Music Monday: Angel Haze

Have you picked out your Halloween costumes yet? Looks I expect to see at parties everywhere is lots of Miley Cyruses (white tank top, sledge hammer) and Macklemores (faux fur jacket, scooter). Their songs, and personalities, have been ubiquitous during the past year. So, they’re a natural zeitgeist-y outfit fix.

Now, I’ve publicly declared by love for both Macklemore’s “Same Love” and Miley’s “Wrecking Ball.” (The latter is harder to admit, still for all her tongue-out silliness that girl can really sing.) But I can always appreciate other artists’ takes on their work. In particular, I’m digging rapper Angel Haze’s covers of both songs.

The 22-year-old rapper is known for her raw and confessional work. She first made people sit up and take notice a year ago with her unabashed reworking of Eminem’s “Cleaning Out My Closet.” In it she discussed her sexual abuse at a young age. (You can hear the track here but be aware, Major Trigger Warning.) And if you think her attack on rape culture was a one-time thing, think again. Just last month she tore into the ridiculously offensive column by Washington Post’s resident troglodyte Richard Cohen who essentially said Miley’s twerking was the reason for the Steubenville rape. Yes, really, he did.

So you’ve gotta love Angel’s feminist feistiness. And you’ll only love more when you hear her powerful covers of “Wrecking Ball” and “Same Love.” The former allows you to enjoy a really good song without the mental image of a naked Miley literally riding a wrecking ball flashing through your head. And the latter allows you to enjoy a really good song without the nagging wish that an actual gay artist was performing the song. Angel labels herself, if she must, as pansexual.

So, please, enjoy. Happy Music Monday, all.