medusa

No one was ever supposed to find out who Medusa was. The 'revenge pop' artist learned young that hiding who they truly were - a nonbinary bisexual on the autism spectrum - was the best way to avoid ridicule. So when they secretly began producing music in 2017, they didn't even tell their partner. 

These days, ironically, the hallmark of Medusa’s budding career is the personal connection fellow outcasts feel to their life and music. When their cover was blown in 2018, they began performing at the request of their community in Buffalo, New York (their first show was also the first real concert they’d ever attended) then released albums “Residuals” and “Rosie” the same year. Both releases deal with Medusa’s survival of assault and eating disorders, with which the artist struggled publicly. 

They grappled with their identity before releasing their coming-of-gender LP, “Boy of The Year,” in 2020. Their forthcoming authenticity and comedic style on social media made them a leader in the underground queer scene, while the album’s unique sound drew the attention of blogs globally. Thanks to a viral TikTok push in January 2021, their cult following increased twenty-fold. This caused a resurgence of one of their first songs, “Danny Phantom,” a dark raptronica confessional about eating disorder recovery with over a million streams.

Medusa’s signature production - described by Soundriv as “a breakthrough collection of LGBTQ hymns,” and by Bucketlist as “the most inventive [expletive] music we’ve heard in a long time” - often features unconventional sounds like wolf howls and cheerleading chants. Medusa describes their style as “by any means necessary,” then makes good on the promise. 

But their music is never weird for the sake of being different. When they set out to distort an 808 bassline, riff on CPE Bach's "Solfeggietto," or loop overlapping news reports into ghostly choirs, they’re really trying to perform a kind of emotional alchemy. And they have, transforming their joy, fear, and agony into visceral pop music on over 60,000 user-curated playlists.

Medusa grabs their demons by the throat and shoves them into a time signature, hoping to imprison their struggles in song. Then, like the infamous Gorgon herself, they return to their cave until it is time to defend themselves again. After returning home from their first year as a SXSW Official Artist, and being awarded Audiofemme's 2022 Agenda Grant, Medusa is now embarking on their largest project to date: turning their upcoming album's music videos into a short film retelling the epic myth of Medusa, titled "Allegory of The Grave."