Connecticut Unfiltered
Connecticut Unfiltered is a podcast about the people redefining what it means to live, work, and build something meaningful in Connecticut — from entrepreneurs and creators to leaders shaping culture across the state. We talk about why Connecticut is the nation’s pizza capital, why it’s far from a drive-through state, and why this isn’t your grandma’s Connecticut anymore.
If you care about Connecticut lifestyle, local business, entrepreneurship, tourism, food culture, community, and New England living, this show highlights the voices proving Connecticut is a place people are actively choosing — not passing through.
Connecticut Unfiltered
Cuee Unfiltered
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In this special Pride Month episode, we sit down with Cuee, a Black trans recording artist from Chicago, now living in Connecticut, whose work is rooted in music, joy, storytelling, and impact.
This conversation highlights the Black trans community while also making one thing clear: Cuee is an artist above all. We talk about identity, creativity, visibility, Black trans joy, and what it means to build a career and a movement through art.
It’s an honest, powerful, and deeply insightful conversation that I think so many people will learn from, connect with, and carry with them long after listening.
This episode is brought to you by the State of Connecticut and CtmakeitHear.com. From innovators and entrepreneurs to artists and leaders, the people on this show could call anywhere home, but they've chosen Connecticut. In this state, they're building businesses, growing careers, raising families, and creating lives that matter. Here's why they chose Connecticut and why, for so many people, it's the best place to call home.
SPEAKER_00This is the voice behind the reheated coffee club, the Instagram page with 50 plus thousand followers, sharing our state's hidden treasures and the little moments that can make life magical.
SPEAKER_05If Connecticut's been showing up on your feed lately, that's not an accident. The virgin your grandparents remember is long gone. This isn't a drive-thru state anymore. It's a destination. And on this podcast, we talk to the people making that happen. This is Connecticut Unfiltered. Today's podcast guest is Q, an artist, activist, musician, entrepreneur, fashion icon, and creator of the Cutie Club. Here with music, advocacy, and community work, Q is on a mission to spread black trans joy and tell stories that don't always get the spotlight. From Chicago roots to stages across the country, he's built his career that blends powerful storytelling, unapologetic authenticity, which I greatly appreciate, and a commitment to uplifting others along the way. We're so grateful to have you here on the podcast, spreading honestly what I think about as very under-talked about subject and on Pride Month.
SPEAKER_02You know, at the best right on time. That's what we would say, right? Right on time. Thank you for having me today. Yeah. Oh, I feel so good.
SPEAKER_05I'm glad this worked out. I feel like our schedules, we were like trying to get because you're in Massachusetts, right?
SPEAKER_02No, I'm in Connecticut. I saw that, yeah. I saw I'm in Connecticut. I'm in Connecticut.
SPEAKER_05Why did I think you lived in Massachusetts?
SPEAKER_02I was gonna ask that, but I saved it for the combo here. When I was, I was like, why did you know Did I just make that up? Maybe. I am a r you know all over, and I did say I perform a lot in Massachusetts.
SPEAKER_05So Okay. That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_02Run with it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I just run with it. And then it's how um I grew up with a guy who I thought he told me he had phallophobia, which was like when you're afraid of your an erect penis. So I was like 13 and told everybody that he had phallophobia. I don't think he got laid for like 10 years. What? Nah, just out, James. Sorry, sorry. So anyway, back to you. So for people meeting you for the first time, is Q a stage name, or that's what you introduce yourself as to people.
SPEAKER_02Because it's who I am. I like wear it every day, all day. I think I'm an artist all the time. Um and rightfully so, the artist's name is C-U-E-E. Two E. Because I'm extra. You should go listen to my music to find out why and more. Um but um yeah, I got the name Q. Uh C-U-E. Um, and so that's what I was going by since like high school.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_02And uh there's a long story behind that. We can get into that. Uh yeah, the artist's name is Q with two E's.
SPEAKER_05And then what is your like uh birth given name?
SPEAKER_02Birth given name. So I don't go by my birth given name anymore. Okay. But I did go through a full name change um the whole process. And so my name is Marquise, right? Um M-A-R-Q-U-I-S. If anybody wanna look it up. Um I get confused as they're like, is it Marcus? And I'm like, oh dang, I should have thought about that.
SPEAKER_05So did you think of that name yourself and you were like, I like that?
SPEAKER_02I actually asked my mom.
SPEAKER_05Oh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I said, you know, um, I'm going through the name chain pr process, and I don't know what I want. I have so many different names running through my head. What would you like? What what's something you would have liked? And she said that and I just went with it.
SPEAKER_05That's so sweet. Yeah. I love that. We'll get more into like your mom and upbringing in a bit. But so where around in Connecticut are you?
SPEAKER_02I'm in Hartford. I am in Hartford, Connecticut. Shout out to Hartford, me to so uh they've been showing so much love since I moved here.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um it's a cool place. I love it.
SPEAKER_05So when did you move to Hartford?
SPEAKER_02Uh I moved to Hartford about five, four or five years ago. What's time? Right after 2022, three, four COVID. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Oh, did you move during COVID?
SPEAKER_02Right after.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_022022. Okay.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, sometimes. I mean, I was living in Florida during COVID, so it wasn't real.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So I I never really had a COVID.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I we could talk about that later.
SPEAKER_05It's the whole thing. My sister was like going through kidney failure. And so because I had ended up donating a kidney to her like when things started opening up a bit more in Florida, it was probably still completely shut down in like other places, but she got so much hate in Florida for like wearing a mask if she had to go out. And like it was really an aggressive time. So yeah. So I can't imagine moving during or even like the fallout after with everything being I'm sure you did like zoom walkthroughs of apartments or houses.
SPEAKER_02Well, luckily I moved with my partner who already knew the area, the scope of Hartford. So I definitely just went with the flow with them. Uh and so the space was already here. It was just coming in, meeting people. The first year was pretty quiet. Um, folks were still masked up a lot. Um it was at the brink end of COVID though. So um it was like that half and half. A lot of folks were still wearing masks, 100%, and some folks were by way with it. Um, a good mix. And so, um, but the community and like events happening were either outdoors, so if it wasn't warm and nice outside, the winters were very indoors, Zoom, yeah, like virtual.
SPEAKER_05Some time for you to write some music, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I we start doing like virtual performances during this time. Oh, that's cool. I'm like, yeah. I you know, I did a performance in Canada.
SPEAKER_05Hey, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02It was virtual. But yeah, I was in Canada, right? You were in Canada.
SPEAKER_05Um You were in Canada for for some people.
SPEAKER_02For some people. Exactly.
SPEAKER_05So, but you were born in Chicago?
SPEAKER_02Born and raised. Yeah, I can see the hat.
SPEAKER_05You're representing today.
SPEAKER_02I always do to some capacity. Um yeah, I love it. I love my city.
SPEAKER_05Uh I vent to two dots and a dash in Chicago.
unknownCool.
SPEAKER_05Tiki bar.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that one brand.
SPEAKER_05And I went to a club there. I want to say it was like iSpy or something, iBar or something.
SPEAKER_02Up north?
SPEAKER_05My girlfriend went to Northwestern, so we would go into Chicago and then hang out.
SPEAKER_02Sounds about right.
SPEAKER_05But so what brought you to Hartford? Was it your partner?
SPEAKER_02My partner. Um, to be honest, I never had Connecticut in my trajectory.
SPEAKER_05Most people don't. And then they get here and they're lifers.
SPEAKER_02Wow. I was like, okay, Connecticut. I know. So yeah, she brought me out to visit. We met actually in Kansas. Uh so I went to school, college, and um, I worked there after college, and that's where I started my whole music career. And so um, she ended up moving there and she worked at the university. I was rapping, you know, doing all the things, and we met, whatever. Um, but yeah, she wanted to get closer to home, needed to get closer to home, uh, family, and just a lot of things. And I was looking for change. I was like, I've been in Kansas for about 11 years. It's about time for me to get out. I had to click my heels every time.
SPEAKER_05I bet you that's the first time you've ever heard that joke.
SPEAKER_02First time, you know. That's why I'm ready with the comebacks now, you know. It's just um now you're just quick like that. But now I see Dorothy outside of Kansas and I'm like, ah, Kansas, you know, I feel it. Um, and so yeah, it was time to get out. It was time to expand. At the time, I started working with uh new management, they were living in New York. Um, and so I'm like, how do I get closer? And uh it was easy. My partner was like, you know, Connecticut is just a train ride away, you know. And I'm like, hmm, um, came to visit, took me to all the nice spots. She knows I like to eat, and so went, got a foodie spot.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02And I didn't know like all the culture and the blackness that exists here in Hartford. I was like, whoa. Yeah. Night and day from Lawrence, Kansas. I'll tell you that, right? Lawrence is like, like, whoa. Um, and so yeah, I got here and I was like, you know, on a visit, I think I can see myself moving here. I'm a Sagittarius too, so why not?
SPEAKER_05Let's try like yeah. Oh, we speak each other's language. Yeah. That's why I knew we would get along.
SPEAKER_02Are you yeah, you're a sagitting? Oh yeah. Oh, through and through.
SPEAKER_05So that was one of the big selling points for us in like the Hartford County area. So we're very close to Hartford. We're right on like the Hartford line, but technically in West Hartford, because we wanted our daughter in the school systems. So just looking around, because my family is Hispanic and where we had, I'm from Miami, but where we had been living in St. Augustine, it was like all white. Oldest city in the United States, beautiful to visit, racist ass backwards to live. Yeah. And so, like you're around people who refer to every Hispanic person as a Mexican, and you're or like an illegal, and you're like, okay, well, that's just ignorant. So coming here, and then my daughter's going around and seeing every type of culture food. She loves going to different culture grocery stores, just people walking on the streets, murals of people of all different colors. That's not something that was normal to them. Yeah. So that was a big selling point for us, specifically here, because we were looking at like Madison, East Lime, beautiful places.
unknownAll white.
SPEAKER_05But the culture here, yeah. I mean, I will still more diversity than like a place like St. Augustine, Florida.
SPEAKER_02But I've never been to St. Augustine, Florida, but my yeah, what I believe Florida to look like in these places.
SPEAKER_05Like Miami's basically like little Havana, like it's like Cuba. But yeah, there's and you get into like Tampa, Gainesville.
SPEAKER_02Like I have some friends up near that area. Um only been to Florida a couple times. But yeah.
SPEAKER_05Not the safest place for the gay and trans community.
SPEAKER_02At all. So, you know, there's nothing really there for me. Yeah. I can guess. Or for women, really. You know, really a lot of people down here. Really just genuine. It's a yeah.
SPEAKER_05It's a whole other whole other country, it feels like. It just absolutely. But even outside of that, you know, Florida, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. We could we could have a whole podcast on like my deep-rooted hatred for Florida, but Yeah, but we should talk about that. So, so you grew up in Chicago. It sounds like you have a really good relationship with your mom. Yes. Was dad in the picture?
SPEAKER_02Yes. Dad was there. Uh my parents are divorced, but I would say came from a very fluid like um family. Now that I'm an adult, I can say that. Yeah. How old are you? Uh 33. I was like, damn, how old am I? I know.
SPEAKER_05I forget all the time. I turned 35 this year. I feel like I'm 22 sometimes.
SPEAKER_02Me too. I'm like 28. I don't know. Is that where I'm I don't, you know, like um but 33. Um, yeah, my parents got divorced, their own thing. My dad was around as around he could be, and mom was doing as best as she could growing up. We all have our things and quirks, but more or less, there's so much love, there's so much safety, there's so much comfort, like in my family. And so uh my parents were divorced, and a lot of people hear like horror divorce stories, and I'm just like, oh, my dad would come to my you know, stepdad's birthday party. That's amazing. I'm like, um, I don't know, like so it sounds like they put their kids first. Absolutely, right? I lived, um my stepdad has kids as well, so I have step siblings um on both sides, and um, like my dad uh has another son, so I have a younger brother outside of uh my mom and my dad. Um, and his mom and I are still connected, even though them two aren't together. And so like uh I still call her my like even her daughter call her my stepsist. Like we're all just you know in it. Um and that's kind of the environment they created, even if they did have their shit, right? I was like, I don't like to like, oh so cookie cutter. I don't think so, but it wasn't like that at all.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Well, it sounds like given a hard situation, you got the best version of it. Yeah. Because I think a lot of kids in your position, like not even throwing in the fact that you were going through a really transformative and transitional time of your life, but just divorce in general. But then throw in being trans, throw in being a black trans person.
SPEAKER_02It's just layer after layer, you know.
SPEAKER_05The fact that they you felt like you grew up in a loving and supportive home is incredible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Like truly.
SPEAKER_02Shout out to the fam. Huge shout out. And like we all had our own journey, right? We there were moments I would now name it as like, my mom didn't understand there are certain things. And I didn't know how to explain a lot of things, right? And so there would be tension in the room, but there was never like hate or like, I don't love you, or like, you can't do this, you can't do that. It was, you know, why didn't you tell me sooner? And I was just like, oh, I don't know why I lied about it for so long. Maybe I, you know, it was just my own stuff. There's a lot of people.
SPEAKER_05Did you feel like part of you was maybe not sure yourself? Or did you always have clarity?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And so she understood that right away. It was just communication. I'm like, Yeah, Ma, I didn't learn the language and the vocab and all of this stuff until like college, really, right? I'm like, I'm having this insular experience. No one around me is having this experience or what I perceive or what I think. Yeah. So what questions do I ask? How do I ask these things? You know, so I'm sitting here like, why do I feel like this? You know, I'm like, what the heck? Yeah. And just very lonely, but like my brother, he was like, I always knew, you know, I'm like, because we used to play like we're outside playing, I'm like, don't call me that. I'm your brother. Right. And I'm like saying these things as a young kid, and my brother's like, okay, yeah, sure. Like that's it. And didn't think twice about it. Yeah. Um, and so it was always there, it was always existing. And so I remember I told my mom, and she was like, that makes sense. Like that was her response. And I just looked and I was just like, that's it. Like, yeah, that's it. And yeah, yeah, that that just makes sense. And I was just like, oh.
SPEAKER_05So when when did you start realizing, like, oh, I'm not really identifying with this body that I was born with?
SPEAKER_02When I was knowing of my body, yeah, at every stage, literally, you know, and I'm like, children, no. You know what you like on your body, you know what you don't like on your body. Um and having the agency to express that even if there was nothing done about it, but just the feeling of support, and like I remember growing up, my chest coming in, I'm like, oh no, like I hate this, you know, and just getting supported, like, yeah.
SPEAKER_05But also that rush of like hormones that must have been like crazy. A mind fuck.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I truly can't like imagine. So, like I, as a Sagittarius, I fancy myself an empath, and I feel like I don't need to be in someone's lived experience to still have compassion for them. Exactly. But it's something I cannot even begin to understand what that must have been like. It's it's how I imagine like horror movies are when someone's like locked inside a body that like isn't theirs.
SPEAKER_02That's a visual way to put it for a lot of people who don't experience it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. It is I just watched obsession.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Which is like literally. It's it's being inside of a place and not feeling good about it. Like I used to explain it like this. I was telling my mom, I'm like, you know, going into the women's restroom, I was very uncomfortable. Like I played bad, I went to boarding school, I played basketball, and I went to my coach and I'm like, I need to use the visitor's locker room when we go like to the things. I'm just uncomfortable around naked women. Not because I'm looking at them, not because I'm doing that, I just feel out of place. Like I feel like I don't belong in this this room. But if I walked in the men's locker room, they could be I felt okay. I was like, okay. Even though I'm like, oh, I don't have all the parts, you know, or just I'm embarrassed. But I always felt that. Going into like going into the women's room, I was always hesitant. I'm always like, this doesn't feel right. Like and it was nothing else outside of just the pure feeling of I don't belong in this restaurant.
SPEAKER_05And also it's just like respectful of you. Just which is funny because people will kind of have the opposite rhetoric, like, oh, it's disrespectful if you're having a child. And it's like actually it's purely respectful. They're they don't feel like they belong there. They're trying to respect the other people.
SPEAKER_02I'm trying to respect the other people in this restroom, right? Of if in my mind I'm thinking I'm this individual, and when I I don't I don't belong in here, right? I feel this, this is how I'm moving in the world. Um, and so I remember like I used to have anxiety going to the restroom. Like, who needs anxiety going to the restroom? That's crazy. Exactly. Unless I think there's an example. It's so going in there with anxiety is it's wild. And that's one of the things I think about often now is like all the things in the news about trans folks in bathrooms is one also and brings up anxiety, but I'm like, I feel like I'm going in the right restroom now. So like Yeah. Yeah. I'm not looking at you, you're not looking at me, I'm a go pee.
SPEAKER_05And like objectively, I think women would be like, why the fuck is he in the restroom?
SPEAKER_02I mean, they were doing that when I when I was like in high school in freaking eighth grade. You know, when I was younger, it was like getting misgendered all the time.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02There's a guy in here. No, I'm not. Like so that's always the argument. Now I seen this TikTok today of the dad. He was in he had two little girls, um, and he said they were on a road trip and he stopped to use the restroom. And he opened up the men's restroom and there were it was traffic in there. And you know, men's restrooms, it's more exposure, you're it's more exposure. There's urinals, there's maybe doors, maybe not doors. Right. The most dis that's another topic. And this guy was just like knocked on the women's restroom door and said, Hey, girl dad here. I have two girls and I need to they need to use the restroom. There was no one in there at the time. Um and then so they I guess they went in and used the restroom. He was standing outside, still announcing himself. And then he was at the sink washing their hands when uh older woman wanted to come in. But the video started with the guy, the husband of the older woman, on the phone with the police at the door.
SPEAKER_05With his daughters, nonetheless.
SPEAKER_02And the girls are crying now because they're like, What is going on? And they're like, This dad, they were like, Do he hear himself on the phone? He's like, There's this dad in the women's restroom with his two young daughters washing their hands, and he doesn't belong in here. And we're just like, why is it such a big deal?
SPEAKER_05Because right now they have been uh like fear-mongered and taught that this is dangerous, this is scary, this is bad, this is and it's so deeply ingrained into their way of thinking that now they think that they're doing good in some fucked up capacity.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. And that's why I tell people all the time it starts off as a trans issue because it's an easy community to attack because it's a super minority, right? Whereas there are so many people under that post who rightfully so was like, this is exactly what trans folks were talking about when they say this just doesn't affect us, it just starts with us, right? They start these rules, they start these guidelines, they start the social energy of like let me call the cop, let me do this, let me do that. Now you've traumatized two young little girls. Now they're not gonna want to go to any bathroom with their dad. Like, there's this whole experience when the dad was being a dad, right? Like it's like when and where do we mind our business and like let people handle their business. Um so yeah, that is like I like even taking off the trans hat, that is just the is it's affecting so many people, all of this legislation, all of these experiences.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05It's it's kind of like it was a difficult decision to in that component of to leave Florida because the one part of me who likes to like fight for what's right, I'm like, oh, Florida needs more voices. But then the mom side of me is like, I don't want to raise my kids in a place like this, because you do see, thankfully, a lot less of that in Connecticut.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, a lot less. A lot less. Connecticut is considered one of the safer spaces for trans people, trans identifying folks, non binary. LGBTQ folks in general. But it happens everywhere, right? And so it's just. Of course. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I realized something as we were talking. I forgot to give you your gift. Oh. I start every podcast with a gift. A gift? Yeah. This one is special. This one's special because I ate a gummy when I got it. So it was picked out of love.
SPEAKER_02My type of person.
SPEAKER_05And look, usually, usually I let my guest open up their gift on camera, but in this one, I think it needs an explanation, so I'm just gonna hand it to you. So you got a bag of goodies. Ooh. Because I love candy. It's like my kryptonite. Me too. I just had a feeling. We got some fun ones. All right. So we're gonna start with I got some Rainbow Rocks candies because pride. Obviously. Also, I wore the shirt because I thought it looked like the trans flag. Those are good in coffee instead of sugar. Okay. Like you do that, you let it melt. Amazing. Thinking of your rainbow coffee. Okay. These, these are so nostalgic. Satellite wafers. It tastes like you're eating styrofoam, but in a pleasant way.
unknownHuh?
SPEAKER_05It's an interesting experience. It's a whole experience.
SPEAKER_02I love an experience.
SPEAKER_05Then Sour Patch, but like I think these are new. These are like Sour Patch strips.
SPEAKER_02I like that.
SPEAKER_05That's cool, right? Okay. I thought that was cool.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_05Then Gummy Shark. Cause why the fuck not?
SPEAKER_02Why not?
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I don't I don't mess with like what's in the ocean. Like I don't go and I don't ocean, but I'll enjoy it from land. Um then we have some liquid pickle poppin' gummies.
SPEAKER_02Pickle.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you're gonna have to let me know about that.
SPEAKER_02I will.
SPEAKER_05I think when you open it up, it like splooges pickle juice in your mouth. Um and then you're a millennial, so we got some Shrek because the OG.
SPEAKER_02I was just watching Shrek the other day.
SPEAKER_05Shrek is Shrek is a classic if you're between the ages of like 29 to 40, I would say.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And then last but not least, we got some birdie box every flavor beans. Hope you don't get your wax or bum.
SPEAKER_02Uh-uh. This is this is an adventurous box.
SPEAKER_05It is, yeah. Yeah. Um shout out to the happy confection, one of my sponsors. I ate a gummy and went to the box.
SPEAKER_02Shout out to you. Uh yeah.
SPEAKER_05Interrupted our podcast episode to give you some sweet treats.
SPEAKER_02You know how to just reel me in in a different way. I love that. Look at you all. I'll share with you later on Instagram. Okay.
SPEAKER_05No, my girlfriend at her restaurant, she serves her cappuccinos with the rocks candy instead of sugar, and it's delicious. I'm like 10 of the.
SPEAKER_02That's why you're supposed to talk to other people in the world. Because kids don't know what they do.
SPEAKER_05Like COVID, we forgot how to like interact with people.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Well, like, I recently um downloaded a dating app for like 24 hours. And I was like, I can't do this. Like, I don't remember how to talk to people. I need to like just be out in the wild so people can like see what they're they're getting in for because it's a lot.
SPEAKER_02That's my that's my Emma. Emma's like, cute, how do you do it? I go out. I go outside.
SPEAKER_05Yep. Outside. I touch grass people. Yeah. So that is um a very inspiring journey of coming to be. Yeah. And so you became Marquise.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_05And thank you to Mama. What's your last name?
SPEAKER_02Wright. Mama Wright. My last name now is Campbell.
SPEAKER_05Oh, Mama Campbell. Okay. Shout out Mama Campbell for the name. Um, and then, but we go by Q. Q.
SPEAKER_02Plain, simple, simple and plain.
SPEAKER_05It's like Madonna.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Except for she's not very. That's the last more complicated. Um, so how what would you tell now that you're like you have the verbiage, you have the knowledge, you know what things are. Like, what would you tell your younger self going through that?
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_05Maybe some other kids going through that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You know, I just wrote a post to younger Q, maybe like eight years ago, Q. Um, and told them to keep going. And so if I were to go back to Kitty Q, you're not crazy. I would tell them, you're not crazy, right? What you feel is what you feel. Don't let the outside noise really deter or just hear the way you want to live your life. Because you're gonna spend a lot of your adult years undoing um that, and I think stand in what you believe in, who you believe. Um because it's all gonna work out.
SPEAKER_05I love that. You say that you're not crazy. Was there a point in time that you thought is this mental illness? Like when you didn't know what was going on?
SPEAKER_02Never. Society did that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Never thought that.
SPEAKER_05So I trying to put myself in the mindset of like a child, like not knowing. I like I can't imagine if like they're feeling crazy or is like something wrong with my brain, or and it's it's almost better than I think impressionable kids.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Right? And children are impressionable.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right? And I think that is why it's so important as adults. We learn empathy and we learn how to be nice and use kind words, even with things we don't necessarily understand and get. Especially if it's not your experience. Yeah. Um because it's impressionable, right? Yeah. And you don't know what that kid is thinking. You don't know what that kid is going through. Um and at the end of the day, we've learned that kids are gonna turn into adults and do whatever the hell they want to do. And so like Or they turn into adults and don't do what they want to do, and now they live a life that's not authentic. That's not true.
SPEAKER_05Or if they even live the life, sometimes it ends up in suicide and exactly.
SPEAKER_02They ended.
SPEAKER_05And it sounds like you were raised um to be a very confident younger person. I think that's a big key to kids not being too impressionable, is having confidence. Yeah. And that's something that I'm trying to instill in my children too. Um confidence, but also, I mean, be modest. Be my humble. Humble. Right. It's better, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Humble, yeah. My it's a good reflection of my parents, literally. Confident and humble.
SPEAKER_05I think I need to call your mom and maybe take some notes of like how the parents.
SPEAKER_02She's a Leo mom, so you know they are very confident. They they teach you how to be proud of yourself. And she's always used to say, like, you her favorite thing is I didn't have you to be, I didn't she used to say, I didn't bring you into this world to be worried about what other people think. I brought you into this world to do what you think and what you need to do. And so I just lived with that all the time. Like, I didn't have you to appease to other people, and uh, that is not that wasn't on my desk, you know, on my list. Oh you know, every mother, she's like, oh. She was like, when I looked at you, I was just like, you need to be your own individual. She's like, I looked at you and I knew that from day one. And so I used to hear that story, and it used to just make me so confident. I used to be like, you know, yeah, there's nobody else like me. I'm just I'm Q. I'm Q and Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um I don't I don't know how much I believe in like, you know, traditional religion and like whatnot, but when you were talking, like there was this overwhelming like wave where I was just like in some way, in some universe, in some bigger picture, I think that you were given to your mama because she knew how to parent you and was gonna be the right mom for you.
SPEAKER_02I think so. I think so. Um and your dad too. And my dad too. I was like, he was the I just need you to be a good citizen to society. Yeah. You know? Um like very humble. There's uh I have a couple of line, I have a lot of lines in my songs about my parents and like giving them either their kudos or saying, like, hey, I'm not gonna be like that, right? Like, um, and that's what I admire most about my parents too, of like they're like, I'm my own individual and you are your own, right? And go find yourself. Like, just because I like that, you don't have to like that. Yeah, like it's almost like please don't like that, right? Right? Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Be your own person, have your own experiences.
SPEAKER_02I'm all about that. Yeah, please go do that. As long as it's not harming other people and yourself, have at it. Like, that is my mom's and dad's strict rules. It's like, as long as it's that, like, go to the moon for all I care. Like, that's her, you know. And so I've always just like, I can do it, you know.
SPEAKER_05Love that. Just the the right amount of audacity.
SPEAKER_02The you know, sprinkled in.
SPEAKER_05Sometimes I, you know, but so I don't know very much about the black trans community, but I imagine that it is a very small, tight-knit community. Yeah. So what was that like when you were coming out as a black trans person? Did you feel like you were being mostly accepted just by the trans community in general, or were you like finding your niche specifically with within like the black community?
SPEAKER_02That's a beautiful question. Hmm. There weren't many black trans people in Lawrence, Kansas, but there were, right? And I think Interesting. Like, just did you know? Like So a black trans woman helped me come out the closet in Lawrence. Yeah. So I was like, can you tell me more? You know, like I'm thinking this is an experience I'm having. Even though they're complete opposite, yeah, kind of same journey. Yeah. Um they looked at me like, baby, yes. Like, yeah. I'm like, oh okay, thanks. Like, so what steps do I take, right? And so I had that individual, like, hey, you know, this is something you need to do, go to therapy, but like talk to a therapist, you gotta do all of that. There's no, you know. So I'm like, okay, gotta find a therapist. Um, and then they were like, it takes a while. Then they can prescribe you, you know, if they deem that this is suitable for you and this works for you, then they'll prescribe you hormones and it's up to you. Like it was all just ran me through the whole thing. And I thought on it for like three days and three seconds.
SPEAKER_05And then I was like, okay, I three days and three seconds, no more, no less.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was just kind of thinking about like, oh, this is a lot of steps.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But I'm willing to take each one that I need to take to fulfill who I want to be. I'm like, we do that anyway, right? And so yeah.
SPEAKER_05Everything is hard. You choose your hard.
SPEAKER_02I say that all the time.
SPEAKER_05That's because we're like a little twinning. Yes. I'm like. When's your birthday?
SPEAKER_02I'm a November Sag. Okay. Are you a December Sag? I am. I could tell. I could tell. It's like fire, fire, fire. It's like fire, fire, fire. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05You're like the calming fire.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the they're like, oh, the sneaky Sagges. You are all of my really, really good friends are December Sages. Ugh.
SPEAKER_05Listen, we love hard and we're fierce. Uh.
SPEAKER_02Like we will go to bad for our people. Yo, to this day. Like when I met in high school, when I met in college, they fight over their friendship over me, and I'm like, hey, we can all do this together.
SPEAKER_05There's enough cue to go around.
SPEAKER_02We can all do this together. But my Saj friends, they Yeah. Yeah. I love us.
SPEAKER_05No, I love us too. Um so you started the Cutie Club.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_05And is that that's a lot of things. But I'm glad you're doing a research. But do you feel like above all, it's kind of a way for people, especially black trans community, if they maybe don't know anybody in their area, can find community?
SPEAKER_02Yes. Yes. That is one of the pillars, right? It is a safe creative space. Um I specifically focus on black trans artists and creatives, um, knowing that there's an extra layer in there, but I don't turn away. And in my mind, we're all creatives just to different capacities. Like speaking back to plumbers, mechanics, barbers, like now.
SPEAKER_05Like, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and so it's expansive for me. Um, and I think that just gives us um some joy and some other identifiers that we may not receive in society all the time. And so the cutie club is that. Uh it's the merch store, and so I'd make the cutie club merch because all my fans are cuties, because who doesn't want to be called cute, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Like, yeah. Um I get myself some merch.
SPEAKER_02You should. And then I'm I got you on some stuff. I got you. And then there's like uh the scholarship piece, and so I do a lot of advocacy work under the cutie club and help providing services. I did a big tr uh passport run, and so I helped get oh I think it was over uh a hundred between sixty and a hundred tra uh passports for trans people when the political climate started to plummet and folks were needing to get out and or needing I I you know identification. Um so I do a lot of work in there and most yeah in general it's it's a space for us. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So when you talk about the scholarship, can you tell me some stories of like s stuff that's happened with that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and so I uh crowdfund, I raise funds, I also apply for a lot of grants. So if you are any sponsors, you love what's happening and you hear what's going on here. Um I also provide a space for black trans um people to reach out to me in my DMs, and I it's me, literally, um, and I help them out in certain scenarios, emergencies, and different cases. And so I have a separate scholarship fund, quote unquote, that I have set aside X amount of dollars in here. And so there's um a black trans man living in Puerto Rico, needed to get out. His home environment was not great. He was looking to get out to Seattle with his partner and start life there. Dangerous needed to get out, and so it took a couple weeks. Um and uh he ended up getting funding, but it's stuff like that. He reached out. There was like a musician that needed a guitar and really wanted to get back into the music and wanted to do the things, and so QD Club sponsored the guitar. Um there were people who needed like uh their light bill paid. There it's like uh it's an array of things. That's incredible though. Um and I say all the time, there's a lot of people who will reach out who probably don't need the resources, but nine times out of ten, folks probably really need the resource.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, even if they don't want to tell you what it's really for or about.
SPEAKER_05Sure.
SPEAKER_02Um I always donate as much as I can to like top surgery funds and all of those things.
SPEAKER_05Because that's not covered by insurance, is it?
SPEAKER_02It depends. Um it depends on your insurance. Uh it's a lot of loopholes, it's a lot of things that like have to be uh deemed um covered, you know how like certain insurance or like and it's like how they're medically necessary. Right.
SPEAKER_05That's how they input the code too. I've learned that many surgeries.
SPEAKER_02Many surgeries, yes.
SPEAKER_05And sometimes it's just a matter of if they want to code it one way or if they want to code it another, of whether it would get covered.
SPEAKER_02It's so being a woman in medicine and having to use these services, I know they is just as bad as like doing whatever they can and cannot do for you. Um and so, yes, surgery can be covered, but nine times out of ten is not covered. And if you look at the rates of trans people who are employed with insurance, that number doesn't reflect so well. And so a lot of trans folks don't even have medical insurance. They can't.
SPEAKER_05Imagine that they would feel like, why am I gonna pay into this when it's not gonna cover the things that I actually need for the body that I'm in?
SPEAKER_02Like, uh the insurance people or no, trans people.
SPEAKER_05Like they might have like the option to get insurance and then say, fuck it. I'm not gonna get it if it's not gonna allow me to get the doctor's appointments I need, if it's not gonna allow me to get the medication I need or the surgeries I need. That part too. Like, why would I invest? Yeah. Right. When I can pay out of pocket and not pay into something that's not gonna actually help what I need as an individual.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. That could be there.
SPEAKER_05Needs to be more conversations about specifically insurance for trans people because it's not a black and white situation.
SPEAKER_02It's not. And folks ask me all the time about insurance and doctors and that. And I'm always like, yo, it really boils down to where you're located, like what insurance you have. And sometimes this insurance wanna will accept and they won't. And there's like stories in the inner community that are like, try to get this insurance, because I think they're gonna, you know, and it's just like it was a back and forth. When I first um went in to have for top surgery, it was pre-COVID. I was getting all the appointments. Um, then COVID happened, they called me day of COVID and was like, we're canceling all surgeries that are not, you know, and I was like, Are you serious? Been here for them for two years, right? So I'm just on this quote unquote waiting list. They're only able to take like, I think my doctor was like four to five top surgeries a year at this point because of how backed up they were with all of the stuff. I was so upset. And at this time, I was also paying a lot out of pocket. So I was like, this will give me an opportunity to fundraise and get more money and do the thing. And then luckily, by the great goodness gracious of the universe, two years later, I was in a different, um, a whole different environment. Whole life shifted two years. In the place, insurance, get a call, your top surgery is fully covered. You actually get a refund on your deposit, like, and we want to schedule out in two weeks. And I'm like, holy sh seriously? They were like, yeah, can you do it June 30th? I was like, the last day of Pride month? Hell yeah. I was not prepared, like mentally, like none of the things. I was like, but in two weeks, absolutely count me in, count me out. And it was so cool because I had like a pride show lined up the night before. So it was like we made it this huge thing, like goodbye to the chest. Like it was goodbye to the chest. Yeah, like next time I'm on this stage, like I'm doing the opposite.
SPEAKER_05I'm doing the opposite.
SPEAKER_02You know, one of those sad friends, they were just like, you know, you can just hand over, I will love that. Yeah, I'm teddy. Yeah, so like I will come, I will come to your appointment and tell a doctor I will land the bed next, and we they could just one on over. And I'm just like, yo, if I could, if we could just jump and hug each other and then just I would have done that a long time ago, you know. Like, we used to joke like that. And so that moment came and I was just like so excited that I got this top surgery done, and it was covered by insurance. So I was blessed. And so now I'm like, not everyone was able to have that 360, like that 180 effect. And so, how can I be supportive? It's one of the missions at a cutie club, and again, being that space, and yeah.
SPEAKER_05So, what was it like the first time you saw yourself bandages off?
SPEAKER_02I said, the first thing I said, we have it on video. If you go check out my man now music video, my surgeon let me videotape in the room taking my bandages off, which is like cool. She was so in, she's a fan. I love her so much. Um, and she was like, Yeah, you can videotape. So we got the camera. We gotta start in this pod. I want to see, I will. I just I update her often. It's cool. I text her, I'm like, not me texting my surgeon from top surgery. Um, such a sagittary. Um, and I'm just like peeling it off. I'll never forget, but it's all on camera, and I'm just like, and my face is just like holy, I can see straight. Like, you know, I was just like, oh my god, wow, my back doesn't hurt. You know, I'm just like, all the things I'm like phantom, right? That happened, and I was just like, the first thing I said was like, oh, looks like I'm about to be on the cover of a magazine. That's that was the first thing.
SPEAKER_05Oh, you're like, damn, I'm hot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Look, I was really particular. My surgeon, she was like, oh my goodness. Like when we were in there, I was like, I need you to take your time, okay? I need you to part because I know I'm a rapper and I know I do this, but I'm also gonna model, okay? And I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that. And I really need this.
SPEAKER_04She was just looking at me like, she's like, I'm gonna do the best I can.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02And then it's so funny because my partner and my mom came to support, and so they were at the hospital, and she was like, That lady said this surgery was only a couple hours. You were in there so long, I got so nervous. And I said, Maybe because I told her to take her time. And so then when we did the bandages, she was like, I took my time, like incision lines, so nice and crispy. I was so particular though. And so I was just happy that she was also able to like do it.
SPEAKER_05But uh, yeah, yeah, it was it was the time.
SPEAKER_02That's cool.
SPEAKER_05You integrated it into a music video too.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Yeah, I I got cursed out, she was upset because I was like, Is this gonna be in a music video, curl? And I'm shooting this in three days. And I promise you, I won't raise my hands up too high. And I'm definitely not laying down and I'm shooting this music video. I have to get the authentic moment. Like there's I have to. And she was like, a true artist. I respect that. Yeah, I respect that. And so that whole video, actually, some of the scenes I shot before I got all the stuff off. So I'm still technically like bandaged under my my clothes. Okay. And then I went to go get the bandages off and we finished the rest in the studio with like my tape. It was raw. It's raw.
SPEAKER_05It was but I was proud and I was like, I was listening to music on Spotify. You can can you guess my favorite?
SPEAKER_02Shook. Oh no. Is it Shook or is it gravity? Is it Oh my God, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_05Put it this way. It's a sentence that I never thought I would say out loud. Alright, you're ready?
SPEAKER_02I'm trying to think of my most Sagittarius song, I think it's honestly just like it's such an earworm song. What is it?
SPEAKER_05So I never thought I would ever say this sentence, but I love listening to Proud Boys.
SPEAKER_04Oh I didn't know.
SPEAKER_05It's good. It's cat, it's so catchy. It's catchy. It's so catchy. Are you kidding? Yeah. You know it's catchy.
SPEAKER_02You already know what time it is.
SPEAKER_05I yeah. Yes. I'm gonna I want that part to be like trending on TikTok and like everybody be like dancing to it.
SPEAKER_02Already no. We should get it trending. Yeah. Tell me get it trending. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I mean for Pride Month.
SPEAKER_02And Proud Boy, I did it in response. Yes. You know, just a little. I love performing that song. I did it, I do it at every pride and everything. And I'm like, Proud boy. And the whole audience is like.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, they're like, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_02Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01Are we in enemy territory?
SPEAKER_02Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, as a black trans man, like I'm claiming this term.
SPEAKER_02Then they're like, yeah, I'm like, okay, that's the energy I'm looking for.
SPEAKER_05I had a podcast with another girl, influencer, my friend. Oh, you know Kathleen. Connecticut bucketist. Okay. So we were saying that we're taking back the term influencer, similar to how like women took back cunty and like cunt. So then she said that we should be called content creators. So that's what we're gonna put it on a hat.
SPEAKER_02Content creators. I know so many people that aware that. Yeah, okay. Content creator. So silly. Trademark.
SPEAKER_05We're gonna take a quick break and hear about some of our sponsors, and then when we come back, we'll talk some more about your music. If you're someone who cares about supporting local farms, you should check out Pink Tractor Crew. They're passionate about connecting people with Connecticut agriculture, whether that's finding fresh dairy delivered right to your door or tracking down maple syrup straight from the tap. It's all about supporting local farmers and making fresh food more accessible. You can explore their resources at StantonsBM.com. You know how edibles can feel a little intimidating if you're not exactly sure where to start? That's actually why I love the Happy Confection. A Connecticut brand based in Westbrook, they've made edibles really approachable by creating ratio-based cannabis gummies. So instead of everything hitting the same way, the experience is dialed in depending on what you're looking for. Whether that's relaxing or feeling creative or just unwinding at the end of a day. There's even options for medical card patients looking for higher potencies. Everything is chef crafted with organic ingredients, vegan, gluten-free, and made with strain-specific terpenes so you get a consistent experience without that bitter aftertaste that a lot of gummies can have. They're also queer-owned, women-owned, and family run, and you can find them in over 60 dispensaries across Connecticut. You can find the closest one nearest to you at the happyconfection.com, and don't forget to sign up for their email lists where you can find out about product launches and deals going on near you. They're called the Happy Confection, and it's cannabis crafted for joy. Looking for insurance is honestly so stressful. Every year when I have to deal with it, I feel like I need a spot after. And that's why I love keating agency insurance in West Hartford. They're a third-generation family business with a real people-first mantra. They do the hard part for you, shopping multiple companies to find the best coverage. They handle home, auto, business, life, and even umbrella policies and can bundle things to save you money. So instead of spiraling online, comparing policies, just call Keating and let them handle it. All right, we are back with Q. And we are talking all things music, Sagittarius, Candy, Black Love, Black Trans Joy. Bathrooms, Proud Boys, So when did you transition to music being your full-time career? Is it your full-time job now?
SPEAKER_02It is. Well, creative entrepreneur. Because I also do radio. Okay. So don't leave that out. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And you were saying you model.
SPEAKER_02Model.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. You design your merch. You wear many, many hats. So let's say when did the art artist full-time career?
SPEAKER_02See that's why I've been using full-time artists. I quit my job at the I was gonna just go all on. I quit in 2022. I was working at the University of Kansas. I was working in higher education. Um I got my master's degree in higher admin administration. I was an admissions person, then I went into marketing and like communications on campus. Um, and then I started I was always in radio, like in undergrad, grad school, doing a thing. Um, but I took a quote unquote break from music when I got into grad school my last semester. I was like, who am I kidding? Like, I'm an artist, like what am I doing? Yeah. I almost quit my master's program. My professors are like, bro, you have one semester left. If you do don't, if you don't just finish this degree, and I'm like, okay, you're right. And so finished it out. Um, and I started performing around Lawrence. I released Shook in 2018 off my um, it was I released it as a single. Um, and I had it going for about maybe three to four months before I put it on my Shameless album, which was like my debut release of like me doing music. And Shook started to like blow up. And it started getting on like these playlists, and people like were sharing and stuff like Missy Elliott and stuff. I was like, holy magro, whoa, what's going on?
SPEAKER_01Um nuts.
SPEAKER_02And were you like you want to collab, Missy? Yes, I was. I'm still waiting on that collab, Missy Elliott. If you see this, um, and I was just like, yo, like I really like doing this, you know, like this is what I'm doing. Um, and I was um working at KU and just like I don't know how much longer I'm gonna last. Like, I really just wanna go all in. Like, I didn't I had a small plan, but not like a robust plan. Um but I knew I had supported the community. Lawrence, if any place in the world I would start a music career, that's a top five for me. Lawrence, Kansas is pretty dope. And I knew I had the resources at the time to like a big music scene there. Huge. Okay. Call it the flyover. Um a lot of people don't stop there, but it is nine times out of ten, your favorite artist has played in Lawrence, Kansas. Very cool. At a $15 rate because it was right when they were emerging. Or they do get big people right back in there. It's just one of those spots that's next to KC that it's a music town. It's it's all music. Like I love Lawrence, it's so cool. Um and I started getting like right up, like all the things were just like happening at a small but big scale, right? Um, Lawrence was really starting to uplift me. My face were on banners in the street, and I'm like, oh snaps. I think it's time for me to quit. You know, and so put in my two weeks and just took a leap of faith. Just took a leap of faith, and I was like, worst case, I'll just go back and get a job get a job. Yeah, and go do what I need to do, right? Like I take care of myself. And I just haven't been back since like 2022. 2021. 22.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_05So was there any point during that journey that you're like, I need to get a job? Or was it like steady and up? I mean, up and down and all around.
SPEAKER_02This economy, if the economy stays steady, then I would have been steady. No. Um yeah. There's times that I picked up like um UPS winter hours, like working in the UPS trucks, like they do like the what are that seasonal, peak seasonal things. I would pick up that. And I'm like, I'm not performing during the s winter months.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_02I'm not doing anything.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. You have the the hustle, like you have the grit. Oh, yeah. And that's what it takes, also, not just an artistic mind, but also the grit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't turn my shirt collar down, right? I went to school, got a degree in communications, uh strategic communications specifically, and like uh graphic design, marketing. And so like I do websites and I do like social media. Yeah, and so I was working with a nonprofit in New Britain, um, New Britain Roots. Um, they still contract me out to do certain projects.
SPEAKER_05And do you know Kayla Million?
SPEAKER_02I do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Kayla's my girl.
SPEAKER_02Uh Kayla and their uh her sister Christiana. Yeah, I used to. Yeah, Christiana, that's I was supposed to go to her house tomorrow, Christiana. Uh are we all gonna be there maybe together? But that no, maybe not.
SPEAKER_05I don't know. I had to cancel.
SPEAKER_02We lived right around the corner from Christiana. Wait, that's crazy. Yeah. Uh my partner and her are literally raising the little ones together. That's what we say. We're uh what is it? A quad a quad. We call ourselves a quad. Um yeah, Christiana's like my sister. And then I met Kayla, obviously, through Christiana. Um love them to death. Yeah. Beautiful humans, people, amazing. You have to go check out their house.
SPEAKER_05I'm literally dying too. I have been trying to get over to like the garden for so long, and I had a plan for tomorrow. But now that I'm going through a separation, I have certain days that I have the kids and certain days that I don't, and tomorrow is a day that I don't, and I have just so much work to do to catch up on that I'm like, I want to go to your house. I want to see this garden, I want to be there, but I need to just get stuff done.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02They yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Yeah. So then you started performing quite a bit, and how often would you say that you're doing live shows? Like now.
SPEAKER_02Now. Yeah. Because in the beginning, I was doing like 100, 200 shows a year. I was like in it. I was like, yeah, it was crazy.
SPEAKER_05That sounds amazing and also exhausting.
SPEAKER_02So exhausting, but I was all I was on it. I was just like so excited. It's fulfilling. I love doing shows, right? I love outside of recording music, performing music is my favorite. Yeah. The least favorite is probably sitting there writing it because I got to sit down and like do it. And I'm just like, ugh.
SPEAKER_05You're like feeding onto the energy of the people. Like, I'm sure, like the better the crowd, the better the performance.
SPEAKER_02I'm the person you see in the club if my phone is out or at an event. I'm probably writing music in that moment because now I'm out, I'm experiencing things, and now all the stuff's coming to my head. Oh, that's cool. But inside the middle of the club, absolutely. That would be me, right? We're like in an event, I'm like, two bars just came to my head. I have to get this down. I love that.
SPEAKER_05When inspiration hits.
SPEAKER_02I'm in therapy, like, hold on one second. Like, right there, like, go ahead. Write it down. And I'm like, yo, I have to get this out. This is a moment. But when I want to just go sit and have a write-in session, I'm doing everything but that. And so I literally live my experiences and then I'm writing in the moments. And sometimes, like you said, it's about the people right in front of me. Like Shook is about loving basketball, literally. My favorite movie on this planet. And I just interjected it with some things about me and some things about loving basketball because there's a wordplay, the basketball player's name Q, I'm Q. Last name was right, my last name is right. Like there was so much wordplay there. And so I was like, oh, this is a perfect song. But if you're moving, like a lot of people know. So if you if you're thinking about the movie and you watch it, you're like, oh.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then you think about my life, you're like, oh. So that's it's one of my favorite uh songs to like write with creatively. But I'm sitting there watching Love and Basketball and I'm like, hmm. Yeah. So stuff like, yeah, I get inspired a lot by Outside Tip.
SPEAKER_05So so back to performance. And so where are you performing now? Where can people see you?
SPEAKER_02Right now I'm performing um SLX shows of a book. So I just did Middletown Pride uh here in Connecticut. Um I'm going to Chicago next um at the end of the month. I'll be in at the book club shy. So if you're in Chicago, come check me out. Um Amazing Show, $15 at the door. The lineup is crazy, and I'm bringing friends, so you should really come. Oh, that's fun. Yeah, it's gonna be fun. Um don't miss out. Um, and so that's in Chicago. I'm so excited to perform on Pride in my home city.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That was a dream. Yeah. Full circle. It's full circle moment. Um, and then outside of that, I'll be in New York in July. That's as far out as I can remember in this second.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so who does your bookings? Are you under management?
SPEAKER_02So, right now, honestly, is myself, my partner, lovely partner, um that's Dr. Boo. It's Dr. Boo. Yes. This is the best. Uh been helping me kind of manage that. Um, I'm in between kind of management at this moment. Um, just started working with someone new, but they haven't taken over bookings.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_02Like my emails, such. I'm so literal. So like they haven't liked that, but yeah. Giving me opportunities and helping, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Very cool. So, do you find that you like performing in mostly like gay trans LGBT environments, or you're like, I want to be everywhere? Yeah, you you just want to stage.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm like, I just so happen to be a black trans rapper. Okay. But I'm a rapper, right? Right. And so um I do any kind of I do so far sounds too an experience that I'm a part of. I'm a sofar artist, and those are curated shows across the country uh the world. They have them all over. Um and those aren't particular, right? They uh do pop-up shows and so it's really cool. Um I will do a lot of pride events, but I also like get booked at colleges and universities, and so that's a little bit different.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um I also yeah, we'll just do a show and it had no ties to it.
SPEAKER_05Just have you ever walked in like a fashion week?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Uh did one uh a fashion show in LA, actually. And that was amazing. It was I was so nervous, but it was so fun. I'm sure you crushed it. I did. I didn't have a shirt on either, so wow. That's yeah. That's amazing. My vibe.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. You were like, I'm here, I look good, I'm walking the catwalk. Do they still call it a catwalk? I don't know. Yeah. The runway.
SPEAKER_02The runway, yeah. Rip the runway.
SPEAKER_05What do you look for in a crowd when you're performing? Like, do you want people who like know your music and singing along? Or do you want to like show yourself to new people and be like, you you want to be part of the cutie club? What's like your fate? What's like your dream audience?
SPEAKER_02My dream audience is going back home, performing in Soldier Field, and all the seats are filled, and the field is full with all seats, and people are rapping my music. It's rapping my music back to me and it's just loud. Wow. And I can't even get it through the mic because they're all just singing it.
SPEAKER_05So you like when people know your music and they're like, that must be like a crazy experience. I can't imagine.
SPEAKER_02That's why I try to make catchy hooks and stuff, just to see if people can learn it on the spot. And when they participate at my shows, it's fulfilling.
SPEAKER_05That's so cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's so cool.
SPEAKER_05I can't wait to see one of your shows. Maybe I'll try to make the July. I'm going to Florida, womp womp. Right. I'm going to visit family for a few weeks in July. But if I'm here when you're performing in New York, I'd love to go.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would tell uh definitely let you know. I'm trying to do something at Hartford locally.
SPEAKER_05I want to like immerse myself more in the music scene here. I met a guy, Dockish.
SPEAKER_02Dockish.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I need to go do research.
SPEAKER_05The guy they run like a school for children for to like to learn music, and it's a nonprofit and it's in Hartford, and it's very like it's literally only funded by this producer, rapper. I'm not really sure too much about his life. Um and it's called In Ya Head.
SPEAKER_02In your head.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. You should get involved with them. And they're in Hartford.
SPEAKER_02In Hartford, in your head. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So I met the guy at a West Hartford Chamber of Commerce meeting. Which, if you're not in the com like in the chamber, I never thought it'd be the person promoting like a chamber of commerce. But listen.
SPEAKER_02I went to one chamber event and I was like, okay, I get it. I understand the people in there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05The people, I mean, especially the West Hart. I can only speak on the West Hartford one.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_05But the people are so cool, so nice. Like all ethnicities, all sexual orientations, the events are fun. Like, it's not stuffy.
SPEAKER_02It's not stuffy at all. I thought we were going to be stuffy. Me too. Then when I went to mine, I I went to the one in New Britain and I thought it was going to be super stuffy, super like so chill. Yeah. I was like, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_05No, we've we've had events at like wine bar areas. Breweries. Yeah, we've been at like art museums. We're going to have like an award show. My girlfriend Ali is getting an award. Like it's fun. And it's and it's crazy networking. So many connections. Like people just want to like amp you up and connect you to people. And like, I mean, even I'm doing it, I met a guy from Chimber, and I'm like, you need to meet him.
SPEAKER_02Definitely gonna go check in on that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I'll I'll send you the information because I'm like blanking on the names. In fact, Bill probably knows.
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_05Um so who are some dream collabs that you'd like to get like on a track?
SPEAKER_02Ooh, so many come to mind. Chance the rapper, like hometown homage.
SPEAKER_05Can I tell you something funny?
SPEAKER_02What?
SPEAKER_05When I saw you at Sola the other day, I go to Kayla. Um, I was like, he looks like Chance the Rapper. It's the hat. No, it's the face. It's the face. It's the face. It's the face. It is the face. Because I thought it was the hat too, and I was like, no, no, it's not. And then Caleb, Kayla was just like, I don't see that.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Me either. But you know, the Bennett brothers, totally cool. Taylor Bennett, his brother as well. Nice collab. Um, Kalani, for sure.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I want her to sing on one of my hooks. I already wrote it. I just need her to sing on it. Oh. Um, let's see. Ooh, is it Missy Elliott, producer collab? I need that tag.
SPEAKER_05Um okay. My goal is to get some of these clips, this podcast seen by Missy Elliott and her people.
SPEAKER_02Missy Elliott and your people? Let's let's do this. I'm telling you. Um, wow, the the list is. I'm like sitting here, I'm like, if you ask me this any other day, it would keep going. But those I'm gonna stick with those three right now. Those are good.
SPEAKER_05Have you ever been asked to collab on something that you were like, holy shit, this is this is like a dream? Like, have you been on any tracks for artists you kind of admire?
SPEAKER_02Yes. I have been on tracks that I admire. I'm like, yes, not in the same realm of music. So I've collabed on like pop songs, like indie rock songs. Really? Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_05Do you play any instruments?
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_05Your voice is your instrument.
SPEAKER_02It is. Um I pride myself in playing the drums, but I don't I'm not like professional with it, just like low times in church. Yeah, you know, just when I was going to church alone pregnant. But um yeah, no. But the voice is the music, and yeah.
SPEAKER_05Have you ever had like a negative or like a um an unpleasant experience when somebody maybe like likes your music and then finds out that you're trans and has like an adverse reaction to it? Or has it only been like positive?
SPEAKER_02A lot of the people who meet me and then realize I'm trans sit with either their biases on what they thought about trans people because they're like, why the fuck do I like him so much? Oh wow. And you are like not what I thought. And I'm like, well, what did you think? Yeah, like what the hell does that mean? So then they're like, oh, oh, he's serious, you know? Because I'm like, I advocate for all. You know, I know like we're not gonna do that here.
SPEAKER_05So um but that's interesting because again, back to they're fed a perception and they don't bother to learn, usually. And so when somebody who's just a normal guy rapping, has a partner, living his life, doing good for others, having working with fundraising, they're like, oh wait, but that's not what the government told me. That's not what my algorithm told me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And it's nuts. Yeah. And then they're a wake up call and it's like, woohoo, you know, welcome to the real world.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I wish he would have stayed here a long time ago.
SPEAKER_05But I think the more that we have conversations about it and the more that it's just Of everyday life. Like it's we shouldn't be taking away books about it. We should be adding more books about it. We shouldn't be like, you know, the Florida has the whole don't stay gay. Like we shouldn't be having like there should just be if there it's, you know, kind of a weird example, but like if you are gonna tell kids not to drink, they're gonna be even more curious about drinking. So in the mindset of like a conservative who's so terrified of their child being gay, because that would be like the worst thing in the world for whatever fucking reason. Right.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_05You not talking to them about it is gonna make them even more curious about it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Honestly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So you made your kids gay. Yeah, I'm like, little do little do you know what your kids are. Yeah. Still gonna do.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, kids are gonna do what kids are gonna do.
SPEAKER_02But yeah. And I'm just like, because those kids turn into adults and now they're making their own decisions because now they have agency and doing what the hell they want to do.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And probably don't like you in the process now because you don't like me, right? And a lot of them gain that courage, that confidence to get to that point. Um and then sometimes you say, parents, oh my child hates me. And it's like, what did you do for them not?
SPEAKER_05If I ever hear a parent that's like my kids are not non-con no, my kids are no contact with me, immediate red flag. I'm like, oh, you did something horrible.
SPEAKER_02You did something horrible. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I I my mind never goes to like that's a bad kid.
SPEAKER_02Cause nine times out of ten, it's like no matter how old they get, you are always gonna be the parent. You are always the parent, right? No no matter what. And it's so many people healing from their parents right now, paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars to have the heal from things, you know.
SPEAKER_05I think that as millennials, um we are uniquely in a position to where we grew up where I think we're like the first generation to have like therapy be like mainstream and mental health be talked about. And we grew up where topics like trans rights and queer rights and you know, it was just talked about a lot more to where we have a lot more acceptance and tolerance, and then hopefully are passing that down to our children to where they'll just continue to have more tolerance. That would be obviously the the goal. The goal. I mean there's gonna be hatred anywhere.
SPEAKER_02It's unfortunately gonna always exist, I think, because it's always gonna be seen as a minority, right? It's like how some black people still hate black people, how some people still hate Latino people. Right, you're like Yeah.
SPEAKER_05If it's different, if you don't understand it, if you're not educated about it, it's automatically dangerous or scary or in that order.
SPEAKER_02Literally all of those things uh come into play, right? And it's just like yeah, you're yeah.
SPEAKER_05You wear many, many hats.
SPEAKER_02Yes, actually.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
unknownLiterally.
SPEAKER_05Artist, mentor, advocate, fundraiser, I mean, the list goes on. How do you not get burnout?
SPEAKER_02I do.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. What do you do to kind of I travel? Get back to the water.
SPEAKER_02I love to go to the water. I love to visit the water.
SPEAKER_05Like the ocean.
SPEAKER_02The ocean, the lake, the waterfall is now my new favorite.
SPEAKER_05Where's that?
SPEAKER_02We go to the ones in Puerto Rico, but there are some in Connecticut that I've been to that are pretty sweet. But my favorite one that keeps coming to mind is when we go back to visit uh my partner Boo's family in Puerto Rico, and we always go to this waterfall that's just like refreshing. Ugh, it's so refreshing. Um the sound of water is just so we go down to the shore, and I'll just sit there and like relax. Just relax. And I think being like my big three, I'm all fire, sad, sad Julio. So I'm always high. I'm always and so water is like the total opposite. So it cools me down. It's like a uh Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So what what kind of advice would you give to maybe a young artist who's wants to go ten toes in but might be kind of hit by getting a little bit of burnout?
SPEAKER_02Release your toes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Release your toes. Find your water.
SPEAKER_02Find your water. It's not a race. It's not a race. If you want to be an artist, you are an artist. You may be wanting to make millions of dollars off artistry, which is totally different, right? And so I tell people that too. Find your purpose, find your your it. If if it's it, you're gonna do it. You're gonna do it, and you're gonna wanna continue to do it. And it's gonna shift and it's gonna change because life shifts and changes, and go with the flop. Water.
SPEAKER_05Water.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I love that. I gotta ask the question. It's probably gonna be the hardest question you're gonna have to answer today. Come on, give it to me. Alright, ready? Yep. From Chicago. Uh-oh. Do it. Is it deep dish or is it a beats?
SPEAKER_02I do not like deep dish.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Yeah, Connecticut pizza.
SPEAKER_02But I don't like Connecticut pizza.
SPEAKER_05You don't like a beats? Yikes. So what's your what's your flavor in New York style? Do you like pizza?
SPEAKER_02I like Chicago tavern style pizza. Okay, what's that like? So Deep Dish is very touristy. There's no one from Chicago born and raised that's gonna eat Deep Dish. Okay. Right? Um I don't like Deep Dish. Yeah, I don't know why they sell it to y'all like that. But it's an experience. Yeah. It's an experience. Whatever, Chicago. Tavern style and it's cut uh cut in squares. So um it's thick crust, not thin. Connecticut's thin. I don't like thin crust pizza.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_02We do use a lot of sauce in Chicago. It's a saucy pizza still. It's not deep dish sauce. Like soup. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, how do you explain it? Soup. It's not not that at all. But you know, in Connecticut, they just smear it like it's just like it's sauce. Like when you bite it, it's gonna fall off a little bit.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_02But you don't need a spoon or anything either. It's like a pizza pizza. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Pizza pizza.
SPEAKER_02Pizza pizza. And it's sweet. Chicago s pizza has sweetness.
SPEAKER_05I got a place that I want you to try some pizza at in Connecticut.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I'm open to trying.
SPEAKER_05It's not, um, it's not a beats, it's not Connecticut style. Okay. So yeah, it it might actually be Chicago tavern style, to be honest. So have you ever been to Joya in New Haven?
SPEAKER_02No, but someone else just recommended that when I said this kind of pizza, they were like, oh, really? Oh. I'm like, this sounds so familiar. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Well, honestly, everything at Joya is good, like amazing pastas, amazing supper clubs, but also their pizza. I'm gonna go try it. Especially if you like the thicker crusts and like sauce and when like kind of a little sweet too. Yeah. Yeah. You're gonna, you'll love it. And it's on a they have a really cute rooftop bar, like a really cute date night spot. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's like, but I get it. And and Connecticut's will fight. Would would I don't like the burnt crust.
SPEAKER_05So it's just my is it burnt though, or is it charred?
SPEAKER_02Okay. It's definitely charred. That is true. It is not burnt. I'll take that back. Words do matter. 100% charred. And I don't want my.
SPEAKER_05I'm a fan of a beats. I am a fan of a beats, I have to say. But I also like Joya Pizza. I also like Neapolitan style over at Zanelli's. Like, there's I Yeah. I don't like Deep Dish either.
SPEAKER_02You should have seen my reaction when I entered Connecticut and I saw Pizza Capital. I'm like, what? It was a whole adverse reaction.
SPEAKER_05Is that also in a music video?
SPEAKER_02No, but I need to put that in there.
SPEAKER_05Like, wait, when are you filming some uh Connecticut uh music videos?
SPEAKER_02Very, very soon. Very bad. Oh, do you need any extras? Very, very I'm gonna make sure I can reach out. Very, very soon. Okay. Yes. I can roll some time.
unknownJust kidding.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Um Yeah, we're outside this summer.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, let's do it. Hartford's got so many cool spots. And have you s the the library, the Hartford Downtown Library opening, they have like recording studios, podcast rooms.
SPEAKER_02I'm in their archive, yeah. They reached out and they were opening up, yeah, and they were like, we want to put your music in the archive. Hell yeah. And I did a show at the library, so that was cool. Like I tell you, I do like one-off shows too that are different. Um and I did a sh uh performance there for the opening of the Oh, I was filming the what what what time?
SPEAKER_05What do you remember what day? I was filming that whole week. I got hired to film.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say it was like I don't remember.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you were there some. I mean, I I didn't see it. So it was one of the times that I wasn't there, but I tried to be there quite a bit.
SPEAKER_02It was like, yeah, that launch, that thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I always ask my guests to shout out to a nonprofit of their choice and how people can get involved if they want to. So do you have one that you would like to give a shout-out to?
SPEAKER_02Myself. No, I'm just kidding, yeah. I mean, yeah. I'm not a nonprofit in actuality. But let's see. Oh, this is a good question. And I was thinking about this, and I I should have really came up with. I'm gonna go with Point of Pride. Point of Pride, uh, their national org. Um, so they help uh LGBTQ folks get gender-affirming care, no matter what that looks like, and access to that. Um they provide scholarships and services. Um and you can find them online um at Point of Pride, um on Instagram, reach out, send them a DM, um, and let them know what you need.
SPEAKER_05So it's kind of like what you're doing, but on a national level.
SPEAKER_02On a national level. I actually partnered with Point of Pride uh last year for Pride, and it was one of my, I think, my favorite partnerships. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Work that matters.
SPEAKER_02Work that matters, exactly.
SPEAKER_05This was so lovely. Thank you so much for coming on and for what you do for the community. I think that your voice is gonna change lives for a lot of people who maybe didn't have parents or the support like you had growing up.
SPEAKER_02I hope so.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Okay. Well, thanks.
SPEAKER_02Black, brown, and queer. Proud boys, put your hands in the air. Mama ain't raised no punk. Yeah, I was 16, don't face proud. Turned up, scars on my chest, like I'm ripping it up. Every time I walk in the fruit, I got them. Nothing debatable existing is real. Story story.
SPEAKER_05This podcast is kept fascinated by Sola Karaoke, the Happy Confection, Pink Factor Crew, and Eating Agency Insurance. Thank you for listening to Connecticut Unfiltered. If you liked the conversation, please make sure to like, subscribe, follow, and share, and keep the conversation going about how we can make Connecticut more than just a drive thru state.