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Though Pride Month is coming to a close, there’s still plenty of joy to be had. Until June is over, HollywoodLife will celebrate with The Sound Of Pride, where celebs and stars of the LBGTQ+ community pick songs for the ultimate 2023 Pride Month playlist. It’s the perfect soundtrack to keep Pride going all year long (while researching how to protect LGBTQ+ rights and/or reading about the history of Pride Month. To kick off the last workweek of Pride, RIP YOUTH (aka James Maas) begins the grand finale with his picks.
“My first weekend moving to the U.S 12 years ago was coincidentally on gay pride weekend,” RIP YOUTH tells HollywoodLife. As a musical persona of James Maas, RIP YOUTH seems fated to be on every Pride playlist for years to come, especially since his arrival in the States allowed him to live his truth. “I was closeted when I lived in Australia,” he says, “and was going through a lot. I’d just got my first gold record from writing a song back home and wanted to use that to come here and see who would work with me and subconsciously, just get away from my old self.”
“I’d never experienced anything like it,” he says of his first time experiencing LA Pride. “Guys just like me being themselves, people that I could see myself in or wanted to aspire to! If this was what it was like in the middle of Los Angeles (one of the coolest places in the world) then how could it be bad.”
Since moving to LA, RIP Youth/James has continued his rise in the music world. Earlier in the year, he shared “Pink Lemonade” and says that he’s got an EP in the work. That should keep you refreshed until the end of the month, so take a deep sip while reading his selections for The Sound Of Pride.
Editor’s Note: RIP YOUTH offered up some artists, so we’ve picked the following tracks based on his recommendations.
Troy Sivan, “Angel Baby”
“Troy Sivan is everything I wish had been able to express at that age. He’s found himself very early on, he knows who he is and speaks powerfully to a whole generation of gay kids who need to be able to see and hear themselves in his music. Plus he’s an Aussie like me!”
Madonna, ‘Vogue’
“Madonna, of course, is hands down one of my biggest influences and makes no secrets of being influenced by gay culture in such a cool way, she brought vogue’ing from ballrooms into the mainstream and leaves a legacy of pushing boundaries as a champion for the lgbtqia community.”
Beyonce “Break My Soul (Queens’ Remix)”
“Beyonce‘s Renaissance is an ode to the queer roots of dance music, and I live for that sh–! This to me was an awesome representation of gay and trans underground ballroom DJs and artists that she packaged up in feel-good empowering bops that will live on forever and can hold their own to the influences she drew upon.”
Loud Reed, “Walk On The Wild Side”
“Lou Reed’s song ‘Walk on the wild side’ was released back in 1972, produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson. It’s sultry and sexy and based on a transgender prostitute. And if you can believe was one of the biggest hits at the time!! In 1972!”
David Bowie, “Boys Keep Swinging”
“David Bowie defied the ideas of binaries in gender because you couldn’t say he was masculine or feminine, he played up his sexuality by coming out as gay even though he had a wife and kid at the time. He was the ultimate cross-dresser and gender bender even before queerbating was a thing and was cool, so it was from a really authentic need for acceptance to be widened and buttons of the average Joe to be pushed. His music speaks for itself and is gaaaayer than Christmas but in a way that won’t offend your parents back home. [laughs]”
HL: How does Pride 2023 feel compared to last year?
RIP YOUTH: “Pride is more and more commercialized each year which I don’t necessarily think is a bad thing; it brings larger audiences, bigger headliners, more festivals and events, mainstream coverage, and employs more LGBTQIA artists and performers. The world is commercialized. I feel like fighting companies who participate in Pride and being mad at them the other 11 months of the year for not being as active is misplaced anger in my opinion so I’m all here for the growth and the commercialization of Pride (don’t hate me) Just remember the main thing to not forget as gay people is the fight of our forefathers, honoring them for the privileges it has provided us and being grateful for where we are!”
Pride is a time to celebrate unsung heroes, so are there any that you’d like to see get some love before the month is over?
“I think the free Recovery Programs in LA especially! Are the best in the world, a lot of young LGBTQIA kids move here from less accepting places and just in general gay kids have a hard time feeling different and unsure of who they are and turn to drugs and alcohol or sex as a social lubricant that I’m sure is helpful at one point to push them out into society but isn’t a long term solution, the chosen family within the community and sounding board of like-minded individuals can help a lot, when it comes to finding yourself, it takes a village, everyone helps each other. I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for the volunteers at these gay support groups.”
Do you have a special memory of Pride Months past?
“My first weekend moving to the U.S. 12 years ago was coincidentally on gay pride weekend. I was closeted when I lived in Australia and was going through a lot. I’d just got my first gold record from writing a song back home and wanted to use that to come here and see who would work with me and subconsciously, just get away from my old self.
“So I had no idea it was gay Pride at the time. I looked online and was wondering why the hotels were all so expensive so ended up booking at the Ramada on Santa Monica Blvd for a few weeks. (Still didn’t know it was Pride) Little did I know this was a hookup hotel on Pride! All the doors of all the hallways were left open and ended up being like one big sorority house. I was so scared and excited. I didn’t partake right away, but I made my way onto the street, and it was gaaaaaaaayyyy, [with] so many people being so forward. I’d never experienced anything like it, guys just like me being themselves, people that I could see myself in or wanted to aspire to! If this was what it was like in the middle of Los Angeles (one of the coolest places in the world) then how could it be bad?
“Everyone was so outwardly confident and whistling and asking me out like the fresh meat I was [laughs]. It felt amazing!
“That was some universe energy at play putting me in the right place at the right time. I called my mum, asked her to move my stuff from my apartment back home into storage and I’ve been here ever since.”
What do you have planned for June (and the rest of 2023?)
“I have three new singles being lined up at the moment, two of them collaborations, I’m putting together a live show I can tour around and just finishing my EP.”
Do you have a Pride 2023 message to share as we close out the month?
“Find your tribe; You don’t have to go through anything alone and you shouldn’t! Even if you’re like me, who likes to isolate and tell yourself you’re the only one who feels a certain way, you’re not. It’s just not possible, you’ll surprise yourself when you push yourself out there to find the people that think and feel like you. They might be hard to find, but they ARE out there. We’re all insecure and have times of self-doubt that is just a fact, but the worst thing I ever did was try to separate myself from the world and feel different “Terminal uniqueness.”
“Also, have the best time and just be f–king you!”
Keep reading HollywoodLife throughout June for more entries in The Sound of Pride and additional Pride Month coverage. And remember — fix your heart or die!