Billy Dean Thomas reimagines Black queer futures on latest album ‘MX’

The Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist’s upcoming album celebrates their own creativity and resilience as well as that of their community with infectious flow and effortless swagger

For Boston-based hip-hop artist Billy Dean Thomas, their upcoming album “MX,” out Oct. 24, represents the tangible results of being their authentic self.

The album’s title, pronounced as “mix,” references both the gender neutral honorific that many nonbinary people, including Thomas, use and the hip-hop institution of mixtapes.

“I wanted this to feel like a mixtape in that there are so many styles, there’s different flavors, and you get to see me in these different modes as far as the straight rap classic vibe, and then I have these other songs that are more experimental or more drum and bass,” they explain.

Throughout their discography, Thomas beckons the listener’s ear with mesmerizing flow and witty, impactful lyricism, akin to their main influences Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes. The varying styles of “MX” are unified by their natural swagger, making it no wonder that they are also known as “The Queer B.I.G.”

Thomas also leans into a black-and-white, neo-noir visual aesthetic for “MX” that is sharp and opulent. As they say on their triumphant second single, “Praise Latifah,” it’s “masculine style with pretty boy features.”

According to Thomas, the aesthetic is “Kind of a play on merging the past, the present and the future.”

“I think black-and-white is always an instant nod to the past, but I think there’s also a really exciting thing too where you think about shows like ‘The Twilight Zone,’ where it’s black-and-white, but it’s talking about the future, too,” they say. “It creates this space where you don’t really know what time it is, and it almost doesn’t matter because a lot of the issues are still ringing true no matter if it’s 1925 or 2036.”

Thomas’ main goal for “MX” is the reimagining of queer futures, particularly non-white ones, and showing that it’s possible to keep living despite prevailing, almost predetermined narratives of struggle.

“It allows us to exist in a place where people are always consistently talking about how we shouldn’t be alive,” they say. “It’s a reimagining of it, but it’s also an imagining of it, period, because we don’t have a lot of narratives that are talking about or even displaying queer people in a future context where they are alive and they are happy, thriving in their environments and successful.”

This sentiment rings the clearest in the album’s lead single “Minding My Business,” a catchy protest bop that pulls the listener in with seductive Latin-style strings and keeps them listening with a booming trap beat and Thomas’ melodic, androgynous vocals. The title speaks to how the people that oppressive systems scapegoat and demonize are just trying to live their lives.

“(Minding My Business) was my PSA, like, ‘Hey, I have something to tell you guys,’” Thomas explains. “But once we’re past that piece, there’s just so much more to talk about.”

For Thomas, “Minding My Business” is also emblematic of their life as a 30-something-year-old artist who works a full-time job, waiting for the day their art makes its breakthrough.

“It’s really difficult to remember what your core is because it’s capitalism,” they say. “Capitalism makes it very difficult for us to remember what our morals are, what we care about or even to reflect on our success because everything is moving so quickly. Maybe ‘Minding My Business’ can be a reminder for people to celebrate themselves or even just think about themselves.”

In many ways, Thomas says “MX” is the culmination of more than a decade of making music, during which they navigated vocal dysphoria and found producers who have been compassionate about that struggle to finally arrive at a safe space where they can play artistically.

“I’m not afraid anymore,” they say. “I found my voice.”

As for what’s next after “MX,” Thomas says their biggest goals include connecting with larger queer artists such as Kaytranada and having a song of theirs chart on Billboard. Not to mention, the self-described “overachiever” says they’re halfway finished with yet another album.

Right now, though, Thomas is just excited to reintroduce themself through “MX.” Based on what they’ve given us so far, it will be a powerful statement, staking a claim for a future for themself and their community.

“When you’re standing on yourself 100%, everything just aligns.”