Fusilier Calls For Action With New Single “Dancing in the Street”
Brooklyn artist Blake Fusilier transposes R&B, soul, and funk into a raw, unfiltered alternative genre. His new single is a play on the Motown classic “Dancing in the Street”, tearing down the colourful exterior of the song and running it through a stainless steel, electrifying re-imagining.
Its release is a timely one, with Pride Month being celebrated this month (however, things are very different this year). Although the song is inspired by Pride, Fusilier’s stance is rooted in the celebration’s history and forefathers:
“Pride is so boring. A protest-cum-celebration of marginalized people has become a mirror for the existing hierarchies of society. The people who now need uplift and recognition are the people who ‘Gay’ movements hide. They’re women, they’re queer, they’re trans and non-binary, they’re poor, they’re HIV positive, they’re Black. They’re the ones who aren’t going to bank with Santander because they’re issuing debit cards decorated with rainbows. We should get back to our riotous roots.”
“Dancing in the Street” is inspired by pro-gay/pro-Black composer/activist Julius Eastman and his statement about “Gay Guerrilla”:
“A guerrilla is someone who is, in any case, sacrificing his life for a point of view. And if there is a cause, and if it is a great cause, those who belong to that cause will sacrifice their blood. Because without blood there is no cause. So, therefore, that is the reason that I use ‘Gay Guerrilla,’ in hopes that I might be one if called upon to be one.”
The riotous perspective and deliberate energy comes through on the song and in its accompanying video, as Fusilier’s tenacity and spirit makes for a powerful delivery.
Watch the video below:
