Queer rap duo to promote LGBT music
Five Points is in for a treat tonight.
Bey’s Sports Bar will be showcasing a new “queer rap duo” called THEM, which features USC’s own Chris Barnes as Figaro the Kid.
Barnes, a fourth-year visual communications student, said he has always had an appreciation for music, but he didn’t start to explore his own musical creativity until he was about 20. When he started to experiment with various digital audio programs, he found a shared passion for music with fellow rapper TCHNCLR, known as Shane to his friends.
After sharing demos and critiquing each other’s work on popular music forums such as SoundCloud and Bandcamp, they decided to come together as a duo. The two quickly became best friends and, together, they put out a mixtape featuring new work this past July.
The mixtape, simply titled “THEM: The Mixtape Vol. 1,” features songs such as “Snatch Yo Bangz (Feat. B-Money)” and “Money 2.0.” Both of these sample popular pop, hip-hop and contemporary music that listeners are sure to recognize. Familiar tunes and rhythms, from artists such as the Nicki Minaj and Ludacris, are then repackaged into a distinct new beat.
Together — with Figaro composing the beats and TCHNCLR the lyrics — they have continued to receive praise for their eclectic and fun take on a wide range of music. They are not your ordinary after-school garage band and it’s their unique twist on old ideas that has made them successful. Barnes said people from all over the globe have shown great appreciation for their music, but unfortunately, not here in his hometown.
Tonight’s event will not only be a celebration of THEM’s first remix EP, which features contributions from two local Columbians: Karmessiah, who is a rapper, and r&all, a beatmaker. In addition to the homegrown local talent, it will also feature contributions from those as close as Virginia, like rapper Prince Airick, and as far away from Japan, like musician and beatmaker TrinityTiny1.
Queer rap has seen a huge increase in new artists and followers in major music markets such as New York. Just this past summer, fan support for Frank Ocean’s presumed bisexuality was evidence that the music industry and its fans are opening doors to an even broader segment of the population, according to a New York Times article. Barnes said he hopes the show will be an opportunity to make Columbia more aware of their musical style and LGBT music as a whole.
Opening up for THEM will be local drag king and queen Oliver Clothessoff and Jazlyne Lefaris.
The show is tonight at 11 p.m. at Bey’s in Five Points. Admission is free for those 21 and up.