Preview: God-des & She
The hip-hop duo plays Sisters next week
Photo by Morgan Kennedy
Since they first played themselves on The L Word, New York’s hip-hop duo God-des & She have been on a swift road to stardom, especially among dedicated lesbian and queer followers. Their hit “Love You Better” helped sell more than 30,000 albums after reaching the number one spot on Logo. After releasing their third album Three, produced by Public Enemy’s Brian Hardgroove, and recording new tracks for a fourth album, God-des & She are getting ready to perform live at Sisters on Aug. 24 (9:30).
God-des sat down with us to talk about fame, fans and why they love the lesbian nightlife scene in Philly.
What inspires your newest music?
Everything inspires our music – when we go through life and see injustice, sadness, love, joy, inspiration and so on. Our lives and other people’s lives inspire us to create.
You landed on the gay pop culture radar in a big way when you appeared on The L Word a few years ago. How have things been since then?
Wow, our lives really changed after The L Word. I, God-Des, was working for a beer distributor in the East Village and “She” was slicing meat in an Italian deli in Queens. The day after our episode aired we got over 200 emails asking us to come perform all over the world. Within a month, we were able to quit our jobs and become full-time musicians. And thankfully, we have been able to maintain that and build since 2006.
Congratulations on your success. What can audiences expect from your new show?
To have a great time and hear the brutal truth. Our music is a party in your mind, pants and soul.
How would you describe your musical style?
We would describe it as hip-hop, pop, soul music mixed with everything and anything else.
How has the music business changed (or not) for LGBT artists?
The music business in general has changed so much. With all the major labels dissolving, musicians can’t bank on signing a major record deal and becoming famous. Musicians need to be much more creative in business and they way the market themselves. The good thing for LGBT artists is that the Internet provides a major forum for our art without the record labels censoring us and blackballing us out of the elite circle. If we are creative, we can do anything and everything we dream of.
What artists inspire you?
Any artist from any genre that actually makes us feel something inspires us.
You’ve been to Philly a few times. What’s the experience been like at Sisters?
Sisters is always a blast. The crowd is always hype and the folks that work there are extremely accommodating. We are really looking forward to coming back and playing a bunch of new tunes, as well as some of the oldies but goodies.
What new projects are you working on now?
We are currently working on a mix-tape that we will be giving away as a free download within the next month and also in the studio working on our fourth record.
Here’s a clip of their new “Love Machine’ video:
God-des & She, Aug. 24 (9:30 p.m.), Sisters, 1320 Chancellor St., 215-735-0735.
