Mykki Blanco and Michael Stipe Team Up on New Single ‘Family Ties’

    Mykki Blanco has teamed up with R.E.M.’s Michale Stipe for a new track called ‘Family Ties’, which comes paired with a music video directed by Kit Monteith. Marking Blanco’s first new music since last year’s Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep, the song was written in Lisbon and New York City and was produced by Falty DL. Check it out below.

    “’Family Ties’ is the first song where I sonically found my voice and I mean that in a very literal way,” Blanco explained in a press release. “It’s the first song in my entire career where I am singing, I don’t rap. I wrote this song about the relationship between my ex-boyfriend and his father that has had bouts of mental illness. When the person you love is going through a situation that you can’t alter in any way, or help or be active in trying to correct it not only hurts them but it hurts you. I think the core meaning of this song is compassion in the face of helplessness.”

    Of their collaboration with Stipe, Blanco said: “Falty DL and I took a shot at the moon – I sent him the song because it felt as if in some alternate universe Michael Stipe had already created it. His willingness to perform and be a part of this meant the world to me. I hope to just keep making good art and attracting meaningful circumstances and people that make this life and making music worthwhile. This on so many levels was one of those moments.”

    Stipe added: “Mykki has a gorgeous voice, resolute and strong. I’m thrilled to have worked on ‘family ties’— I love how the song turned out.”

    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis
    Konstantinos Pappis is a writer, journalist, and music editor at Our Culture. His work has also appeared in Pitchfork, GIGsoup, and other publications. He currently lives in Athens, Greece.

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