Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 437 September 25, 2019

As far as my day-to-day life,
I have been with my partner
for over 15 years now. We
love popping up in bars like
Ty’s and Julius on a Friday
night to just hang, hang
with friends, have some
strong drinks and hear
good music. We actually
met at The Monster, so the
West Village is still very
near and dear to us.
Who are your influences,
and do you know
Cazwell?
I grew up as an only child
in a very Italian singleparent
household. Anyone
who has grown up as an
Italian-American knows
that on Saturday, kids are
required to clean the house
from stem to stern, and my
mother definitely kept that
tradition alive. On the plus
side, she always played
incredible music while I was
dusting and vacuuming,
mostly R&B/soul and disco.
I credit this time period as
what ultimately fostered
my love of music. As far as
musical influences, I always
cite Big Daddy Kane,
Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Beastie
Boys, De La Soul and Kid-
N-Play as those who really
got me excited to start
writing rap songs.
Cazwell and I definitely
know each other, and he
and Peppermint actually
gave me one of my first
gigs performing in NYC
when they were hosting
a weekly part at The Ritz!
I love his sense of style,
and he is without a doubt
a pioneer as far as LGBT
rap is concerned. Also,
he is an INCREDIBLE
DJ, and everyone should
go hear him spin if they
have a chance! I do get
compared to him a lot (a
huge compliment), but the
stars haven’t aligned for us
to collaborate on a project
yet.
Tell me your most fun or
embarrassing experience
while performing live.
The best experience I’ve
ever had performing is
when I got to headline
a performance at Splash
in March of 2008. There
were so many elements
that conspired to make
this evening absolutely
amazing, but I think the
best part was that 20
of my friends from high
school had come to see
me perform for the first
time, so there was this
additional energy that was
in the room. On top of that,
Manny Lehman was DJing,
and the place was PACKED.
I did a medley of three
songs that night, including
my first single, “Don’t Act
Like You Don’t Know.”
When I perform this song,
I have these signs—one of
them says “Don’t Act Like”
[and] the other says “You
Don’t Know,” and I have hot
go-go boys hold each one
up on the chorus when I do
this call-and-response part
with the crowd. That night
was the first time that I truly
heard EVERYONE in the
club going back and forth
with me, which is literally
one of the best feelings in
the world for a performer.
As if that wasn’t enough,
I had a huge surprise
planned for the crowd
that night—during my
second song, “Middle of
the Dancefloor,” my friend
Kevin Aviance came out
and danced along to the
track while I performed. The
crowd went NUTS and were
screaming so loud that I
actually think I stopped
rapping because I was just
smiling and watching him
myself!