Turning up the volume: how musician Mykal Kilgore boldly champions black-queer identity
Musician and Broadway performer Mykal Kilgore grew up in a Southern Baptist home and spent his Sundays singing in the church choir. Today, the NAACP Image Award-nominated artist’s signature sound draws from his roots, melding gospel, country and R&B.
The singer-songwriter’s storytelling is similarly steeped in personal identity. “It’s incredible to be … brave enough, to be available enough to say this is who I am.” His debut album, A Man Born Black, explores themes of race, sexuality, masculinity and more. “I’m black, I’m queer, I’m living in this world,” he says. “You cannot have me without having it ... You can’t ignore the black to get to me and to my art.”
Through his work, Kilgore hopes to break down barriers, encouraging others to embrace the things that make them who they are. “There are a whole bunch of black boys and girls just like me and I want them to know what’s possible.”