Now,
Billboard is taking the time to celebrate their efforts check out our picks for the 25 best songs released by LGBTQ artists in 2021 so far below.
Allison Ponthier, Cowboy It took New York to make me a cowboy. In nine simple words, rising folk artist Allison Ponthier distilled her message of growth, change and self-acceptance into a masterful single. Throughout the excellently crafted Cowboy, Ponthier waxes poetic on issues of identity, as she tells her very own coming out story in the context of a Western tableau. The gorgeous harmonies, grade-A production and her skillful songwriting made for one of the most memorable debut singles of the year, cementing Ponthier s place as a queer star on the rise.
[Photo by: Angela Ricciardi]
Claud is everywhere billboards, magazines, online blogs and Times Square, just to name a few. “I’m not jaded about it. I’m more grateful that I have all that,” Claud says over a Zoom chat.
The rising artist released their debut album,
Super Monster, in February to critical and commercial success. They simultaneously became the first artist to debut out of Saddest Factory Records, the label from Grammy-nominated artist
Phoebe Bridgers. To say Claud’s future looks bright would be an understatement.
21-year-old Claud Mintz comes from Chicago but stays in New York and has family that they visit in Los Angeles, so their perspective on situations shifts with their surroundings. “I talk so much about where I am in my songs because I’m always in a different place,” they say. This adds to their creative process, as Claud is an artist of great depth who finds power in fragility. Listeners of their debut,
Featured in Issue 394, Christo Bowman reveals the one piece of music he wishes he had written, what fans can expect on the next Bad Suns album and more.