Exploring Intersections of Blackness, Queerness, and Rural Identity — Evil on “A Child Shamed”

★ by Sofia Andrade ★

“I am the intersection,” says Evil, the queer, Black, banjo-plucking artist behind the Queer Black Musicians Fund. Indeed, Evil (formerly known as Babeo Baggins) finds themselves positioned perfectly at the intersection of multiple crossroads of identity. “I am a Black person from a rural community, I am a queer person in the age of the internet. I think to bridge the gaps, in any instance, it requires a human-lived experience to help it along — to make it tangible for those who are not aware. My identity is that intersection,” they say. 

Originally known as a founder of Barf Troop, an internet rap group formed in 2014, Evil has now begun blending influences of country music into  their solo music. In a way, their music serves as a dialectic of the two often disparate genres. From tension between country and hip hop, Evil crystallizes an ethereal sound most notable for its dreamy synths and light acoustics — a sound that finds its strengths in the very contradictions present between the two genres. 

Still, Evil sees far enough beyond the outward differences of the two genres to understand that the same spirit of candor and vulnerability runs under both genres. “It was strange to me that the world sees such a stark contrast between hip hop/R&B and country/folk because it’s very much the same in spirit,” they note. “The song that sparked that idea in me is “Country Blues” by Dock Boggs. If you listen to that song lyrically, it sounds like a rap song from today [in the 2010s]. That is why I wanted to blend the two in the first place, playing off my previous identity as a rapper and using my sensibilities as a country person, born and raised. I think I found a good middle ground they can both stand on hand in hand.” Evil’s artful blend of country and hip hop show up the strongest in tracks like 2019’s “Young American” and “Cloud Kingdom,” both of which oscillate between twangy banjos, densely layered production, and Evil’s own cutting lyricism. 

“The album explores Evil’s own experience growing up as a non-binary Black person in a rural community; levied by the struggle between growing up in and of the church, all the while feeling guilty of their identity as a queer person.”

This blend is what carries Evil’s newest project: an album that aims to focus on the connections between the worlds of hip hop, wokeness and rural life. 

Spearheaded by Evil’s newest single, “A Child Shamed,” the album explores Evil’s own experience growing up as a non-binary Black person in a rural community; levied by the struggle between growing up in and of the church, all the while feeling guilty of their identity as a queer person. “I grew up in a small community in a very country town, and most places like that focus on God and the church as a huge part of life. I went to church, bible summer school,” Evil says. “But I have always had a lot of guilt because of it. Being a queer person, being mentally ill. I have carried the weight of guilt alongside the comforting hand of God on my shoulder. It has been a very complex relationship for me, as it has been for many rural queer people.”

Of “A Child Shamed,” specifically, Evil says, “This song is a battle of sorts — with myself, with the idea of being happy, and the fight I have with that idea on a constant basis and the feeling that it is my fault when I am not. This song is the cry out between begging God to fix me and understanding that it is my work to do whether God is involved or not.” Evil hopes that with the track, they can create a welcoming space for others struggling with the same issues of identity and belonging in rural communities such as their own. Though Evil themselves very much believes in God, they also see the “evil” that can come from using a God rhetoric against people like Evil; against non-binary people, Black people, people with mental illness, and so on. With “A Child Shamed,” they seek to inspire people to “truly [be] seen and accepted as [they] are, and to feel understood even in the hardest times. That is what everyone needs, that is what God is to me and I hope people can take that from my music.”

Evil’s self-directed music video for the track, too, draws upon these experiences of guilt and religious belief to create a technicolor dream-world glittering with scenes of an idyllic countryside as Evil plucks their banjo and sings about their struggles. “If I behaved a little better / then maybe I wouldn’t be misunderstood,” Evil sings of their relation to their rural community as they contemplate themselves in the mirror.

Along with their upcoming album, Evil has dedicated their time to founding the Queer Black Musicians Fund, a fundraiser to support 10 Black independent LGBTQ+ artists looking to create music with $500 dollars each, allowing them to focus on their craft with less obstacles to stop them from doing so. “So many great artists get no chance to rise above the white noise because of the limits racism puts on everything black people do,” Evil says. “There are barriers in place for black people in every instance. Someone has to do what they can to remove those blockades. So, I’m trying my best to do that. Gotta be the change you wanna see.” Evil themselves has faced these very same barriers when trying to make it as an independent artist, and hopes to give more musicians the chance to break out of them the way they have. “I want people to be able to make beautiful things, the things they want to make. Telling their stories, making history via song,” Evil says.

With the pandemic and the fiery resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, Evil sees hope for the future of Blackness and Black queer artists like themselves, though they note that there is always more work to be done. “I think people want to change and I think people are seeing that there is a lot of work to be done and trying to figure out what they can do even on the smallest scale to help those who are oppressed. I think that’s very good,” Evil says. “I think it could build a better world if everyone was truly dedicated to uplifting those who have been held down for so long. Just have to wait and see.”