LSDXOXO’s Dedicated 2 Disrespect is an audacious statement of queer identity
Image by Fredrik Schneider
When pressing play on Dedicated 2 Disrespect, the debut EP from Berlin based DJ and producer LSDXOXO, the word jouissance comes to mind. That is, an inescapable state of pleasure, delight, or ecstasy. Pleasure in the context of queer subversion weaponises itself against the heteronormative masses. And in so many ways that is precisely what LSDXOXO does across four filthy, banging tracks.
Rising to prominence through New York’s GHE20G0TH1K events and arguably from the same linage of artists such as ARCA, Honey Dijon and Total Freedom, LSDXOXO’s work has always channeled his influences through the lens of the black queer experience. The resulting sound, blending elements of house, techno and pop with the audacity of the New York ballroom scene, has garnered him success as a producer. This past year scored him dance hits for his work on Shygirl’s infectious TASTY and his own Sick Bitch, remarkably in the absence of nightclubs to promote the music. Unsurprisingly, the music speaks for itself.
With Dedicated 2 Disrespect, LSDXOXO makes the conversation abundantly clear. Continuing on from a string of provocative mixtapes, Dedicated 2 Disrespect is a proclamation of the artist’s identity. It’s the kind of audacious beat-making that turns wherever you are into its own pulsating dance floor. Opener The Devil, immediately sets the tone with a brash, infectious beat that establishes the ensuing sleaze party. The dance floor conjuring continues with Baby, an acidic slice of thumping techno that begs for the confines of a steamy, strobe-lit nightclub.
Previous hit single Sick Bitch is the EP’s thesis statement. It is a celebration of the abject, a fierce declaration of kink identity and queer desire which refuses to leave you without bite marks. A breathless moan repeats throughout the track against a chopped beat that recalls Only Fire’s electronic horniness. Mutant Exotic arrives with the same energy as a cigarette after sex. An acid house inflected track full of hi-hats and warm piano flourishes, it smooths out the tempo well and leaves us with one last statement to ponder; “maybe I’m a goddess,” LSDXOXO nonchalantly purrs.
Across the tracks, the influence of Detroit techno is unmistakable. Dedicated 2 Disresepct is unabashedly queer, and a welcome reclaiming of space in a genre largely dominated by straight white men. This is high camp techno, a reprogrammed Rocky Horror Show for the Y2K sensibilities of the post-millennial generation. LSDXOXO’s fearless frivolity refreshes the techno experience, currently overwrought with “serious” art-making and sub-classifications in the name of good taste. LSDXOXO pivots the techno lineage back towards its black queer progenitors, reminding us that techno is at its wildest, dirtiest best when in the hands of its most original players.
Dedicated 2 Disrespect is released via XL Recordings and is available here. See the music video for Sick Bitch below:
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