Last May I “blew through” the huge International Mr. Leather Competition gathering in Chicago and, after I’d cleaned up a bit, had the pleasure of visiting one of the coolest Boystown spots, Wang’s, a tiny, fog-filled opium den of a gay bar which, back then at least (it’s since seen some upscale hetero incursion) was the place to be, at least if you were looking to somewhat escape the macho IML scene and get down to some sweet, sweet music.
One of the things that made Wang’s pop for me was the totally hot guy at the door. “Oh he’s from Banjee Report,” DJ P-Play told me as we entered. “They’re pretty much going to rule the queer hip-hop world in a couple years.” Oh, hi there!
P-Play’s crew Honey Soundsystem put out a pretty killer (and awesomely challenging) Banjee Report mixtape soon afterwards, introducing them to SF. And now here come the three Banjee rappers themselves, to Marco De La Vega’s great 120 Minutes party at the Elbo Room this Sat.
If you want to see what’s going on in the queer hip-hop world, beyond the incredibly diverse Mykki Blanco (multigender artsy), Le1f (avante-dark musing), Frank Ocean (ambiguous pop soul), and Big Dipper (novelty sex-rap) styles, Banjee’s great combo of vogue sensibility, street delivery, and sexy swagger may turn up your boots.
Also, I’m sorry for objectifying them but they are really cute, so wut.
Read a neat inteview with Banjee Report here.
BANJEE REPORT
with Matrixxman and oOoOO
at 120 Minutes
Sat/27, 10pm, $5-$10
Elbo Room
647 Valencia