Photo by Shilpa Roa
Queer Next Up is a series originally posted to our Instagram. We feature smaller queer artists who we think deserve your love, support, and dedication.
SHILPA (she/her) is an independent musician from Los Angeles, California. She writes funk, neo-soul, and indie tunes, often touching on complex emotions and themes of growth and solitude. She recently released her debut single, a touching homage to her grandmother — this song features poetic, lyrical writing, and is the first project of many more to come.
What does your work mean to you?
My creative manifesto is to make people dance, feel, and sing. My work takes on the most meaning to me when it enters the lives of people I don’t know, and they interpret it in their own ways.
Why do you create art?
I write about many things – being queer & closeted in a brown family, my grandmother’s passing, my culture, my capacity for love and my desire for adventure. I create art because it’s a lens that helps me understand my place in the world.
Can you give us a sneak peek of what’s to come?
I’m working on my debut EP (“ESSAR”), to be released in mid-2023. The first track off of “ESSAR,” “Nani (नानी),” is out now on all streaming platforms. “ESSAR” is a genre-bending, emotional project illustrating my coming of age and growth as an artist.
Follow her on Instagram (@shxlparao) and check out her links.
