Today, in honor of Pride Month, LA-based pop artist John Duff releases his highly anticipated debut EP, Homo•Sapien. Proceeds from the EP will benefit The Future Perfect Project through Vydia’s Royalty Center technology. The Future Perfect Project, co-founded by Celeste Lecesne and Ryan Amador, is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide LGBTQ+ youth with a safe space to engage in creative writing and performance. Today’s EP release comes a week after the release of Duff’s audacious single, “High Heels”, featuring Tony Award-winning Broadway legend, Lillias White. Stream Homo•Sapien: vydia.lnk.to/HomoSapien
“Navigating as a gay man in music is not as liberating as one might imagine – that is: if you play by rules,” Duff explains on the making of the project. “What are rules though, but a collectively imagined idea that we humans agree upon. Homo•Sapien is a collection of songs I’ve written without consideration of rules. This is everything I was told I can’t do.”
As for how The Future Perfect Project came to be, Lecesne, who is also known for his work co-founding The Trevor Project says, “The current generation of queer young people has a lot to teach us about what it means to be fully human—if only we will listen. Just as my generation fought so hard for the right to be ourselves as out gays and lesbians, this generation is fighting to be recognized and respected as the people they know themselves to be.”
The Future Perfect Project joins The Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation, which was added to Vydia’s list of charitable partners in February as proceeds from Smooth Music’s ‘Still I Rise’ single were donated through the platform as well. Recently, Vydia has partnered on other notable initiatives – most recently with Edfarm’s Propel Center and A2IM’s new Black Independent Music Accelerator (BIMA) program.
In tandem with the release, John Duff will join Shams Ahmed, Jessica Vaughn, and Siena Liggins, as a panelist on a music business workshop led by The Future Perfect Project and sponsored by Vydia. “Originally we sat down to discuss the charity feature, but when I learned The Future Perfect Project was focused around youth, I knew we had an opportunity to add an impactful educational component,” said Vydia Label Services lead, Liz Eason. The panel is part of Vydia’s ongoing initiative to support and provide music business education to underrepresented youth. Register for the workshop here.
More Info:
Future Perfect Project:
The Future Perfect Project (FPP) believes that the self- expression of LGBTQIA+ youth and allies is a declaration of a better future for us all. They provide free, grant-funded arts workshops to LGBTQIA+ youth, ages 13-22, from anywhere in the United States, and are currently producing an array of media projects to amplify the voices of the young people they meet (like their new animated series + youth-led original album). Co-founded by Oscar Award winner Celeste Lecesne & singer-songwriter Ryan Amador, the organization began four years ago while the two travelled the country bringing free arts programming to LGBTQIA+ centers and schools. They found that queer youth were living in a future that had not yet arrived, and The Future Perfect Project was born.
About Vydia:
Vydia is an end-to-end music technology platform that provides labels and managers with the infrastructure and tools to power their business. With a full suite of services, Vydia offers supply chain, global distribution, analytics, rights management, payments, detailed revenue reporting, and marketing. Vydia is a premium partner of leading digital service providers such as Spotify, Apple, TikTok, Vevo, YouTube, and Facebook. Combining innovative technology with industry expertise, Vydia is distribution reimagined. To learn more, please visit vydia.com.