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Photo credit: Getty images. Above: Byrell the Great
Pride Month may be coming to a close, but the energy and vibrancy of the LGBTQIA+ creator community will continue to resonate with Spotify’s global music program, GLOW at full volume year-round. Amid the parades, parties, and other Pride celebrations, we teamed up with Interview Magazine in New York City to create an unforgettable night of joy, dancing, music, and community where all guests were “Free to Be.”
Urias isn’t about to sit around and wait for success to come to her. The Brazilian artist first found fame on the catwalk as a model and from there expanded her creativity to music.
After sharing a series of covers, including a memorable version of Azealia Banks’s “Ice Princess,” Urias dropped her first original track, “Você Me Vira a Cabeça,” in 2018. Since then, she’s released multiple EPs and two albums, the second of which, HER MIND, just came out this month.
Spotify is excited to amplify the creative vision and punchy tracks of the singer as one of our GLOW artists for the month of June. Through GLOW, our global music program celebrating and amplifying LGBTQIA+ artists and creators all year round, we’re supporting Urias on our platform with a dedicated hub and flagship GLOW playlist, and off our platform via billboards like those in New York City’s Times Square and on the city’s MTA subway system.
From her queer icons to the best advice she’s received, Urias shares more with For the Record below.
My journey in music started in mid-2017. I realized that it was not a distant dream anymore, so I started working on my first cover releases! In 2019 I released my first EP [Urias], in 2022 my first album [FÚRIA], and I just released my second studio album [HER MIND].
There are a lot of powerful and important voices that deserve the spotlight all year long, all around the globe.
Sometimes my creative process starts with the visuals, and then after that we start the musical part of it.
It’s always important to celebrate who you are! There’s still a long path we need to walk, but you should always celebrate yourself.
I don’t think I can separate it! My music is my art and my way to express myself differently.
Strength.
Grace Jones, Liniker, and Honey Dijon.
Music is an important way to communicate to people—the ones that understand you and the ones that need to understand you, too!
Take chances and take care of yourself.
Being able to be myself and create art!
Catch Urias and many other LGBTQIA+ artists this month and all year round on our flagship GLOW playlist.
From punk to ballroom, EDM to drag, music and culture from LGBTQIA+ creators have helped shape and inspired our world.
At Spotify, we’re creating a platform where everyone is Free To Be, no matter who they are, where they live, or what communities they belong to.
In January when we launched GLOW, a global music program celebrating and amplifying LGBTQIA+ artists and creators, we did so to ensure that queer creators and their contributions are heard and honored year-round. That includes during Pride Month, the annual worldwide celebration that makes time to commemorate the LGBTQIA+ community’s culture and achievements, raise awareness of issues and injustices, and advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights.
This Pride Month, LGBTQIA+ listeners and allies in 26 markets can come to Spotify to discover a world where communities and freedom of expression are celebrated. Through our GLOW platform spotlight, and themed podcast playlists, we’re highlighting a place where queer stories and voices from around the world shine.
To kick off Pride, we’re turning up the volume on the talented LGBTQIA+ artists in our GLOW hub. This month, in addition to our flagship GLOW playlist, we’re making local GLOW playlists available in Thailand, Israel, Spain, Italy, Poland, the Nordics, the U.K. and Ireland, and North America.
We’ll also highlight Trixie Mattel from the U.S., Urias from Brazil, and Dana International from Israel as our GLOW spotlight artists. We’ll support them with features on the GLOW hub, a billboard in Times Square in New York City, interviews here on For the Record, and more.
Fans can also find recorded playlist stories in our GLOW flagship playlist from Victoria Monet, TAAHLIAH, Marina Summers, Zemmoa, Angie Oeh, Isak Danielson, and G Flip. Each creator spoke about the need to protect and celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities and subcultures. We asked queer U.S. band The Aces and British DJ and producer TAAHLIAH to reflect on what Pride and GLOW mean to them.
TAAHLIAH: We still have a long way to go collectively, as a consciousness. Whilst acceptance is rife amongst the few, the majority still see queerness as some kind of imposing negative force. It’s important to showcase a varied way of existing, beyond the binary, overlooking the constraints that a white-cis-hetero patriarchy has placed upon us.
The Aces: Because queer visibility saves lives, and it’s important to both celebrate it and make it accessible to those who may need to see it all year round.
The GLOW hub is also getting a glow-up with the addition of podcasts and podcast playlists so listeners can sink into the stories, experiences, and knowledge of LGBTQIA+ hosts and guests. Catch new episodes telling stories of underground LGBTQIA+ subcultures on the BBC Club, Camp Counselors, Two Dykes and a Mic, Aware and Aggravated, and the Ty French Podcast.
Here are a few must-listen-to LGBTQIA+-led podcasts for Pride Month and beyond.
We Said What We Said, featuring hosts Rickey Thompson and Denzel Dion
With bold advice, hot takes, and risqué storytelling, longtime besties Rickey and Denzel dish on everything that matters, from pop culture, sex, and struggle to love, music, and friendship. Tune in for new video podcast episodes on Tuesdays, only on Spotify.
Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
Come on a journey with Queer Eye co-host Jonathan and guest experts as they explore anything and everything under the sun.
You’re Wrong About, “We Need to Talk About the New York Times with Tuck Woodstock”
In the episode of the show that gets you to rethink topics that have been miscast in the public eye, Gender Reveal host Tuck Woodstock takes listeners on a journey through the New York Times’ coverage of trans issues, and in the end, he points the way toward a better future.
Stories with Sapphire with host Sapphire Sandalo
Join host Sapphire Sandalo, a queer Filipino (Cebuano/Ilonggo) American occultist on a mission to add more empathy and diversity to the paranormal, supernatural, and horror communities through stories and interviews from the Philippines and around the world.
Each week, The Laverne Cox Show features intimate conversations with a wide range of guests. These perspectives aim to inspire new behaviors in each of us, which in turn get us closer to becoming the very best versions of ourselves.
Girlish with Gage Adkins and Olivia Noel
As trans women of color in their 20s, Gage and Olivia strive to create a podcast that speaks volumes by discussing issues like transphobia, coming out in college, body dysphoria, and what it’s like being trans in the 21st century.
Kick off Pride by streaming our flagship GLOW playlist.
Representation of LGBTQIA+ individuals in audio continues to increase and improve. Stories once considered taboo now play out in podcasts around the world, and LGBTQIA+ musicians continue to light up listeners’ playlists. However, this progress is not universal, and many queer stories still go untold around the world.
Pride Month, which kicks off in select markets in June, is an annual opportunity to shine a light on those untold stories and increase knowledge of the issues LGBTQIA+ communities still face globally. On Spotify, we aim to use the power of our platform to provide a source for LGBTQIA+ storytelling, solidarity, and inspiration, and to increase awareness of the pressing issues—during Pride Month and year-round. This Pride Month, we’re celebrating these voices.
At the heart of this campaign is the desire to tell new stories from within the LGBTQIA+ community and to leverage our platform to uplift and shine a light on historically marginalized communities. We’ll center conversations around the importance of community, particularly for mental health and well-being, by focusing on a diverse group of traditionally underrepresented queer activists from the U.S., Sweden, the U.K., Japan, and Mexico. On our platform, we’ll be elevating, uplifting, and spotlighting these voices in an effort to drive cultural change. And we’ll be putting our money where our mouth is by donating directly to key partners that are focused on supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.
Head to our refreshed Pride Hub to hear from a diverse group of historically underrepresented activists, including Jonathan Lykes, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah (aka Lady Phyll), Karolyna Pollorena, and Fumino Sugiyama. Each one has curated a playlist that celebrates their work and their community, and they’ll be sharing short-form “a day in the life” videos across social. We’ll also be unveiling an audio series entitled RAISE YOUR VOICE from these activists, who are using sound, voice, and music as part of their work.
Spotify kicked off June by announcing this year’s Pride campaign, CLAIM YOUR SPACE. The experience, complete with playlists, podcasts, and permanent in-person murals, served to celebrate the commitment and resilience of LGBTQIA+ creators. It also recognized the ways audio and art have always been avenues for LGBTQIA+ expression. We encouraged the queer community of creators and listeners to continue to make noise, make their presence known, and make their own rules.
We also used Pride Month as a time to encourage, empower, and amplify the voices of LGBTQIA+ Spotifiers within our own community. So as Pride Month comes to a close, our Life at Spotify social channels shared how several queer employees “claim their space” in the workplace, as well as the songs and aritsts that help them live their identities loud and proud.
In January, we interviewed astrologer and activist Chani Nicholas when she debuted her Cosmic Playlists on our U.S. Pop Culture Hub. Now, she’s back for Pride Month with new, specially curated playlists that speak directly to pride, identity, representation, and love.
We circled back with Chani to get her take on why horoscopes resonate with the LGBTQ community. Much like her insightful horoscopes, the answers speak for themselves.
Astrology holds up a mirror to who we are as people. It affirms us and calls us out. We need both. Life today is so unpredictable, and we all crave some system that contextualizes the difficulties we face, both personally and collectively—which is what astrology naturally does.
Astrology appeals to the queer community for many reasons. I wrote a blog post on this a while back on why I think this is the case—for me, it always comes down to feeling witnessed. For so many of us in the LGBTQ+ community, we have to wrestle with who we are in a society that, even in most liberal enclaves, priorities heteronormative policies, standards, and ideals. So a school of thought/vernacular that doesn’t judge you, radically accepts how you were born and who you are, and offers infinite options for articulating your unique self, versus the typical gender binary can be a source of validation for many of us.
Astrology’s power and magic come from its ability to validate and tell our story. When we radically accept who we are, we are freed to pursue our purpose with pride.
The artists on the playlists for June come in large part from the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout history, queer people have been oftentimes unrecognized vanguards in culture while setting trends that mainstream culture eventually co-opts, erasing the original gender nonconforming and queer talent. By spotlighting queer artists this month, we keep the focus on the creators themselves.
Over the last weekend of June, the astrology is very innovative, experimental, and queer. The sun in Cancer (the sign of family and the group we feel we belong to) makes a helpful connection to Uranus, planet of great creativity and breaking with tradition. It should be fun!
In terms of how I identify, I think I identify most with ’80s pop music. A lot of it was gender fluid without explaining itself; it was just normalized in a way which I really value and made a big impression on me.
I’m still in love with Lizzo’s new album, and I’m really enjoying Syd, Reyna, Mykki Blanco, Le1f, and Andrea Di Giovanni.
Coming out is a continual process. Please do it in the ways that are right for you. When, and if, it is safe (enough) for you to do so. And you don’t have to. It changes nothing about your identity if the only one you ever come out to is you. If you are thinking about coming out, please set yourself up with resources specific to your needs, not only in regard to your ability, location, gender expression, or sexuality, but also culturally when and where possible. There are a million very specific communities online and with a little digging you may find the perfect fit for many, if not all of your identities. There is no right way to be queer, or any gender, or any kind of human being. You get to be you and define yourself for yourself. Every. Single. Day.
Check out all of Chani’s Pride Month-inspired horoscopes in the US Pop Culture Hub, and take a listen to the Cancer playlist below.
Pride Month is all about celebrating love, freedom, and expression—but it’s also about taking a stand for what you believe in. That’s why this year, Spotify’s Pride Month theme is “Taking the Stage” in recognition of the countless individuals who stand up for LGBTQ rights and representation everywhere. We joined forces with the cast of FX’s hit series Pose, now in its second season, to showcase the cast members, their voices, and the way they advocate for their community on and off set.
Head over to the Pride Hub under Browse, and you’ll find an official Pose playlist that updates each week with music from the most recent episode. In addition, Pose stars Dominque Jackson, Indya Moore, Billy Porter, and Mj Rodriguez curated their own respective “The Category Is” playlists. Each one revolves around a specific theme relevant to the cast member who curated it.
We also had an opportunity to ask Mj, Dominique, Indya, and Billy about their Pride Month anthems for this year—and what they think their characters’ Pride Anthem would be.
POSE — Pictured: Mj Rodriguez as Blanca. CR: Pari Dukovic/FX
“I think it’s been my anthem every single Pride—‘I’m Coming Out’—by the one and only Diana Ross, because it speaks for so many individuals. It’s not just speaking to the LGBT community. Yes, it was geared towards us and we made it our own (and she also kinda wrote it for us), but now it’s broadened. We’re speaking for everyone—everyone outside the LGBT community, allies, and people inside of it as well.”
“I think Blanca’s Pride Month anthem would be ‘The Boss’ by Diana Ross. Not only is Blanca just pure love, but I think love shows her every single time who is the boss. And I think she takes heed to that.”
POSE — Pictured: Dominique Jackson as Elektra. CR: Pari Dukovic/FX
“My Pride Month Anthem this year is Alicia Keys, ‘Girl on Fire.’ Truth.”
“My character Elektra’s Pride Month anthem would probably be ‘It’s all about me.’ Is there a song like that?”
POSE — Pictured: Indya Moore as Angel. CR: Pari Dukovic/FX
“My Pride Month anthem for this year is ‘Free’ by Ultra Nate. The song inspires me to own my freedom and autonomy while encouraging me to be generous and show up for other people, especially while queer and gender variant people are being systematically targeted.”
“Angel’s Pride Month anthem would be something upbeat. Angel is in pursuit of something new and she can’t wait to arrive there and find it. Whether that be a new beginning of love or the start of her career… Angel can’t wait!”
POSE — Pictured: Billy Porter as Pray Tell. CR: Pari Dukovic/FX
“‘Love Yourself!’ My song. I’m coming back into the music business with this one, into the R&B/Soul side of the business with this one, and I’m taking my power back. And that’s my anthem.
“If Pray Tell had a Pride Month anthem… ‘Mighty Real.’ Sylvester. He loves Sylvester.”
Turn up the volume this Pride Month with plenty more Pride Playlists, including Out Now, Pride Classics, and Latin Pride, as well as podcasts from LGBTQ comedians and storytellers, all on the Pride Hub.
Pride Month is already operating at full blast across the United States—and there’s plenty of room to keep turning it up. As the celebrations continue across the globe with parades, festivals, and community events, there’s one place everyone can turn for the sounds of Pride: Spotify.com/Pride.
The Hub celebrates Pride through the music of artists who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer, and their allies. So who better to help curate our party platform than Queer Eye’s Fab Five? This year, the cast of Netflix’s hit show are participating in a Spotify Pride Hub takeover and digital experience.
On the show, five gay men—culinary specialist Antoni Porowski, interior designer Bobby Berk, hair stylist Jonathan Van Ness, fashion guru Tan France, and culture expert Karamo Brown—are enlisted to perform complete makeovers on nominated men, forming connections and learning about their shared bonds as humans in the process.
So, in addition to the Pride Classics playlist and the Global Pride playlist of LGBTQ artists around the world, Antoni, Bobby, Jonathan, Tan, and Karamo have added their tasteful touches by highlighting the music that most inspires and empowers them to proudly live at full volume.
Check them out—then head over to Spotify.com/QueerEye to find out which member of the Fab Five you are most like, based on your musical taste.
And just as each Fab Five member has a specialty ranging from cuisine to culture, each also has a defining life story, journey and song that helped him feel free to be who he is. We asked the guys to tell us about a song on their playlist that empowers and speaks to them during Pride Month and throughout the year. (We asked them for makeovers too, but they were a little busy with Pride Month festivities.)
Antoni Porowski: “Being Boring” by the Pet Shop Boys. When I first saw the music video for this song, there was something so carefree and innocent about the people in the video. They are completely nude, so there are no barriers and they just seem free of constraints. It’s done so tastefully. This song is something I closely attribute to my coming out and being free.
Bobby Berk: Celebrating Pride is the way we remember the struggles that came before us that paved the way for the freedoms we now have. The songs in my playlist are really about empowerment and the perfect anthem to head into Pride, remembering the champions that got us here.
Tan France: I think people would be surprised to see “I’m Better” by Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliot. People tend to think Brits are all stuffy, but I absolutely love this song. It’s a side of me that I’d like people to know. And it’s killer for when you’re on the treadmill!
Karamo Brown: “I’m a Survivor” by Destiny’s Child. At my first Pride, I heard them sing and felt empowered and proud.
Jonathan Van Ness: “7/11” by Beyoncé. There is something about a strong beat served by Queen B that makes me feel my innermost power. She is a shining example of being a strong, hardworking artist that I can always look up to to slay me off my damn feet. Yay pride, yay Bey.
As you’re enjoying the beat of your favorite Pride Month hits, make sure to turn up the sound on your Spotify player and keep an eye out for some hidden Pride features! No matter who you are or what music you listen to, always take the opportunity to turn it up and live your life at full volume.
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