Hannah Steinkopf-Frank is a Recording Academy/GRAMMY.com contributor.
When a young Judy Garland sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in 1939, dreaming of a more exciting, joyous and colorful life elsewhere, few might have known that her words would go on to inspire generations of queer people who found a glimmer of freedom where "the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true." For decades, if not…
In 2021, queer musician Grace Baldridge (who peforms as Semler) rocked Christian music on her debut release, Preacher’s Kid. The EP centered on Baldrige’s experiences growing up in the Episcopal Church, a religion that often didn’t accept her identity, and the ways in which she wrestled with religion. "And these days I believe in Bigfoot more than God, 'cause who's…
Passed packed tables of young people out on a weekend night and a kitchen serving overflowing plates of couscous, music pounds from the nondescript café Espace B on the edge of Paris. On this late September evening, bands ranging from psychedelic to punk to electronic draw hundreds into an overstuffed back room. Between sets, sweat-drenched attendees flood the street, joining…
On a rainy Chicago night during Pride month, queer youth gathered at D.I.Y. venue Concept Sanctuary for a night of hip-hop in an area of the city that's considered one of the country's largest open-air drug markets. Close to midnight, rapper and librarian Roy Kinsey played a new song "Fetish" about being objectified as a black gay man before performing with…
