- 2018-06-08
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MUSIC
Taylor Bennett Premieres New Song “Be Yourself” featuring Bianca Shaw
Chicago-based hip hop artist Taylor Bennett collaborated with American rapper Bianca Shaw for a new song “Be Yourself”.
The song was premiered exclusively on TIME. The track will appear on his upcoming third EP, which is set to be released later this year.
Taylor Bennett is known as younger brother of Chance the Rapper. And he came out as bisexual on his Twitter in January 2017.
The song is written about his experiences in the LGBTQ+ community and how he has grown to accept himself.
Taylor Bennett told Time about the song in an interview;
"Growing up on the south side of Chicago, I was not open about my sexuality for a long time. Being a rapper, being in the industry, going to classical schools, and really getting exposure to different opinions and lifestyles made me want to use my music platform as a vehicle to talk about something that is very often shaded in American history.
So there’s many years of anger, confusion and unspoken words for the black community and the LBGTQ community. That’s why I wanted to tell this story. There are gay black artists who have publicly announced their sexual orientation, but never a bisexual African American artist who not only wants to speak his own truth, but also use his platform to raise a much larger conversation than likes and clicks to get to the root of the issue."- He wants listeners to learn through this song;
"Something that I want for not just children but all my listeners — no matter if you’re gay, straight, white, black, rich or poor — is understanding the power of being yourself. As children, very early we’re pressured into automatically being a part of groups. I want kids to understand that being yourself is important. [In] America, we have extremely high suicide rates and a lot [of that] stems from feeling like you don’t belong, feeling isolated. And the problem is that everybody around you is so selfish.
I always say that coming out is not about yourself. You already know you’re gay; you already know you’re a lesbian; you already know you’re bisexual. It’s about all the people that are around you and how they perceive you. Their opinions… will change. What will other people think about them if they have a gay family member, or a bisexual cousin, or a lesbian best friend? Those are their thoughts and their self-centered views." - source : TIME