How Hayley Kiyoko is Changing the World of Pop

Hayley Kiyoko in an interview with Nylon magazine.

I recently went to a concert of the up and coming pop star and, though I am biased being a fan of hers, I have to say that the experience was the most fun, energetic and interactive concert that I have ever been to. It was held in the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and anyone who knows that place knows it is a rather small and intimate setting with no seats. In other words, it was total mosh pit. We were all about an inch away from the people around us, at most, so there was very little wiggle room to move around. None the less I did my best to dance and sing along to the music (as it was very hard not to). With everything from songs about being in love with women to songs about her struggle to accept and love herself before she came out, Hayley Kiyoko delivered a performance that was both entertaining and moving, no matter your sexual orientation. That is one of the most incredible things about Hayley is that, despite her songs being mostly about loving women, or the fact that her fans have dubbed her ‘lesbian jesus’, she does not let her sexual orientation define her as a person. Yes, she is a lesbian with a largely queer fan base, but that does not make her any less human. She has flaws and hard times and can struggle be herself and love who she is and she expresses that in her music, telling her fans, no matter who they love, that it’s okay to struggle and sometimes you need to take some time to figure yourself out and that’s okay.

She also displays the message of being true to yourself and respecting yourself and the importance of loving who you are despite what anyone else may think through her music videos. By being involved in every single aspect, from writing the songs to directing the music videos, she is proving to be a woman who is not content with just lingering in the background, but prefers to be the one making the decisions. The stories that she tells through these music videos give hope to the lgbt+ community that songs about loving women, or just someone of the same gender, will become more common and maybe even be normalized in the world of pop music. In fact, simply by coming out with this album, that process of normalization of same sex relationships in songs has already begun. For example, in her most recent music video, she collaborated with pop artist Kehlani, who also happens to be an out queer woman in the competitive music industry. By doing this she is normalizing relationships between women more and more everyday. I do not know about other people within the community, but I have to imagine that they would agree with me in saying that when I watch that video, I don’t just see a friendship that blossoms into a romance over time. I see two out and proud women of color living their truth no matter what other people may think of them and their relationship. Because that kind of thing is seldom shown, if at all, in a world where people judge you just because of who you love seeing it is a relief for those of us seeking representation in an otherwise male-dominated and heteronormative world. Through her music, she shows us that at our cores we are all the same. We all want the same thing: to be loved. Some of us just have different ways of going about achieving that goal and there’s nothing wrong with that.

By being her authentic self, Hayley gives us all hope, regardless of our sexual identity, that it does get better and maybe one day we will be able to feel the same way about ourselves as she does. She gives us hope that it will get better, that our dreams are achievable and we are not being stupid or ridiculous for having them. And in the end, isn’t that all that really matters?