There's a new dawn of conscious queer rap on the horizon, and Johannesburg's 23-year-old Gyre is the latest to come out of this exciting new musical moment that hopes to open up the heteronormative rap world and normalise queer experiences.
"Queernomics" is Gyre's debut album. Released this month, the opening track "S.O.S" hooks with a line that says "I am human. I am queer. I am sex. I am black. Respect that!" and includes track titles like "Eat My Ass", and "Premium Bottom", which sees Gyre sing, "this ass ain't common; it's a premium bottom."
The album is a documentary of queer black life in South Africa, Gyre tells HuffPost.
"It really is just a chronicle of a black, queer South African in the 21 century."
The album follows on from the likes of local conscious queer rap stars like Cape Town's Dope St Jude, Angel-Ho, and Johannesburg's fabulous FAKA duo, among many others, who are all informed by their experiences growing up queer on the continent.
"For me, conscious queer trap is any trap made by a queer person," he says.
But becoming "conscious" was not easy.
"You're not conscious of the fact that you're gay when you're young, until someone points it out to you. Sex, in terms of binaries and comparmentalisation, only starts when you reach a certain age. So that was difficult, because I was clearly different, and I was teased all the time. From grade one I even remember my bully's name."
"But these are the cards I was dealt, and at the end of the day its about staying true to yourself – and that's what Queernomics is."
Gyre is performing at the We Are One Festival at the end of March, with more performances soon to be announced on his Twitter and Instagram pages.