Our Top Picks of Queer Electronic Music: Pride Month Edition

By Laurine Payet, Music Journalist

The recent renaissance of electronic music in the queer public is getting a lot of attention but the club culture within the LGBTQ+ community comes from a long time ago. And the huge presence of the queer population in the electronic club culture has guided a more inclusive and safe space for everyone.

Arca

When it comes to electronic music, the musician, composer, and producer Alejandra Ghersi, also known as Arca, has started her takeover of the field a few years ago with her alien-style aesthetic. With four albums since her debut in 2014, Arca has been leading the transgender community towards the domination of electronic music. From Venezuela through London, the 31-year-old artist is now based in Barcelona. While some of her songs are purely made to be spinning in a club at 3 am, Arca also has more experimental tracks and industrial hip-hip influences. Her latest album ‘KiCk I’ features front page level artists such as ROSALÍA, Shygirl and SOPHIE.

KAYTRANADA

The Haitian-Canadian DJ and producer KAYTRANADA released his latest masterpiece ‘BUBBA’ at the end of 2019. Identifying as gay himself, KAYTRANADA featured other queer artists in a number of his collaborations. After winning “Best Dance Recording” at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, the main single ‘10%’ has recently trended again. The track is KAYTRANADA’s fourth collaboration with the singer Kali Uchis, with a sound that highlights his famous groove. Since BUBBA, the producer has dropped a couple of singles, and took part in remixes, including his version of ‘Don’t Start Now’ by Dua Lipa in the club version of her iconic 2020 LP ‘Future Nostalgia’.

LYZZA

In more of an underground side of the electronic music scene, we can find the incredible LYZZA. Born and raised in Brazil, the 21-year-old producer, DJ - and sometimes singer – is far from being a newbie to the electronic scene. Aged 16, she was already lying about her age to start her DJ career in high rated Amsterdam clubs Paradiso and NYX, before taking over the worldwide club scene and playing with icons such as SOPHIE while only being 18. While being a young black queer woman, LYZZA has made her way quickly through the tough cis, straight, white, and male-led industry that was clubbing a few years ago. Her experimental but sensitive electronic sound fits with the current London scene, where she is now based.

Shygirl

The British artist Shygirl fits in the same London scene that LYZZA. While being linked to the hyperpop scene, Shygirl also brings a touch of grime and industrial hip-hop to her electronic sound. While TikTok recently brought her 2019 single ‘UCKERS’ to more of a mainstream audience, her latest EP ‘ALIAS’ was more of a successful release in the underground scene. Shygirl’s first single was released in 2016 on her own collective and label NUXXE. The roster of NUXXE contains some of London’s best producers in the electronic scene, such as her close friend Sega Bodega and the French COUCOU CHLOE. Rihanna’s brand Fenty Beauty has used some NUXXE tracks for its promotional campaigns.

Octo Octa

After having already gained notoriety as a DJ, producer and artist, the Brooklyn-based Octo Octa came out as a transgender woman a few years ago. Her solo career as an experimental artist was at first only a side project to her band. After releasing her first single then EP ten years ago, Octo Octa has since then released a total of 5 albums, mainly taking inspiration from house music and IDM. This year has seen the release of her 3-track EP ‘She’s Calling’, with a more spiritual approach to her work, exploring the tight link between music and nature rituals.

Alice Longyu Gao

The DJ, producer and performer Alice Longyu Gao is one of the main influencers in the activists for LGBTQ+ rights, speaking out and performing at major Pride and queer events throughout her career. As well as being talented in the electronic music field, Alice Longyu Gao has studied music since she was 4, allowing her to play piano and sing soprano. After her iconic hit ‘Rich Bitch Juice’ – mirrored with ‘Dumb Bitch Juice’ - she’s recently released a single ‘LEGEND’ with the iconic Alice Glass.

Even with its queer roots, the electronic music scene had been cis-white-straight-male centered for a long time. The LGBTQ+ community has however proved itself to come over those barriers, a lot of the recent pioneers being queer. The passing of the talented SOPHIE was a huge loss for the transgender community within the electronic music scene. She was a leader and encouraged a lot of her queer peers to gather the strength needed to come out in an industry that wouldn’t have been so queer without her.

You can find below a playlist curated by us with our current top picks: