Although music is an art form that is completely open to anyone and all to enjoy dissecting and listening to, there is always a lingering aspect that never goes away fully. The idea of what is expected of the music, primarily the artist creating it. Genres for all of time have me race- and gender locked.
If you are of this sex and/or ethnicity, this is the music you should listen to and the art you should aspire to create. And yes, while time this locks have been removed from genres, the expectation is always there, especially for marginalized groups. So here are a few, not just legends but even more artists and groups that have continued to push what is considered “normal” in their respective genres.
Rock and post-punk alike as a genre have been dominated by Men for decades on end, so here are five women-led post-punk and rock bands that are definitely worth checking out: Le Tigre, Sweeping Promises, Die Spitz, Ecca Vandal, and, of course, Paramore.
Black Alternative and Metal are also seen as another set of race genres, but here is a list of bands and groups that star and/or feature Black and African-American members: The Paradox, Straight Line Stitch, TV on the Radio, minus. driver and Suffocation.
Women in hip-hop have been growing more and more each decade, growing from a state where there would only be one or two popular female rappers at a time to having now several; highlight a few: Lauryn Hill, Gangsta Boo from Three 6 Mafia, Little Simz, Missy Elliot, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doechii Sol ChYld.
Openly LGBTQ Men come in several different genres and variety, as they come in much more of a rarity than women due to a lot of toxic masculinity and stigmas men set on each other, so here are a few artist and bands who have openly lgbtq worth checking out: Destin Conrad, Bloc Party, Queen(obviously) Patrick Flegel/ Cindy Lee, and the legendary Elton John.
Just highlighting a few of these marginalized groups and artists that defy the standard amongst them has already created a long list with an even longer list in reality. But what makes these artists so important is the fact that they did defy standards placed in front of them, music genres, and allow not just for their art to shine and be great but for people to be inspired by them as well, creating more people in marginalized groups to be comfortable taking risks and defying aspects around them.
