Beyoncé is in her oontz-oontz era — an era many of us never truly left.
Her new single “Break My Soul” is the house and dance inspired moment that we didn’t know we needed. With the slightest of help from Drake’s new Honestly, Nevermind album, she is set to bring old school house pop back into the cultural conversation.
House music’s roots are pretty explicitly queer and Black, and this new single featuring Black queer icon Big Freedia is reminding the girls of that fact.
Names like Crystal Waters, CeCe Peniston, and Robin S. are serving as the references for this genre in the conversation right now, and for good reason, but that focus seems to have a lot of people discussing house in the past tense.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
In the spirit of keeping the conversation current — and just giving you some more tracks to dance to — here are 5 recent house and dance songs you just might love…
“365 (Thr33 6ix 5ive)” by HoneyLuv
HoneyLuv’s Waters-esque sound on this track is so deeply satisfying in scratching that early 90s house itch. Miss Luv has only been DJing for a few of years, with no debut album and only a handful of singles out, so her mastery of the genre is even that much more impressive.
“Persuasive” by Doechii
This song specifically has Doechii hitting her moment as something of an underground It Girl right now, and it’s what she deserves. If you need more Black queer music in your life, as we all do, Doechii is a must.
“Gold” by Austin Millz feat. Aluna
Probably the most audibly contemporary on this list — if nothing else, Aluna’s slightly cursive vocals are a dead giveaway — “Gold” still a great bassline and this glittery electronic effect throughout that keeps it fresh.
“Sunshine” by Wh0
Sunshine is just the right flavor of repetitive for someone a couple drinks in on the dancefloor. This is one of those dance tracks that said “hey, what if we took the hottest part of another song and made it the whole track?” And they were absolutely right.
“Ooh La La (Honey Dijon Remix)” by Jessie Ware and Honey Dijon
We were never going to go wrong with a Black trans woman’s house remix of a single off Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure, arguably one of the best albums of 2020. Honey Dijon took what was already a great groove single and cranked it up to a twelve and a half.
If Beyoncé’s upcoming Renaissance album is anything like her “Break My Soul” single, the contemporary house scene will be all the fuller come this July.
