ZORA Releases Debut Album In Celebration of Juneteenth, Pride, & Black Music Month

Minneapolis-based trans artist, producer, singer, and rapper ZORA (she/her) releases her remarkable, entirely self-produced debut album, Z1, today. The album was released via Queer, indie record label Get Better Records in celebration of Pride, Black Music Month and Juneteenth Weekend.

Z1 features early singles such as the electric trans pop anthem "All Around The World," the hypnotic "Happiest I've Ever Been," which touches on themes of mental health and getting through the darkness, and "RUNNITUP," a song about dismantling capitalism.

The entirety of Z1 sends a message of positivity and hope to Zora's Black, trans and queer communities, making for a soul-touching and dynamic debut that you will not want to miss.

ZORA joined her family's long lineage of classically trained pianists at the age of 6, dreamt of a career in opera and musical theatre, and began writing her own music by the age of 14. Her love of music, however, flourished outside of the classroom, as she attended her father's late night DJ sets, helping him curate his playlists, with artists like Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, and Janet Jackson.

In later years, ZORA applied to a vocal jazz program in high school, and was ultimately rejected and placed into a music technology class instead. This class that she initially hated is ultimately what unlocked her love of synthesizers, vocoders, Logic Pro X, music software, and even choreography. She began to quietly self-release her own music, picked up the electric guitar in homage to her newly adopted hometown's Prince, and began to bring her alt-pop dreams to life.

ZORA aims to spread awareness, positivity, and freedom of expression through her music. It is ZORA's central belief that people are only truly happy when they're able to be exactly who they are, at all times. ZORA implements these messages in her lyricism and hopes to be able to impact the lives of others in a positive way, no matter how widespread.

Listen to the new album here:

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