Laverne Cox in her new music video | Photo: Beat For the Gods
Laverne Cox dropped a surprise new single called Beat For the Gods this weekend.
But don’t get too excited for a new phase in the actress and activist’s career… Because she doesn’t actually want to be a pop star!
The Orange Is the New Black star announced the single’s video release on Instagram yesterday, writing: ‘Thank you everyone who has been kiki’ing and carrying to my debut single #BeatForTheGods. I love you so much!’
‘I don’t want to do an album’
Speaking to OUT about the song, the star said: ‘I don’t want to do an album, I don’t want to be a pop star. People have been asking me to do music for years, and I don’t want to do music.’
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She explained that the idea for the passion project came about after a joke with her make up artist. ‘One day my makeup artist, Deja […] did my makeup for an event and I looked in the mirror and said, “Girl, I’m beat for the gods.” I was living for myself. I was having a moment.’
‘And as a joke, I said, ‘Deja, that would be a cute song for the kids, “Beat For The Gods.” […] But I wrote a little something, and ran it by her, and I was hanging with my friend Benjamin (K. Damptey), and he’s a recording artist, and I jokingly told him I had an idea for a song. And he said, ‘Love, we should record this. Let’s just do it.’
She furthermore added: ‘I just wanted it to be a cute song for the kids to vogue to. It really is an homage to that community, the kids who vogue, the kids who drag, the nightclub scene.’
Fans seemed divided in their feedback. One write on YouTube: ‘I love Laverne Cox and I think she’s really talented, but this song is awful! I am sure that she can do better than this. She should try diffrent [sic] genre next time. Her voice really fits into rock/jazz music, similar she did in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.’
However, another added: ‘Oh my god so good this is going on my workout mix you are a queen and you are gorgeous.’
