If you know me, you know that New Orleans is my second home. When YouTube was in its initial growth phase, 2004-2008, I was enamored by the queer vloggers showing all different parts of their lives. They brought viewers into their living rooms, bedrooms, local grocery stores, events and bars. Messy Maya was one of them, a queer male Bounce artist in New Orleans who enjoyed jocing, making people laugh, roasting anyone in earshot and shaking ass. As soon as I hit Louisiana in 2012, I was turned onto the whole genre of New Orleans Bounce. My life changed.
I fell in love with Bounce music and forever will be. The piece I created below was trying to catch the motion of a wiggle in linocut. The passage that follows was presented at the Queer Ancestors Project show in July! Fan favorite.
Get Cha Some, by Hazel Green
“Bounce is rooted in Black queer history. Southern trap queens and drag divas invented bounce despite attempts by many to impose a cis-gender identity upon the culture. Bounce was born out of a movement of devastation in New Orleans queer history- the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. In this context, bouncing and twerking can be seen as powerful acts of reclamation. Bounce is experiencing a resurgence thanks to openly queer artists who are shattering music stereotypes. This resistance has helped normalize gender non-conforming identities and sexualities in America’s hip hop culture.”
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