Omar Apollo is reassuring fans that the queer themes evident in his work are very much a reflection of his true self.
The singer-songwriter had a very, um, detailed response this week after a fan on Twitter questioned whether he was “queerbaiting” audiences by peppering his songs with lusty allusions to same-sex love.
“no i b sucking dick fr,” Apollo wrote Monday.
Moments later, he continued to set the record straight by adding: “from the back.”
A 2023 Grammy nominee for Best New Artist, Apollo joins the ranks of Nick Jonas and Harry Styles, who have been similarly accused of “queerbaiting,” or pandering to fans by leaning into the belief that they identify as LGBTQ in real life.
Unlike those stars, however, Apollo has never been coy about his sexuality. His debut album, “Ivory,” released in April, features tracks with explicit references to men, performed in both English and Spanish.
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The song “Pretty Boy,” for instance, features the line: “Pretty boy, pretty like the ocean and the sky at night, and I fell in you right after we made love on a starry night.”
Though Apollo has said he’s not fond of traditional labels when it comes to his sexuality, he told NPR in April that he is “very gay.”
“Maybe I was trying to keep the mystique, you understand? But I don’t even care anymore,” said the musician, who is Mexican American.