Ricky Rebel

 

PHOTO BY Colin Angus

LGBTQ Pop/Dance Artist Ricky Rebel Hits the Billboard Dance Top #40 With ‘If You Were My Baby’ From Latest Album ‘The New Alpha’

LGBTQ pop/dance recording artist Ricky Rebel has unleashed his latest orgasmic musical masterpiece “The New Alpha” with the first single “If You Were
My Baby” hitting the Billboard Dance Top 40.

Shooting to fame as the lead singer of the Michael Jackson-discovered boy band No Authority (“Can I Get Your Number”), Rebel has toured with Britney Spears, Destiny’s Child, 98 Degrees, Aaron Carter and Jessica Simpson, as well as working with Madonna, signed to her Maverick record label.

Now charting again on Billboard as a solo artist, I spoke with Ricky Rebel about his new album, his upcoming U.K. tour and recent performances.

PHOTO BY Busy Miller

What was your reaction to making the top 40 charts on Billboard?
Getting “If You Were My Baby” on the Billboard Top 40 charts again is such an incredible feeling. As a solo artist, I am that much more grateful. I was in a pop group as a kid signed to Madonna’s label, and I am achieving [a] Billboard chart position on my own being myself. Success is much sweeter when you are at the helm of it all.

Tell us about performing at The American Influencer Awards. I saw your performance, and you killed it!
The American Influencer Awards was a huge event. When the owners approached me to perform, it was just a seed of an idea. I had no idea it would be that big. An incredible number of news outlets were there, and the creme de la creme of beauty, music and fashion showed up.

Your new album has just been released and is creating a super buzz already. What message do you hope to convey?
I wrote “The New Alpha” because I noticed that political correctness was getting out of control. I wanted to write a record that could help empower people and at the same time poke fun at people who try to manipulate by being offended [by] everything and forcing censorship. I got some heat for the cover of my album, but what it represents is a man who is equally masculine and feminine, and politically speaking equally left and right. We went through an incredibly divisive time in human history due to the election and people’s black and white thinking. I personally loved it, because it made people excited about politics. I love watching corrupt people crumble. It’s the rebel in me.

Do you have a favorite song on the album, one that you’re most proud of at the moment?
My favorite song is “Magic Carpet.” I sing like a Middle Eastern man on it. I love the way they sing. I do not, however, love the way radicals throw gay men off of buildings and stone women for disobeying. I want everyone to know that I can sing like anyone that I want to, however way I want to. I am an American. I am allowed to be gay and sing Middle Eastern-type music, and fuse it with sex and pop. I can do that, because I am free. If I were to live in those other countries, the penalty for being gay is death.

I understand you are going to tour internationally. How excited are you, and what can U.K. fans expect?
I am thrilled to be performing in the U.K. I haven’t been in London since the boy band years. I absolutely love traveling and meeting my fans. Thanks to social media, I speak with fans who live all around the world. My goal is to be able to travel to all parts of the world to share my music and my stage show. It sounds cliché, but my dreams are my reality.

Follow on
Twitter: @rickyrebelrocks
RickyRebelRocks.com

Eileen Shapiro

Best selling author of "The Star Trek Medical Reference Manual", and feature celebrity correspondent for Get Out Magazine, Louder Than War, and Huffington Post contributor, I've interviewed artists from Adam Ant, Cyndi Lauper, and Annie Lennox to Jennifer Hudson, Rick Springfield, LeAnn Rimes, and thousands in between. My interviews challenge the threat of imagination....

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