Introducing our next cut is
Ruben Quesada, a poet and professor who co-founded Stories & Queers and whose poetry has appeared in
The Best American Poetry. Here's his poem
For Charlie:
as the early morning light reflected off leaves against my window
I called you to say I was moving back and I cried so deeply the
way I cried for weeks after I moved losing my breath hovering
between waking and sleep on the day I left I stood on your
balcony facing the Pacific Ocean watching the sea stretch past a
gauze of power lines into a green horizon this summer I began to
awaken with my body covered in a cold sweat a whippoorwill
calling from beyond the ramshackle fence kept me calm through
the darkness and earlier this spring my dear friend Charlie had
mysteriously died and like so many secrets we shared he loved to
tan turning a tone the color of a young Toni Tennille he loved to
dance he loved to pray every night I lie and recite the Act of
Contrition to settle my head
I am sorry for my sins with all my
heart in choosing to do wrong and failing to do good I have sinned
against you whom I should love above all things and almost every
night I’ve dreamt of Charlie reading by candlelight he is old his
skin sags like the arms of a tulip tree how easy it is to listen to
his voice I cradle my chin into his neck our beards brush
together now as you answer the phone I hear the discordant
steam of cargo ships murmur in the distance there is no reason
to lie to you I have been dying since we met
26. "Baby Forget It"
By Reyna
7.859
Highest Scores: 10 x 1 (@Blob) 9.5 x 1 (@LE0Night )
Lowest Scores: 5 x 1 (@Riiiiiiiii) 6 x 1 (@constantino
My Score: 8.5
Why don’t you leave it
Just leave it alone
Can’t you feel it
The feeling is gone
The stats for this little extra that could are wild! It made it to #26 (technically tied for #25 score wise) with a single 10! However, as you can see with its lower scores, it really didn't have any big detractors garnering a single 5 and 6. We almost universally enjoy this song between a 7 to 9 range. "Baby Forget It" gives me
Heartthrob vibes in the best way possible so I'm glad we could all agree on its talent!
Reyna is made up of Milwaukee-by-way-of-Texas sister-duo Victoriah (Vic) and Hannah Gabriela (Gab) with Vic being our out and proud latinx star! I'm genuinely curious who knew of Reyna before this rate cause I only discovered them in my hunt for more queer latinx representation in the rate and they do seem to have a big fanbase in Milwaukee. Vic and Gab have been vocal about working to be the type of representation they lacked growing up. “We’ve always been really proud of where we come from, of speaking two languages and connecting with two cultures,” Vic tells
Autostraddle. In writing to their own identities and experiences they've garnered even more success:
“People love when you are being honest,” Gab says. “Sometimes they can’t be honest, so they see it [in] you. It’s like a comfort. I think that we are getting the feel for who we want to be and who we are. It takes a while but it’s definitely better.”
“I think the second that we decided to really be ourselves, things really started picking up for us,” Vic adds. “Coming out helped my music in the sense where I started to feel comfortable talking about things that happened to me and who I aspire to be. “Spill Your Colors” was probably the first song where I talked about it, being proud of [being gay] and being myself.”
Also this picture form their interview is important to include:
Like yes girls! Represent that intersectionality to its fullest!!
As far as the song goes, it actually tells quite the nice slice of life narrative that makes for such perfect pop. Vic explained it's genesis to something called
Wonky Sensitive:
The song is about a former love who kept something of mine after a dramatic breakup. I wasn't the best version of myself in this relationship and I can admit that I really messed up. That's why I was so surprised when I saw that she would wear my jacket, I was like hmm maybe it wasn't so bad, maybe every time she puts the jacket on she thinks about the good times instead of the bad. This song is for everyone who has had their heart broken then somehow muster the courage to put their hearts out there again. It's learning from those sour episodes in your life and making them part of who you are like a scar you're proud of.
Everyone who can relate and has held onto something from a previous relationship raise your hand (sheepishly raises my own hand). It is funny how especially after enough time, the fights and anger can cool and the trinkets or jackets we hold on to grow to hold the good times. I held onto a cute little notebook my ex gave me when he returned from Puerto Rico and in one of the odder moments of my life, I gave it to my current boyfriend when he needed a small notebook for work. To be clear, he knew it's origins and is the type of well-adjusted confident humans who felt in no way bothered by it. For me, it was the moment that follows what Vic explains at the end. We take our heartbroken selves and go back out and eventually we find love again but now our partners also know our scars and past and whole that for us as well.
I'm looking forward to where Reyna goes from here and hope they continue to gain more and more of a fanbase so they can continue to reach more listeners, especially queer latinx youth who lack much needed representation.
Now what about you all?
CorgiCorgiCorgi the first lyric is "you stole my jacket" but on the cover she's clearly wearing a jacket!
Reboot Love this. It’s not particularly ground-breaking but I love the production
Pop3blow2 Super basic bop that really sticks the landing. There’s something about this song, I tell ya
Untitled oh wow, this is lovely. Isle Of You brews
Yuuurei Something about this really reminds me of Hayley's music. I like it.
Ufint I would probably dance to this if I was drunk and this was the only option I had. That beat totally goes off - them melodies should match them productions… but they don’t, so….
The Hot Rock One of my favorite new discoveries (artists I had never heard of on any level before) of the rate. Very catchy.
