MUSIC: Le1f - Spa Day

I'm really late to the game on this one, but check out Le1f's new video for his track Spa Day taken from the Fly Zone mixtape.

Listen below:

LGBT/ART: The Fortune Teller, 50 Yrs of Faggotry in 5 Mins [By Leo Herrera]

This powerful video by gay artist and activist Leo Herrera is a powerful five minutes, looking at various aspects in the history of queer culture spanning more than 50 years. Using footage and imagery of iconic milestones, Herrera has created something amazing, including celebration of modern queer culture, pain and suffering, and the stigma that still plagues the LGBT community. 

It's definitely one to watch, and I think regardless of your age, being LGBT is incredibly important, and you should know your history.

The artist's statement:

“This film was created through that prism with the hopes that every gay man can find something to identify with. The Fortune Teller does not attempt to be an all-encompassing history; the clips in the Fortune Teller were curated based on icons and moments that personally defined me as a gay man. Mexican singer Juan Gabriel was the first gay person I identified with as a child, I’ve sat many nights laughing at Kid Fury’s preacher-like passion and razor wit, I still remember the first time I saw the androgynous Karis perform in the Scissor Sister’s Filthy/Gorgeous video and thought “I can be that?!” or the moment Hedwig sang Wicked Little Town and reminded me of the unrequited love of high school. My work in HIV Criminalization has made me see how deeply ingrained the stigma of HIV is within our community and my wild nights in San Francisco’s nightlife has shown me that a party can be a cathartic communal experience..”

You can get a breakdown of all the footage used in the video here. And more about Leo here.

MUSIC: Cakes Da Killa - Goodies Goodies

Babe Cakes Da Killa has just dropped his video for Goodies Goodies - obviously a song about getting all up in his goodies. If you like Le1f 's style of music - fun, weed, boys and sex - then Cakes Da Killa will satisfy you.

I know a few of the gay rappers out there at the moment aren't fans of being called 'Queer Rap', but that's exactly what it is. I understand - people like Mykki Blanco, Zebra Katz, Njena Reddd Foxxx and Le1f all fit into the same bracket, and they may not necessarily always rap about 'queer' or gay topics, but their style and artistic approach definitely touches on 'queer' in my opinion. Even if they are just rapping about getting high and dancing in da clubbbbb.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Austin Young - Tranimal

TRANIMAL is a collaboration between Austin Young, Squeaky Blonde and Fade-Dra.

Click for more + behind the scenes video:

MEN: Pavel Petel

Click read more for more of the INCREDIBLE Pavel Petel. He'll be featured a lot more on hotOctopus from now on. 

MUSIC: Zebra Katz - Y I Do

Presented by VMagazine - new music and visual from the forever-incredible Zebra Katz. The track is produced by Jepordise.

I've already seen Ojay twice before, and will happily buy tickets to see him again next time he's in London.

Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter

LIVE: Garçon Garçon at Mardigrasland

A nostalgic blend of modern electro pop with an inherent 80s teen spirit. Derived from the colliding worlds of classical and rock, Nathan Mahon and Nick Tsirimokos create a personal, bittersweet, and unashamedly tongue in cheek brand of electro pop music.

The very sexy Garçon Garçon is made up of Nathan (vocals/guitar) and Nick (synth/programming), who come from Sydney, Australia. The pair have released an EP, suitably named 'EP' last year, as well as embarked on a tour from the US and Canada to Europe last summer. They play quite a few shows in Australia at the minute, and will have a new single out very soon.

Continued:

ART: Naked Sunday Project

Simon, 2013

Simon, 2013

More beautiful photos from Naked Sunday Project.

LGBT: LGBT -> GSD

Above is a headline on Huffington Post today. Pink Therapy, a London-based therapy group believe that the term LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender [also Q for queer/questioning]) should be changed to GSD (Gender and Sexual Diversities).

In the video (below), two directors for Pink Therapy, Dominic Davies and Pamela Gawler-Wright, say that it is time to change this label in order to allow other diversities and groups into the 'spectrum' because too many are still currently excluded. In this 'excluded' bracket, they name swingers, members of the polyamorous community, and those within the BDSM community.

Continued...

COMICS: Batwoman proposes to girlfriend

In the latest issue of DC Comics, Batwoman has proposed to her girlfriend, Maggie Sawyer. It comes fresh after the uproar caused when anti-gay writer Orson Scott Card was hired to write two instalments of a new digital-first comic, Adventures of Superman. Several groups called for a boycott of DC Comics with one AllOut petition receiving over 16,000 signatures.

DC Comics reintroduced Batwoman as a lesbian in 2006. Last year another character was reintroduced as gay - The Green Lantern, who is one of the companies oldest superheroes. Also last year, Marvel's Northstar, the first openly gay hero, married his boyfriend Kyle Jinadu.

While some people are criticising DC for not making the Batwoman proposal a bigger issue due to the controversy with Card, others are praising the company for normalising the issue of same sex relationship and marriage.

MUSIC: P'Trique

P'Trique is one part of The Platform on Youtube. Before I watched this video, I had no idea what 'The Platform' was, but I just know that P'Trique is hilar-ious.

*tiny hand claps, lose control*

MUSIC DESIGN: Horse Meat Disco

soundcloud.com/horse-meat-disco

MUSIC: Mykki Blanco

Ms Blanco is coming for 2013. Transcending the 'queer-rap' genre, Mykki is a rapper, poet, artist, author and actor. It feels as though he's come from the same gang as Zebra Katz and LE1F, but his sound is totally it's own. With a debut EP due out this year and a free mixtape (Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss) already getting people talking, those other bitches need to watch their wigs, because Mykki's gonna take them.

Taken from Interview magazine [x]:

CHAPMAN: Was that life something you discovered when you came to New York, or something you just could never be anywhere else? 

BLANCO: Well, I considered myself gay for so long, and it really wasn't until I started dressing as the opposite sex pretty regularly that I began to see my gender identity shift. To be flat-out honest, it wasn't until I started sleeping with men as the opposite sex that things started to really change—when I found out men that I found attractive found me attractive as a woman! It literally is a mindfuck to go through life as a guy, and then to dress as a woman and get cat-called on the street, get men running up to you, asking for your phone number, your e-mail address; to meet men online and have them be smokin' hot. It's like a whole entire road opened up and in a lot of ways, it made my life so much better. 

I'm so excited to see her this Tuesday. BIRTHDAYS in Dalston, London.

Twitter |  Mixtape DL | Youtube

ART: Naked Sunday Project

Alexx, 2009

Michael Malcolm MacRae, 2010

Frederick, 2012

The Naked Sunday Project is by Mckenzie James, and is a collection of photographs taken by him of various men over a period of years.

"The project allows/forces me to slow down every so often and re-discover the simple beauty that can be found with just light, skin, subject, and photographer and allows me to experiment with new (or old) ways of shooting that I can later adapt in other works."

The outcome is honestly a collection of beautifully stunning images. There is full male nudity, so NSFW.

Visit his blog at: thenakedsundayproject.tumblr.com