NEED TO KNOW
The love is mutual between Slayyyter and the LGBTQ+ community.
The pop star, 29, is in the midst of a new music era and recently debuted her latest single “CRANK” live at the queer-centric connection app Grindr’s Pleasure Ball in N.Y.C. on Oct. 23 for a rowdy crowd of predominantly LGBTQ+ people — a fitting place given her listener base.
“I feel like that is the space where my music lives and thrives, and I feel grateful to always perform in those spaces,” Slayyyter tells PEOPLE after the event, which saw her scream the gritty pop banger in front of a large phallic statue.
“I was going to wear antlers, but they were giving me a migraine,” she recalls of the performance. “So I was like, ‘Okay, no antlers.’ And then I was like, ‘Honestly, that’s better. You can get a better view of said phallic statue.’ It all worked out.”
Since hitting the scene in 2018, Slayyyter has garnered a largely LGBTQ+ fanbase with confident, high-energy songs like “Daddy AF” and “Miss Belladonna.” And she’s very grateful to have naturally connected with the demographic.
“It’s not something I ever pandered to or shot for or tried to do,” she says. “I actually kind of take issue with some artists that shoot for that fanbase too much. That feels a little weird to me.”
Slayyyter continues, “I think my music has landed in these spaces because I genuinely have loved and adored pop music since I was very young. I feel like a student of pop music and a champion of it in the same way that people in all queer spaces are.”
“And not to be the girl who’s like, ‘My friends were gay guys in high school’ — super annoying, but they were,” she says, recalling her teenage years spending time with friends in St. Louis and listening to Lady Gaga’s Artpop, MARINA’s Electra Heart and other music that many queer fans connect deeply with.
“I never tried to have my music land here, but I feel so happy and grateful that it has just because I feel like queer spaces are the true appreciators of pop music,” says Slayyyter.
Grindr’s Pleasure Ball also saw the “Erotic Electronic” artist reunite with Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, who also performed at the event, after she spent July opening for the band and Kesha on their Tits Out Tour. “It was really nice to catch up with Jake backstage, too, just because I hadn’t seen him in a while,” says Slayyyter.
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Her performance at the event marked one of her first since launching into a new era with recent singles “BEAT UP CHANEL$,” “CANNIBALISM!” and “CRANK” — her first releases through a major label after signing with Columbia’s RECORDS imprint earlier this year.
“Each song is definitely different from each other, but I feel like they all have a bit of cohesion and they all represent the different sonic vibes on this album,” she says of the songs, set to appear on her upcoming third full-length body of work. “I feel like ‘BEAT UP CHANEL$’ and ‘CRANK’ are both a little more aggressive, but ‘CANNIBALISM!’ still has this punk, Cramps, psychobilly vibe.”
Slayyyter may have performed at the Pleasure Ball, but she doesn’t have a profile on the Grindr app itself. If she did, however, what would her bio say? “‘Crank it!’ And then it would say ‘5-foot-2, sorry,'” she quips.
