Indian Lesbian Singer Songwriter Pragya Pallavi released her debut album Queerism on May 17, 2019 — The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
The album is dedicated to LGBTQI+ people in India and all over the world. She inaugurated this album with her 5th single, the LGBTQI+ anthem, “Queer it Up.”
Pragya is a singer/songwriter, musician, percussionist and performer who is classically trained as a Hindustani vocalist. She also identifies as a gender fluid lesbian. Her first musical album, Queerism, is inspired by both her diverse musical influences and her life experiences and social conscience as a queer person in India.
Pragya says, “I am a person who is not confined to any single genre, nationality, religion or gender. I want to bring together Indian and western, contemporary and traditional musical influences in a way that all types of people can relate to. I know songs have the power to create a movement, this is my attempt at being that voice for LGBTIQ persons across the world.”
The 9 track album, Queerism, features songs in English and Hindi, each in a different genre. This ultimately pop-oriented offering invokes a variety of styles, including jazz, folk music, hip hop, disco, funk, Indian fusion, Indian rock, EDM, dancehall and moombahton. The album features collaborations with National Award-winning sound engineer K.J. Singh, International DJ and “Mother of Electronica” Ma Faiza , DJ Lolly , Deepa Vasudevan , Dena Gorilik and Sanjay Kumar.
Thematically the songs cover many aspects of queer life, and other social issues. There are songs about queer love and celebration, social justice and the need to stand up for rights, women’s empowerment, suicide prevention and global warming.