Frankie Simone offers a vision of pop music as a conduit for collective enlightenment, self-empowerment and awakening. Pop rarely transcends the constraints of dominant culture – but Simone’s incantations of radical self-love aren’t just transcendent, they’re transformative. Frankie Simone’s music exists, she says, “to celebrate every type of human.”
The weekend’s almost here, and it’s time to add a new track to your playlist. Frankie Simone’s LOVE//WARRIOR EP and title track is exclusively available to stream on AfterEllen today and will be released everywhere Friday, April 20th.
We first came across the Puerto Rican pop artist with the release of “War Paint” when she told Billboard magazine “In the song [‘War Paint’] you’ll hear me say “lesbian bullshit.” A family member had said that to my wife and I once. She was like, “Y’all need to stop posting that lesbian bullshit on Instagram and everywhere else.” I laughed, but I was also like, “I’m gonna put this is in a fucking song. Hell no.”
In LOVE//WARRIOR, Simone continues with the same message of turning past hurt into a powerful message of love and acceptance, both for yourself and for others.
Stream it
Lyric video
Find Frankie Simone on tour:
5/31 – Portland, OR // Album Release Show w/ Reva Devito (Mississippi Studios Presents at Holocene)
6/11 – Los Angeles, CA // School Night (Bardot)
Here’s what the breakout star had to say about her new song:
I wrote LOVE//WARRIOR in response to all the frustration that I’ve felt just trying to be myself in my life. Most people in my life have been good intentioned, but it’s become so clear to me that heteronormativity is so ingrained in our culture and so deeply ingrained in us, that anything different is ‘offensive’, ’embarrassing’, and for some damn reason, just ‘not ok’. The first verse of the song I say, “No one ever told me I could just be me, no one ever said to live ya life free – well they say it but never play it”. I’m talking about so many people in my life telling me “be yourself”, “be free”, “don’t worry about what others think, just be true to who you are”, so I took their advice and started to explore and discover who I am. When I did start being true to myself, those same people were uncomfortable with who and what that looked like, it made THEM uncomfortable so therefore I was shamed for it. And what I have to say to that? “If you’re gonna talk the talk, then you better walk the walk”. I’m over it, done trying to please other people, or curb my authenticity to make them feel more comfortable. Fuck that. The world, now more than ever, needs our diversity at the front lines, so it’s time for us to rise up and be.
One of my favorite lyrics of all time is from Janelle Monae’s “QUEEN”, it says “Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am”. I choose to stand by that till the day I leave this earth and reincarnate again. LOVE//WARRIOR is me reclaiming all of those times I was told “to be myself – just not like that”, this song is me singing to everyone who has ever felt shamed or ostracized for being themselves, it’s me saying it’s time we stand up and just be our fucking selves, regardless of what anyone else has to say about it. I want people to know they’re not alone. So in another sense the song at it’s core is me literally coaxing my LGBTQ community to come out, to be bold, be fiercely themselves, to take up space and exist – as we deserve to coexist alongside everyone else in this world, to be free and lead their lives unapologetically – not with hatred or anger for others insecurities, but instead with love, light, and compassion. It’s about transmuting that frustration and pain into power, and utilizing it as fuel for good. And on an even grander scale, I’m calling on all the LOVE//WARRIORS of the world, to everyone – regardless of how you identify – that knows deep down that the most powerful weapon in this war, is love. To the ones that are ready to heal themselves and their communities. I’m calling every single one of us to come together, to stand up and rise as one. I believe that deep down, at our core, we are all LOVE//WARRIORS. That every human being has the capacity to love unconditionally and fiercely. So when I sing this song to a crowd of people, “Come out, come out, my people where are you?” I’m not only calling all of us to come together, but I’m calling upon all my LOVE//WARRIORS to join me in this fight for equality and justice. – Frankie Simone
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