Hello everyone, and welcome back to another blog post! Since it is the last week of June, I had to support pride month by writing about an artist in the LBTQ+ community. I have decided to write about King Princess! Many readers may have never heard her music before, but I promise you King Princess is an artist you need to listen to. I first heard King Princess in 2018 after listening to her song, Upper West Side. Although King Princess is her stage name, the artist's real name is Mikaela Mullaney Straus. Mikaela, born in Brooklyn, NY, is gay and non-binary and has said in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine that she is not offended by any pronouns. Mikaela's father is a recording engineer, so Mikaela spent much of her time growing up in a studio. Through this she learned to play the bass, guitar, piano, and drums along with many production techniques. Mikaela was offered to sign with a label when she was only 11 but turned it down because she didn't want the label to control the sound of her music. Growing up in a studio, she saw many artists go through that process and did not want to be a part of that. In 2012, Mikaela received a scholarship to attend New York's private school Avenues: The World School, by submitting a CD of songs she wrote. Mikaela moved to Los Angeles and attended USC Thornton School of Music, but dropped out after a year to pursue her music career. In early 2018, Mikaela released her debut single called 1950. The song was inspired by the book The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (I read this book in college, and I think the song goes perfectly with it). The song reached out to many in the LGBT community and received a great number of listeners after Harry Styles tweeted one of the lyrics. In 2019 Mikaela performed at Lollapalooza and Coachella, and later that year released her first album, Cheap Queen. Mikaela produced and played many of the instruments on the album. She was scheduled to go on tour with Harry Styles in 2020, however, it was canceled as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Also, in 2020 she released a single called, Only Times Makes it Human, and recently released an EP called, Too Bad/Cursed. Mikaela doesn't see a need for a queer genre and believes her music is just like any other song about two straight people. It has always bothered me that queer songs are labeled by a different genre. If the song is good, it doesn't matter who or what it is about.
Today I will be reviewing one of Mikaela's songs from her most recent EP: Too Bad. I love the vibe of this song; the electric guitar is killer, the bass sounds absolutely fantastic, and Mikaela's vocals are very impressive. Her lyrics are full of emotions: "Oh, you're family, and I told you I'ma be too much. Oh, I get scary. When I feel abandoned, loose cannon. And I'm stuck with the blood on my hands. Oh, and I understand it. I'm manic. But you're trying to fuck with my plans. Oh, I've heard it all before." Even when Mikaela is with someone she feels comfortable with, someone so close like they are family, she still feels insecure, which leads to the end of the relationship. I can relate to this. In high school, I was very insecure with my anxiety and often blew up the tiniest things in a relationship. The song then goes into the chorus: "Oh my God, is it hard to be loved, but that's life. Too bad I'm never enough. So sad. Got me licking my cuts. And that's fine. Too bad that I'm never enough." During the line, "But that's life," there is a downbeat, and the instruments accent it. This is the part of the song where you should be head banging. I also enjoy the vocal harmonies she adds, and I love the guitar part she plays in the second verse. In the lyrics Mikaela goes back to talking about more of her insecurities. "But they hate me. Oh, that's what I tell myself. Oh, they're always taking cheap shots, 'am I feeling well?' I'm a shell of a man, loose cannon. Stuck with the blood on my hands. Oh, and I understand it. I'm manic. You wish I'd forget who I am. Oh, I heard it all before." Mikaela is tired of people asking her about her mental health. She doesn't want that to be the only thing people see in her, and she feels as if she has lost her pride because of it. In the bridge, I like how Mikaela goes into more depth about why it's too bad this person can't see what Mikaela has done for them. "Well, too bad that I gave you my trust and all my time. Too bad that I'm hating myself so I can like you. Well, I'm good. And I'm sure, yeah. And I've heard it all before." Mikaela feels like she put everything into this relationship, and the other person has done nothing in return.
I hope you all enjoyed this week's blog post. I think King Princess is a fantastic artist and will do great things in the future. I plan on writing about more LBGTQ+ artists in the future because I believe they should be recognized and appreciated just like any other artist with talent. I have put King Princess’s song, Too Bad, in the links below!
Chief Editor: Jacob Tomeny
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