Billy Porter’s protest, the most famous queens in the world & more: Your weekly bop roundup

Welcome to the weekend, readers! No weapons formed against this week have prospered; can we get an amen?

The young queers truly won this week: Tumblr‘s making an unlikely comeback as Musk burns down Twitter, the Heartstopper cast is taking over the world, and Zaya Wade‘s dad proved she’s in great hands.

And when it comes to this week’s new queer music releases, we’re all winning. Whether you’re here for Brazilian beats or trans indie goodness, this week’s got something for everybody.

From drag elegance to Black excellence, here’s your weekly bop roundup!

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“Stranger Things” by Billy Porter

Debuted at the Global Citizen Festival: NYC in late September, “Stranger Things” is a grooving soul track calling for change, hope, and a personal revolution. Lines like “You see me more than I see me/I can’t do nothin’ but turn that energy into something I can be” speak to the hyper-visibility of folks designated as “other”, and the possibility to take that increased focus into one’s own hands. Check out Porter’s live performance to truly feel the spirit of the song.

“AMEIANOITE” by Pabllo Vittar & Gloria Groove

Which one is the bigger win for Brazil this week: getting rid of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, or getting a Pabllo Vittar/ Gloria Groove collab? It’s hard to say! The two most followed drag queens in the world team up on “AMEIANOITE” to deliver bewitching rhymes, spellbinding visuals, and an enchanting kiss to top it all off. Though this spooky heat missed Halloween by a few days, boppery of this caliber is welcome year-round.

“Spice Girls Party Mix” by The Spice Girls

The Spice Girls have decided to make gays everywhere feel as old as possible by announcing the twenty-fifth (25th!) anniversary of their hit album Spiceworld. The gals are celebrating two and a half decades of spicing up lives everywhere with an album reissue, complete with unreleased live tracks, demos, and this fifteen-minute-long party mix. Consider our lives sufficiently spiced.

“BLACK” by Bob the Drag Queen ft. Basit & Ocean Kelly

Drag Race fans, Are You the One fans, and Ocean Kelly stans are all getting fed at once. The power in the joint Black queer slay of Bob the Drag Queen, Basit, and Ms. Kelly on this track could power a small nation for a year. Visuals like KKK members hanging from the ceiling, Nefertiti drag, and a Karen getting her phone smashed elevate the track to an even higher plane — and, as always, Ocean Kelly eats the beat like no other.

STONE FRUIT by Left at London & g.rola

For an EP that LEft at London emphasizes came together in 24 hours, STONE FRUIT plays like the outro track to the album of a lifetime. There’s an incredible heft to tracks like “That’s Entertainment”, with deeply confessional lyrics and a sound that keeps them afloat. On a personal level, it’s hard to parse sometimes whether her music acts as a stressor or catharsis overall — honestly, the dissonance there feels as relatable as the music itself.

Join us back here next week for another weekly bop after bop!