John Duff is poised to become the next big gay pop star. The singer/songwriter just released his debut single, "Girly". As the title suggests, the track celebrates femininity and fluidity. And it's delivered with an upbeat tempo, reminiscent of late '90s pop, which is sure to make it a bop for anyone nostalgic for that era of music.
Those nostalgic for that era will also find the accompanying music video familiar. Paying tribute to gay pop icons of the '90s, it heavily serves as an homage to Mariah Carey's "Heartbreaker" video (complete with a Bianca Del Rio fight scene). Pop diva fans will also notice Duff serving looks as Madonna, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears, embracing his "Girly" side in the most iconic way.
I noticed you channeled a few pop icons - Mariah, Beyoncé, and Christina.
And Britney Spears' "Stronger" and Madonna's "Hung Up".
What was it about the "Heartbreaker" video that made you want to so prominently pay homage to that one?
So, one time, Jesus came to me in the middle of the night, and he was basically like, "You need to do this. You're going to make this music video, and you're to be all of these women. You're not going to do it in a wig. You're going to do it in this masculine presentation, because this is what you always wanted to do." I felt this sense of freedom and I thought, how do I portray each of these videos in a way that tells a story and can still pay homage to multiple people, not just a cluster [censored]? So, I thought the "Heartbreaker" music video was perfect because you have the movie theater screen. And with the movie theater screen in her video, she reenacts Grease and Scarface and a couple other things. So, I thought, I'll just reenact the other videos I want to do. So, it was very natural for me to pick the girls that I chose. I would have loved to have gotten Janet Jackson in there, but I didn't get the chance.
What was it like filming that fight scene with Bianca?
Bianca and I are great friends, and I owe so much to him for this video because we were at dinner one night, and he said, "What is it you've been doing?" And I said, "Well, I've been making music." I played him the song, and he said, “Well, this is actually good.” Which is nice coming from him because he's very honest. So, he asked how he could help me, and I asked would he be in it. He's like, "You don't wanna borrow my hair?" And I said, "No, I don't wanna borrow your [censored] wig. Your hair is a widow's peak, and I don't have that." So, he came and did the video, and we laughed. At that point in the morning, I wanna say it was 7am. We'd been filming since midnight the night before. We were completely on edge, falling apart. He and I started boozing. So, we were a little tipsy filming it. We had a blast. We always cackle.
I love the gender bending and the body positivity. Were those elements kind of a conscious choice to include?
Absolutely. When I started thinking about the video, I realized this is not only exciting for a young gay to watch and say, "I can do that too, and I don't have to be a drag queen to do this." Because drag's so prevalent right now. I also thought maybe people would look at this and think, "Isn't it weird the way we let women portray their bodies and their sexualities, but if a man does it, it looks sort of strange?" So, I wanted to play on making people uncomfortable. And if it makes you uncomfortable, then why doesn't it make you uncomfortable when a 19-year-old girl is doing it? Or like Mariah Carey was 28 when she filmed the "Heartbreaker" video, and I am as well. So, isn't that weird that a 28-year-old woman is batting her eyes and doing that shit? It was very layered for me in terms of my humor and point.
(Out Magazine)
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