Cindy Wonderful (left) and Sarah Adorable of Scream Club are among the acts performing at the queer hip hop show at eyedrum on April 1. (Photo courtesy Scream Club)
Rappers' delight Queer artists turnout Eyedrum for offbeat hip hop show
THOSE
ATTENDING
AN
UPCOMING
hip
hop
show
at
eyedrum
art
&
music
gallery
may
at
first
think
someone’s
playing
an
April
Fool’s
Day
prank
on
them.
That’s
because
the
lineup
for
the
April
1
Queer
Hip
Hop
event
primarily
consists
of
artists
who
are
exceptionally
outside
the
mold
of
rappers
like
T.I.,
Tupac
or
Kanye
West.
But
the
white
lesbian
and
transgender
rappers
who
will
perform
at
eyedrum
say
their
connection
to
hip
hop
is
as
deep
and
authentic
as
anyone’s.
And
the
genre
often
demonized
as
homophobic
isn’t
that
bad
for
gay
artists,
they
say.
“I
feel
like
we’ve
been
really
lucky,
especially
being
outwardly
queer,
we
haven’t
really
encountered
that
much
resistance,”
says
Sarah
Adorable,
one-half
of
the
Olympia,
Wash.
based
act
known
as
Scream
Club.
“To
our
face,”
chimes
in
her
music
partner,
Cindy
Wonderful.
“Yeah,
to
our
face,”
Sarah
agrees.
The
Athens-based
artist
known
as
BadKat
expects
to
be
called
a
dyke
or
lesbo
during
what
is
her
favorite,
most
thrilling
part
of
hip
hop,
freestyle
battling
with
another
rapper.
“It’s
being
fully
aware
that
that’s
going
to
be
the
cheapest
shot
they
can
take
at
you,”
says
BadKat,
another
scheduled
performer
at
the
eyedrum
show.
“But
if
they’re
going
to
be
like,
‘You’re
a
big
fat
lesbian,’
I’m
probably
going
to
throw
something
out
like,
‘Well,
I
was
with
your
girl
last
night.’”
BadKat
says
her
sexual
orientation
isn’t
the
highest
hurdle
she
has
to
clear
while
establishing
herself
among
other
hip-hop
artists
and
fans.
“I
always
felt
like
it’s
been
harder
to
be
a
female
in
hip
hop
—
that
is
totally
the
first
barrier
people
are
seeing,”
BadKat
says.
“That’s
a
common
perception
—
‘She’s
obviously
not
going
to
be
as
good
as
a
man.’”
With
its
punk-infused
hip
hop
sound,
the
Scream
Club
duo
was
once
mistakenly
accused
of
making
fun
of
the
genre,
and
lesbian
rapper
Anaturale,
another
performer
set
for
the
eyedrum
show,
knows
her
skin
color
can
be
a
sensitive
issue
for
some
hip
hop
fans.
“I
know
a
lot
of
people
have
a
lot
of
issues
with
white
folks
doing
hip
hop,
but
that
was
my
medium
that
I
was
able
to
express
myself
in,”
Anaturale,
of
Asheville,
N.C.,
says.
“That’s
what’s
in
my
gut
and
in
my
heart,
and
it’s
how
I
express
myself.
I
just
can’t
believe
that’s
wrong
or
bad.”
THEY
MAY
TAKE
THEIR
ART
FORM
seriously
now,
but
the
girls
of
Scream
Club
got
an
admittedly
corny
start
in
hip
hop
about
six
years
ago.
Guided
by
routines
they
learned
from
a
“Darrin’s
Dance
Grooves”
video,
Cindy
Wonderful
and
Sarah
Adorable
made
their
debut
at
a
skating
rink
benefit
for
the
Radical
Fatties,
an
Olympia
group
that
promotes
positive
body
image
issues
for
people
of
size.
“We
performed
in
the
center
of
the
rink,
and
everyone
skated
around
us,
which
was
really
cool,”
Cindy
recalls.
Their
playlist
that
night
consisted
primarily
raps
set
to
electronic
music,
and
the
members
of
Scream
Club
describe
their
sound
as
evolving
into
an
electro-punk-hip-hop
hybrid.
Their
musical
influences
include
such
variant
artists
as
the
Notorious
B.I.G.,
Morrissey,
LL
Cool
J,
Tracy
&
the
Plastics,
Boy
George,
and
lots
of
pure
pop
artists.
Cindy
and
Sarah
rap
about
everything
from
politics
to
potty
training,
but
they
aim
to
avoid
delving
into
the
sexism
and
materialism
often
associated
with
hip
hop.
The
duo
started
their
own
record
label,
Crunks
Not
Dead,
which
features
about
a
dozen
artists,
including
synth
artist
Joey
Casio,
lesbian
rap
duo
Team
Gina,
and
Sandman,
a
rapping
cowboy.
Also
under
the
Crunks
Not
Dead
umbrella
are
a
plus-sized
trashy
glamster
known
as
MC
Glammer,
an
X-rated
rapper
named
Johnny
Dangerous
and
a
hip-hop
group
of
alien-fighting
scientists
called
the
Microscope
Dragons.
“We’re
just
trying
to
put
together
really
positive
music,”
Cindy
says.
“And
we
want
to
be
an
example
that
you
can
live
the
way
you
want
to
live.”
JOINING
BADKAT,
SCREAM
CLUB
AND
ANATURALE
for
the
April
1
eyedrum
show
are
the
Athens
Boys
Choir,
Feminist
Outlawz
and
DJ
VaJayJay.
With
the
event
falling
on
April
Fool’s
Day,
organizers
say
no
one
is
safe
from
“pranks
and
queer
fun.”
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