Based in Philadelphia, songwriter Shamir confronts his queerness head-on in his newest album ‘Heterosexuality’. Yet, instead of total confirmation on his gender identity, he rages about systemic oppression and refuses any sort of categorization on a record of unrelenting hostility. Giving vocals that sound like The Weeknd and Prince had a baby, and inspiration from Nine Inch Nails in lyrical rage, Shamir expresses all the frustrations and burdens that not only queer people, but many members from the LGBTQ community, face daily in North America.
The opening song, ‘Gay Agenda’, serves as a disclaimer of Shamir’s identity, being completely free to do whatever he pleases. The song touches on toxic masculinity with lines like, “You’re just stuck in the box that was made for me. And you’re mad I got out and I’m living free”. These lines are referring to the strict societal ideals of what makes a “real man”, created by heterosexual men to enforce heterosexual behaviour. In today’s society, toxic masculinity oppresses those who don’t fit the “standards” (like Shamir) and resent them for freely to express themselves. This song calls out the sexual prejudice towards the ones who refuse to stay in a box, hiding their true selves.
On the rap ‘Abomination’, Shamir recites slurs used against him to reclaim his power of identity. Saying, “I’m just a f*ggot who lives like a maggot. Because I’m always with the sh*ts.” As a member of the LGBTQ community, I have witnessed people use derogatory words against us to silence our existence. This song talks down on gender politics and calls out the government for only caring about non-hetero lives when it comes to making money. Saying, “Can’t trust the government to change sh*t. Unless it’s just for optics, say my life matters. But it’s just an option. Madam vice president a cop, don’t cop sh*t, Being pushed to you as congress, for profits.” Lyrics from these tracks are insightful glimpses of what’s happening in Shamir’s mind, but the true power comes from the display of his soaring vocals.
On ‘Cisgender’, after a couple minutes of concentrated electronic build-up, the words almost explode out his mouth, “I’m not cisgender, not binary trans / …I’m just existing on this godforsaken land.” The same thing occurs on the last song ‘Nuclear’, “Listen to your heart though its a sketchy source. It just likes the sensation of being periodically sore. Things that give us life makes us question if we can take it anymore. But we put up anyway.” The last verse serves as a grand finale to an album of musical finesse.
Shamir cleverly integrates highs and lows in this album. After the bombardment of complex ideas and evolving in the first few tracks, we get some soft poppy songs like ‘Cold Brew’, ‘Married’, and ‘Caught Up’. These three songs serve as a relief from the focused, norm-subverting songs at the start of the album.
I LOVE that Shamir named this album ‘Heterosexuality’ despite its norm-breaking messages. It very much revolves around heterosexuality, but represents the exact opposite. However, this album is musically and lyrically flexible, listeners who crave forward-thinking, statement-making music will find comfort with ‘Gay Agenda’, ‘Cisgender’, and ‘Abomination’, while those less involved can bop to the tunes of ‘Cold Brew’, ‘Nuclear’, or ‘Stability’ with it’s 80s type beat. Based on this album, Shamir can take his career in many artistic directions, but for now, he just wants to be, just like every other non-heterosexual being.
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