If you haven’t heard of Shamir Bailey, please let us introduce you. Shamir isn’t new to the music scene by any means, having released debut album Ratchet in 2015, but may not have been on everyone’s radar just yet.
Shamir identifies as nonbinary, sharing in a Tweet, “To those who keep asking, I have no gender, no sexuality and no f***s to give.” Although he does not have a preferred pronoun, the Philadelphia-based singer is comfortable with male pronouns, and comfortable using them despite not identifying as male. The Guardian reports him saying:
“I always find it amazing that people get mad because they can’t figure out my gender…Even though my only job here is to create art, I think being a genderless figure… it shakes people. And when that happens it makes me feel like I’m doing my job.”
The single showcased here is “Cisgender,” the first from Shamir’s upcoming album, Heterosexuality, his eighth studio album, which will be released on February 11. Shamir, who was raised in Las Vegas, appears as some sort of mythological creature, complete with horns and hoofs in the accompanying music video and in the cover art for “Cisgender.” There is no question that Shamir’s talent is palpable, along with his resonating sounds, but what stands out in this particular track are the deep and moving lyrics. Shamir sings
“I’m not cisgender, I’m not binary, trans
I don’t wanna be a girl, I don’t wanna be a man
I’m just existing on this God-forsaken land
And you can take it or leave it, or you can just stay back (oh)
Just stay back (ooh, oh)”
The rest of the lyrics leave one pausing to process the honesty and clarity in his words. With such powerful lyrics about his nonconformist view on gender, and the deeper emotions that may be tangled up within that. To complement his lyrics, Shamir is known for having an androgynous countertenor voice, countertenor being a male singer who can sing as high as a soprano or mezzo-soprano. Shamir will be touring starting January 31, so you can catch him live if you like his bold tunes.