thread of miguel

right on cue Lex!

"Use Me" has a pathos that the Weeknd's songs don't, though. Abel is the predatory; Miguel is (at least for this song) the victim

word

Plus, Miguel knows how to use sound and space to complement his voice.

His productions consistently point outward, away from the self, as opposed to The Weeknd's insularity.

yup

"use me" really conveys the parallel nervousness and excitement of new sexual encounters/experiences imo. like you have this towering, expansive song & in the middle of it a guy singing "use me when you're taking control / with the lights off / i can just let go" and "it's the very first time / and i'm nervous / can i trust you, huh?"

tho he also sings from the other perspective as well & i guess it's up to debate which (if either) is him

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

*like "Use Me"

yeah totally

I was really engrossed by the sheer, uncompromising horror of those last Weeknd mixtapes (plus I think they sound great), but Tesfaye was never very interested in exploring his the roots of his monstrosity; he was just a ghoul. I love how Miguel, on the other hand, uses these small details to suggest the motivations behind sexual desires. He can use his voice to hint at the heartbreak the drives one-night stands, for instance, but its rare to hear a song that equates kinky sex to damaged goods as devastatingly (and as sweetly) as "Use Me."

that drive, excuse me. Gah, I gotta proof my posts better. Whenever I am on allergy meds I am typo city.

and he can makes kinks delicious (e.g. "Arch N Point").

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.