She writes all of her own music.
King Princess, or Mikaela Straus, writes her own music either alone or with friends. She plays guitar, piano, bass, and drums—so essentially she’s a one-woman band. When she wants a more difficult riff in her song, she has one of her close friends do it. Straus brings in people she loves because collaborating with them only adds to her energy. From an outsider’s perspective, music isn’t a job to her but truly a passion.
She produces all of her own music.
Not many singers do this, let alone female singers! King Princess oversees the process from start to finish. It’s refreshing to hear something that you know the artist has complete control over because it’s entirely their vision. She is in charge of making the song sound cohesive, deciding what sounds get played and when. A good example of this is in her song “Pussy is God,” where the “you really, you really” takes you off guard during the chorus. That sound and when it is played is completely intentional, decided by Straus.
She writes songs about being openly gay.
King Princess is infamous for being “Lesbian God” (with Hayley Kiyoko as “Lesbian Jesus”) and writes songs about her past relationships with women. In interviews, she stresses the importance of having queer artists so that LGBTQ+ fans have someone to relate to. Let’s be real—there are enough heterosexual songs out there. King Princess’ song “1950” beautifully pays homage to those before her who had to hide their queer relationships from the world. Oh, and she sang every part and played every instrument on the song – no big deal.
She co-wrote a song called “Pussy is God” about her girlfriend – with her girlfriend.
If that isn’t relationship goals, I don’t know what is. Her girlfriend, actress Amandla Stenberg, makes a cameo in the music video with a red wig (peep 2:25). Besides being the best tribute to a partner ever, it’s a great song and only reinforces King Princess’ goal of creating more queer music for young people to relate to. It’s written with religious imagery because Straus loves to tie being gay and religion together, juxtaposing the two.
King Princess is truly a gem in this world and brings something new to the music industry. She helps the LGBTQ+ community feel less alone with her lyrics, and her production rocks. Listen to her on Spotify or check out one of her music videos. She’s coming to Chicago Friday, January 18th for a sold out show!photo source