If you are anything like me, you probably scour the ends of the Earth for new music. I have no shame whipping out my phone, opening the Shazam app, and extending my arm out to find the name of the song faintly playing in the car next to me at a 7-Eleven. I love all sorts of music, but I especially love Sapphic artists who, unfortunately, don’t receive the same deserved recognition as mainstream artists. Sapphic is an umbrella term that refers to any woman or a woman-aligned person who is attracted to other women or women-aligned people. Here are a few Sapphic musical artists worth adding to your playlist!
- RINA SAWAYAMA
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Whenever I am feeling down, I will play Rina Sawayama’s “Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)” for an immediate mood booster. This song feels like I am walking into a french underground night club in a trench coat and gogo boots. While the reality is me dancing alone in my bedroom wearing my worn out Christmas pajamas, the sentiment remains the same. Rina Sawayama is a Pansexual Japanese-born British singer-songwriter. While she was working on graduating with a degree in politics, psychology, and sociology from the University of Cambridge, she was also pursuing music. From being in a group called “Lazy Lion” with Wolf Alice’s member Theo Ellis, to releasing her debut album “RINA” independently, and then her sophomore album “SAWAYAMA” earlier this year, she is without a doubt establishing herself as one to look out for in the music industry.
- PHOEBE BRIDGERS
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In the complete opposite of Sawayama, Phoebe Bridgers knows how to exactly tap into all the sadness and yearning locked away in the depths of my human psyche, while simultaneously making me bop around. Though you may think I sound dramatic, I request you listen to “Motion Sickness” and “I Know The End.” Phoebe Bridgers is a Bisexual American singer-songwriter. She released her debut album “Stranger in the Alps” which lead to critical acclaims. Bridger’s has since worked on musical collaborations with Boygenius and Better Oblivion Community Center. Afterward, she began to garner a cult following that only grew with the drop of her sophomore album “Punisher” earlier this year.
- SOFYA WANG
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Everyone make way, Sofya Wang is here! With only a few singles and one EP, Wang already has the Sapphics eating off the palm of her hand. Sofya Wang is a first-generation Chinese American Lesbian singer-songwriter, as well as a classically trained pianist and cellist. Her music screams indie-pop, and her voice is guaranteed to hypnotize you. Her song “Boys Aside” is one of her most well-known songs and is how I first discovered her. Her authenticity that comes across from her music is definite, and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.
- HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF
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If you’re looking for some folk-ish Americana music, then let me turn your attention to the band Hurray For The Riff Raff. Hurray For The Riff Raff was formed by frontwomen Alynda Segarra, a Puerto Rican Queer Bronx-native singer-songwriter. The band has been active since 2007 and has received critical acclaims for their past two albums, “Small Town Heroes” and “The Navigator”. Segarra has a distinguishable and expressive voice whose lyrics often surround the intersection of identities, like being a Queer Hispanic woman. I think her ability to sing about her experiences resonate with many and is what makes this one of my favorite bands.
- BE STEADWELL
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Looking for a Black Queer singer-songwriter who creates music that is a mix of soul, funk and bit of spoken word? Look no further, Be Steadwell is here. Be Steadwell is a force to be reckoned with. She self-produces all her music and is best known for producing “Queer pop” music. She produced the 2014 short film “Vow of Silence” during her MFA program at Howard University and received several awards, including the Best Experimental Short at The Black Star Film Festival (2015). In 2016, she was selected to be a Strathmore Artist in Residence and the DC Commission on the Arts awarded Be an artist fellowship. She has uploaded videos about her artistry work on Youtube for over ten years, and I highly recommend watching all of them!
- RAVEENA
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Raveena’s voice is so soothing that I’ll often play her music in the background while I’m doing homework. I have to be careful, however, because I will get distracted and sing along instead. Raveena Aurora, also commonly known as Raveena, is a Bisexual Indian-American singer-songwriter whose voice is the embodiment of soft R&B. Her voice sounds like honey, which is also the name of one of her singles. Raveena gathered a following after the release of her first EP, “Shanti,” which only continued to grow with her debut album, “Lucid.” She often sings about her intersecting identities and the unfortunate hardships she has faced. With the combination of her comforting voice and nuanced lyrics, it is impossible not to stream her music over and over again.