Lexxicon has announced a new album. The Toronto dancehall and hip-hop artist will share Pink Fraternity on August 16.
Following last year's modern rap-minded Drill Sergeant, Pink Fraternity is previewed today "Battyman Party," the artist's bold, booming dancehall dedication to queer Caribbean people around the world.
Historically, the Jamaican Patois term "battyman" has been used as a slur to refer to a gay or effeminate man. A release notes that with Pink Fraternity, Lexxicon will stand as the first openly queer musician to release a reggae/dancehall album.
Lexxicon explains that "Battyman Party" is "a statement to say that gays, the queers, the theys and the thems also belong in dancehall."
He expresses, "Many other queer folks like myself have started to embrace the term as a way to define the internal turmoil we have experienced over the years of not being able to fully be ourselves. Hip-Hop has made more room for queer artists in recent years and it's time for dancehall/reggae to do the same."
Per the AFROWAVETO founder, the song's accompanying video directed by recurring collaborator Fatty Soprano seeks to "represent the types of spaces that queer people have had a chance to claim as their own and often have parties in, away from the rest of the world." Keep your eyes peeled for a cameo by Exclaim! New Faves alumnus R. Flex.
"The group shots are there to represent community including allies that make lives better for queer people, we all need a team, a family or a group that will support us through life," Lexxicon shares of his crew of co-stars. "Thanks to my queer and non-queer friends I've made it through my darkest days and now feel strong enough to bring my whole self to light in my music."
