Ready or Not, MNEK Is Bringing 'the Black F**got Experience' to Pop

While openly gay musicians are still relatively new to the pop music landscape, many of them are still struggling to the rise to the surface, and the faces that do are usually white. "A queer Black artist is a hard sell," MNEK told PRIDE, but he's more than ready to make pop gay again.

If you haven't heard of the UK's newest pop sensation, you've surely heard some of us his work. At just 23-years-old, MNEK has already written and produced for a slew of pop acts including Little Mix, Madonna, Diplo, Christina Aguilera, Dua Lipa's hit "IDGAF," and even Beyoncé's "Hold Up." He broke through the American top 40 chart last summer with "Never Forget You," a bombastic duet with fellow UK artist Zara Larsson.

While some of today's biggest gay pop stars are singing '80s throwbacks or pronoun-less ballads dedicated to unrequited loves, MNEK's new album, Language, feels like he's taken a seat on your couch with a blunt and a jug of Carlo Rossi and wants to kiki over a nostalgic '90s, R&B beat.

Inspired by George Michael, Mariah Carey, Janelle Monáe, Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope, and more, Language's witty lyrics, islandy beats, and lush production somehow feels simultaneously nostalgic, fresh, and so very gay. 

And nothing screams carefree Black boy quite as much as his second single, "Correct."

Dreads to his shoulders and swathed in royal pink, MNEK playfully flexes his complexion and résumé as he forewarns his listeners to put some respect on his name (his stage name is literally his Nigerian last name, Emenike, spelled out). Paper Magazine called the track "a call-to-arms for queer people the world over to command the respect we deserve."

With Language, MNEK simply wanted to share "the Black gay experience" and make the album he wished he had when he was young.

"This is my first album and I suppose it's me testing the waters of being the pop star I wanted to be growing up," he told PRIDE. "I wanted to have songs that were healing for me as a gay man and musician but also an artist too."

"Girlfriend" is another album stand out. In true petty, Destiny's Child fashion, MNEK asks the boy he's sleeping with what would happen if his girlfriend found out about their down-low relationship. "Neither you or your story's straight," MNEK riffs. "If your girlfriend knew/'Bout me and you/'Bout what we do/Tell me what would she do?"

For myself and other Black gay men who haven't seen themselves in much of music, let alone pop, Language validates shared experiences akin to when Beyoncé proclaimed "I like my negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils" during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show. 

But we were quickly smacked out of that high. MNEK was defending himself left and right as haters trolled him for Language's disappointing album sales or joked about bad reviews. Rolling Stone left a particularly nasty review, "MNEK struggles to come up with a decent batch of tunes." Billboard even posed the question, "MNEK Made One of the Year's Most Ambitious Pop Albums, Why Aren't People Paying Attention?"

But mainstream culture isn't always going to get art by and for the marginalized. Black music is so often skimmed over while white people's approximation of it wins Grammys. No shade to Adele, but even she knew Lemonade deserved that award. That doesn't mean we stop creating.

"I am a Black gay pop star, so whatever I do is alternative anyway," MNEK points out. "The best thing for me is focusing on the people who do care and do want to listen to what I've got to say."

And that he did. After his concert in Scala, MNEK posted a message for his fans on Instagram.

"I know I’ve been quite negative these past few weeks about numbers and sales and self-worth and Black QPOC struggles and etc etc, and after this week (which has really cheered me up, strained vocal and all), I promise to STFU and remember that it’s about the FANS." 

While it might not have performed as well as he hoped, MNEK knows the only way to go is up. "I'm proud of what I've done. I'm proud of everything I'm doing creatively." He continued, "It doesn't mean that it's the end of the road, it means that we need to be louder."

The future of pop is black and queer. Mainstream pop might not see it just yet, but the world still has time to catch up and come correct. 

Buy Language on iTunes or stream it below!