Meet Kim Petras, the Trans Glam Pop Princess of Our Dreams

Amidst the towering cityscape of dance pop music, it can be hard for new girls to pay the rent. You’ve got Demi, Selena and Ariana Grande corporations taking over block after block of high-priced real estate, and skyscrapers like Gaga and Bey are way out of our price range, so what to do? Enter Kim Petras, the 25-year-old German-born songstress with a beat to slay the kids.

With a signature bun on the right side of her head, she’s a pouty mix of Charli XCX and Hayden Panettiere shot out of a confetti cannon. Kim Petras is one of those artists who makes you remember you downloaded Shazam on your phone like six years ago.

Her euphoric, synth-based “I Don’t Want It At All” is quickly becoming one of 2018’s most talked-about breakout pop tracks. Petras also dropped a killer follow-up this Valentine’s Day called “Heart to Break,” which will surely circumnavigate gay bars worldwide by summer 2018.  

Kim Petras is not new to the spotlight, though. She first fell into the public eye in 2007 when appearing on German news network Stern TV, where she openly discussed her transition. She was widely viewed as one of the youngest people to undergo reassignment (at just 16 years old). While some found her gender a topic of controversy, Kim Petras affirms she has been and will always be all-woman — and snatched as hell, TBQH!

Petras has been in Los Angeles developing an upcoming debut album with the likes of Aaron Joseph and (eek!) Dr. Luke. Debut single “I Don’t Want It At All” — co-written and produced by the duo — shot to number one on the Spotify Viral Global Chart, and the music video features the one and only Paris Hilton.

Other Kim Petras tracks like “Hillside Boys” and “Faded” prove that she’s found her sound, and that sound is FUN BITCH!

Gays love seeking out unsung pop. I can recall a similar pattern of micro-obsession with artists like Carly Rae Jepson and Lorde. We the queer people desperately crave a new reason to dance, and Kim Petras has got the juice.

Her visibility as a trans artist will surely save a life or two, but personally I feel the story of her transition is but one twinkling rhinestone in the sparkly pink tiara that is her future in this industry.

What do you think of Kim Pertras? Sound off in the comments.

 

Images by Jacqueline Kulla for Galore