thread of miguel

ya good point

(I'm having trouble with subject-verb agreement too)

I was going to mention "Arch N Point" re: Miguel sad-kink

wow @ the "time of the season" interpolation at the end of "don't look back"

and jordan otm about the ryan tedder vibes but miguel wields them incredibly

from 4/12/12

https://twitter.com/MiguelUnlimited/statuses/190618069792604162

It's songs that "Use Me" which have me give his songs queer readings.

I don't usually speculate about artists' sexuality, nor do I really care about it—I have that sort of apathetic and maybe naive quality a lot of straight guys have where we just assume everybody is straight unless they say otherwise—but I kind of wonder if Miguel is just waiting for somebody to bluntly ask him about his sexuality so he can just give them an answer.

part of the questions about him stem from his look & image which is probably unfair but he definitely writes from a different perspective than a lot of singers

on the other hand a lot of his songs code as totally straight to me

Yeah, "Use Me" is such a passive depiction of sexuality, and he positions himself (for lack of a better term) as the receiving partner, which isn't a position that a lot of R&B singers take. Combined with his soft imagine, it just seems to me like if he's gay he's not even really trying to hide his sexuality.

But again, I'm the wrong guy to speculate. Songwriters can write from a wide range of perspectives, so I never would have suspected anything about Frank Ocean from his music along. (Actually, I never suspected anything about Frank Ocean even after seeing this on his Tumblr: http://frankocean.tumblr.com/post/24525846895)

he's explicitly denied gay rumours before, fyi - http://www.bet.com/news/fashion-and-beauty/2011/06/03/miguel-defends-sexuality-explains-his-electrik-style.html

which, like. doesn't necessarily convince me one way or the other. i don't want to be hem in the permissible modes of existence for str8 r&b dudes - more power to them for funky clothes and receptive narratives etc. like, Prince is the greatest and I could give a shit if he was ever actually queer or just played with the codes and imagery.

but still, i wouldn't be entirely shocked or entirely disappointed. he's also stunningly pretty, so... [Rev, back me up on this, please]

although now that I read that article, " “For anyone who questions my sexuality, the honest truth is I love women. I’ve always openly loved women." isn't realllllly a statement of "i am not queer" so much as "i love women openly" and do not comment on the rest of it.

Singer Miguel Denies That He's Gay
He thinks people should expand their horizons

^this is pretty amazing

although now that I read that article, " “For anyone who questions my sexuality, the honest truth is I love women. I’ve always openly loved women." isn't realllllly a statement of "i am not queer" so much as "i love women openly" and do not comment on the rest of it.

― twinkin' and drinkin' and ready to fly (Alex in Montreal), Friday, July 27, 2012 5:33 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah i had this thought as well

It's a fun denial, and I'll take his word for it. But Miguel's whole career trajectory has involved catching up to the margins, working from the inside out. He started as an industry favorite in the safe Usher mold; then became a commercial act working on the periphery of a major label making slightly eccentric music, before embracing independent distribution models and nodding to outsidery trends with his free EPs. He's obviously very interested in breaking from commercial expectations, but he works with safety net; he's cautious about the conventions he upends. Now that the climate is suddenly a lot more inviting for urban artists who might want to come out, I wonder if he'll seize the opportunity.

When was he ever in the usher mold? His early staff seems more left coast hippie shit with Blu and Emanon etc.

He's always been a little bit of a weirdo, no? I mean even 'Sure Thing' is weird insofar as it's totally spare except for the screwed vocal hook.

I think it took so long to grow on me because I wanted to hear it as a pop song in context and it felt too anemic.

On March 5 in this thread I posted the video for his 2005 single. Check it out if you haven't; it kinda speaks volumes about where he's coming from.

He was definitely a lovable weirdo on his debut, but I think Jive had so little invested in him that he was given the freedom to do pretty much whatever he wanted with that record, a luxury that he definitely made the most of.

haha holy shit @ that 05 video

He still pals around with west coast hippies! Jhene, Thundercat, FlyLo, J Davey, etc...

If Prince is queer, it's because of his gender presentation, nothing to do with his orientation.

if?

If he chooses to identify as that.

apropos of nothing, this is dope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpHgm5nRXE&feature=relmfu

i get why people are using the word "sad" to describe miguel but i dunno if it's the most accurate - it has connotations of inward-facing timidity and moping to me, but the best of miguel's work this year is just so...full-blooded and cathartic and really physical, it's as much about frustration and anger as melancholy, and there's a lot at stake in his songs. i'm suspicious of fetishisation-of-melancholy in general and i think this is a different thing.

heard "Adorn" on Baltimore radio for the first time and, interestingly, they played the 2-minute version. the DJ sounded really excited about it before and after the song, so maybe she was a fan and pulled it straight off the EP instead of using the label promo.

that is interesting

yearning is prob the word that comes to mind with migs

urgency tinged with tangible need, every song sung sincerely on his knees

that was somewhat more lyrical miracle than i intended

can i get a refill

http://www.inflexwetrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Miguel-Elle-Varner-IFWT.jpg

D:

lex's post makes some good points

is he very petite or is elle a way bigger gulp than she normally looks

miguel is petite as hell

def true that for me Miguel's attraction as a singer is how anger and a libidinos streak intertwine.

*libidinous

i guess i read that anger as a resiliency i.e. "...all"

yeah, or a certitude

wouldnt take him seriously if i thought he was ever angry

he seems very controlled and confident to me, just as a person/performer, in a way that informs how he expresses any emotion in hi smusic

not at a Prince level of icy remove but definitely closer than any of his contemporaries that i can think of

Agreed. I didn't at all mean his anger was inchoate or anything; it's closer to seething.

sure but even that seems overstated

these new tracks are definitely mastered way grungier right

paranoid about my hearing/stereo lately so i'm not even sure

i get why people are using the word "sad" to describe miguel but i dunno if it's the most accurate - it has connotations of inward-facing timidity and moping to me, but the best of miguel's work this year is just so...full-blooded and cathartic and really physical, it's as much about frustration and anger as melancholy, and there's a lot at stake in his songs. i'm suspicious of fetishisation-of-melancholy in general and i think this is a different thing.

Great post, Lex. I totally hear the frustration.

damnit I thought we had lex so close to fetishizing melancholy

Late to the party but "Use Me" and "Don't Look Back" are just so... damn miguel how have you made so many of my favourite songs this year already.

xp This is probably the part of Lex's "indie is ruining everything" conspiracy theory that I agree with the most. Melancholy is too often mistaken for substance, and I would hate to see it become a rampant empty signifier in R&B the way it did in indie rock. (That being said, I do obviously love it when it's done right)

these new tracks are definitely mastered way grungier right

there's certainly a density to them but i thought everything sounded pretty clear.

the guitars are kinda 90s rock tho.

the guitars are kinda 90s rock tho.

what with wynter gordon too, we just need one more for a TRENDPIECE