvement, hip hop has long been portrayed as one of the least LGBT-friendly genres of music, with a significant body of the genre containing homophobic views and anti-gay lyrics, with mainstream artists such as Eminem and Tyler, the Creator having used casual homophobia in their lyrics, including usages of the word faggot. Attitudes towards homosexuality in hip hop culture have historically been negative, with slang that uses homosexuality as a punchline such as "sus", "no homo", and "pause" being heard in hip hop lyrics from some of the industry's biggest artists.

"No homo" is a slang phrase used at the end of a sentence to assert the statement or action by the speaker had no intentional homosexual implications. The phrase is also "added to a statement in order to rid [oneself] of a possible homosexual double-entendre".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katastrophe (rapper)</span> American rapper

Rocco Kayiatos, known professionally as Katastrophe and in some later releases as Rocco Katastrophe, is an American rapper.

Empire I is a singer, songwriter and social activist based in Kingston, Jamaica. Her musical style has been described as a blend of dancehall, reggae, hip hop, pop and World music. She is signed to Monumental Records and distributed by Universal Music Group and Zojak Worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grandmaster Caz</span> American rapper

Curtis Brown, better known by the stage names Grandmaster Caz and Casanova Fly, is an American rapper, songwriter, and DJ. He was a member of the hip hop group The Cold Crush Brothers from 1979 to the mid-1980s. He is best known as the (uncredited) main writer of Big Bank Hank's raps on the seminal 1979 hip hop single by The Sugarhill Gang, "Rapper's Delight".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pin Up Girls</span>

The Pin Up Girls are a girl group and dance troupe, founded by New York City native Vixen Romeo in 2005, which began as a burlesque-style performance group based in Los Angeles. Performing at Hollywood's most notorious venues such as The Viper Room Key Club and Roxy the girls quickly gained local attention with their girl-on-girl themed, tribal fusion belly dance, burlesque and hip hop routines. Between 2006-2008 The Pin Up Girls started to become poster girls for the lesbian scene with performances for Curve (magazine), a guest appearance on LOGO network's reality series Curl Girls, a web series segment on AfterEllen, a performance for the LGBT community hosted by Jane Lynch, and performances in Margaret Cho's Sensuous Woman Show. In 2008 The Pin Up Girls first recorded single "There She Goes...She's Real Fly" was picked up to be played on Showtime's hit lesbian series The L Word. In 2009 The Pin Up Girls music video, "There She Goes...She's Real Fly" premiered on Logo, on New Now Next Pop Lab. The Pin Up Girls' "Girl Candy," filmed in N.Y. and L.A., was released in 2011. The Pin Up Girls' "Pretty Things", featuring actress Elaine Hendrix, was filmed in L.A. by Director Joe LaRue in 2012 and was released in June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BEN (song)</span> 2012 single by Adair Lion

"BEN" is a hip hop song written by rapper, producer, and director Adair Lion, a native of El Paso, Texas. The song samples Michael Jackson's 1972 song of the same name and gives a pro-LGBT message. One report described it as a message to the rap world, and a stance against gay discrimination. Towleroad called it a "beautifully-spun message about doing away with homophobia in hip-hop and Christianity, and accepting gay parents". Originally titled "It Gets Benner" in homage to the It Gets Better Project, Lion decided to use "Ben" with the name also serving as an acronym for "Better Everything Now".

In the United States, LGBT youth of colour are marginalized adolescents in the LGBT community. Social issues include homelessness; cyberbullying; physical, verbal and sexual abuse; suicide; drug addiction; street violence; immigration surveillance; engagement in high-risk sexual activity; self-harm, and depression. The rights of LGBT youth of colour are reportedly not addressed in discussions of sexuality and race in the larger context of LGBT rights.

References

  1. Telling It Like It Is by Ali Greggs, Jackson Free Press, October 11, 2006 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Baker, Christin (2014-06-08), God Des & She: Never Give Up , retrieved 2016-03-06
  3. "An interview with God-Des and She - AfterEllen". AfterEllen. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  4. Hip Hop Homos : Overview | Logo Online
  5. Interview with God-des of God-des & She Archived 2013-04-03 at the Wayback Machine