MYKKI BLANCO Shares New Single 'It's Not My Choice'

This Friday, June 18 Mykki Blanco will drop their highly anticipated mini-album, Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep (Transgressive Records). Today they share another taste of the LP by way of new single "It's Not My Choice" (feat. Blood Orange) - a soft mid tempo soul jam that narrates the tug of war that is a dysfunctional relationship. The track sees Mykki Blanco navigating the painful realities of a potential breakup, reflecting then pleading to save their romance and keep the love alive. With production from executive producer FaltyDL reminiscent of the early eighties musical stylings of Steely Dan, Michael McDonald and Anita Baker, "It's Not My Choice" finds Blood Orange's Devonte Hynes crooning melancholically over a lush synth and saxophone laden baseline. "It's Not My Choice" leaves the listener musing whether it's worth it to stay together or allow love to have a change of heart.

Today's single follows the recently released "Summer Fling" which Flood Magazine labeled "a prime contender for summer anthem 2k21." Previous to that Mykki shared "Free Ride" and "Love Me" (feat. Jamila Woods and Jay Cue)." Pitchfork just included Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep on their "51 Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2021" list and AV Club has declared it "one of the summer's must-hear releases." While the mini-album is available via all DSPs this week, the physical formats will be available October 1. It marks Blanco's first official release in nearly five years since their debut full-length Mykki album.

It's been just over a decade since the moniker 'Mykki Blanco' was created - first as a video art project portraying a teenage female character posting vlogs and raps on social media, but it inevitably evolved into a vehicle of self-discovery in the artist's journey of forming their personal self-identity.

Mykki has pushed hip-hop to some of its most untethered bounds, melding noise and experimental elements with club and trap sounds, whilst also forging a uniquely subversive path within a genre historically entangled in a problematic ideological web of misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia. And while Blanco has been widely recognized as leading the charge as a pioneering trailblazer in the so-called 'queer rap' sub-genre, the music of this forthcoming new chapter of their career represents such significant musical evolution toward eradicating the confines of genre categories and mashing the previous perception of the ceiling of their potential reach.

Mykki's desire to elevate their artistry provided the lifeblood for Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep. To that end, the unique partnership they formed with producer FaltyDL - one that has been continuous since they first found themselves collaborating in 2018 - was instrumental in the creative process surrounding the mini-album. With Blanco penning the majority of the lyrics, FaltyDL produced nearly all the music. Samples became a thing of the past, and, in their place, original sounds and layers would prevail. Creative energy was also found with the boldfaced names that contributed to the making of Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep including "It's Not My Choice" which features Blood Orange. Two of the LP's tracks feature lyrical collaborations - Big Freedia contributed to "That's Folks" and "Summer Fling" was co-written by Kari Faux. The full list of credits is below. All of these collaborations are as organic as they come with each guest being a genuine fan, if not friend or even family, of Blanco. Collectively they add unique flourishes, but the spirit of the mini-album is all their own.

Blanco's evolution and road to Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep reflects an artist who's never been more in touch with their creative impulses and never more ready to bask in the magic of their own creativity. Mykki says, "For me, I am one of those artists who many would say has taken the longer road to get to where I am now, but it's that journey which has been the reward because the journey really has been my life; the career has just been the outer shell to the deeper things that I've experienced, and I can only be here now because of this journey."

Listen here:

Photo Credit: Luca Venter

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