{"id":69152,"date":"2022-06-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/?p=69152"},"modified":"2022-06-17T07:28:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T14:28:35","slug":"queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Queer Singer\/Songwriter Criibaby Finds Pride and Joy at the Intersection of Tech and Music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here at Mozilla, we are the first to admit the internet isn\u2019t perfect, but we are also quick to point out that the internet is pretty darn magical. The internet opens up doors and opportunities, allows for people to connect with others, and lets everyone find where they belong \u2014 their corners of the internet. We all have an internet story worth sharing. In My Corner of the Internet, we talk with people about the online spaces they can\u2019t get enough of, what we should save in Pocket<\/a> to read later and what sites and forums shaped them.

With Pride celebrations taking place throughout June, we\u2019re featuring LGBTQ+ leaders this month as part of our My Corner of the Internet<\/a> series. In this next installment, queer music artist Criibaby shares her love of the intersection of music and tech, her process to creating music and how her art extends to shoe design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favorite corner of the internet?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a special place in my heart for a website called soundtrap<\/a> which is basically an online software that lets you record songs and collaborate with other artists from anywhere you can connect to the internet. Before I had access to a real recording studio and long before I ever released any music as Criibaby<\/a>, I was writing demos at my kitchen table after work. It reminded me of when I was a kid when I would spend hours after school making mashups and recording songs on garageband. In my early twenties, I was going through a pretty hard time processing grief, and getting in touch with my inner child in that way felt, well, just right. I have tons of voice memos on my phone, probably into the three digits at this point, and soundtrap was one of the first places I could put them all together and get back into multi-track recording. Years ago, I sent a soundtrap demo I\u2019d recorded on my phone to this guy called Pandaraps<\/a> who was making really inspiring, introspective queer lofi hip hop. Thanks to that demo, I got an invitation to the studio he was recording at, and was introduced to my now-producer Surfer Dave<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is an internet deep dive that you can’t wait to jump back into?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always try to tap into Kiefer<\/a> and knxwledge<\/a>\u2019s twitch streams whenever a notification pops up that they\u2019re live. Those are two producers that I really look up to, so it\u2019s cool to go behind the scenes with them and learn about their creative process or hear what they\u2019ve been working on lately. I\u2019ve also been learning a bit about web3 stuff in discords like Mashibeats<\/a> hosted by Marc De Clive Lowe<\/a>, and StemsDAO<\/a> which hosts a producer remix game that I\u2019m hoping to submit to once I finish the LP I\u2019m in the middle of writing. I\u2019m super interested in the intersection of music and tech, so while I\u2019m totally new to that scene, I\u2019m curious to see where it goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the one tab on your browser you always regret closing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any Bill Wurtz <\/a>video. Watching one always leads to watching 100, so it\u2019s a bit of a rabbit hole. But with those catchy melodies and ridiculous graphics, how could you not<\/em> get sucked in for like an hour at a time? Someone asked me if I consider myself a Bill Wurtz superfan and I\u2019d say the answer is a resounding yes. A few years ago I recreated the Converse<\/a> from the Bill Wurtz classic \u201cChristmas isn\u2019t real<\/a>\u201d and gave a pair to my partner as a birthday present. Not gonna lie, I\u2019m pretty proud of that. That\u2019s peak gifting.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is an LGBTQ+ person with a very online presence that is a role model for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two words: Queer memes. Shout out to instagram meme dealers @hypedykes<\/a>, @tofuminati<\/a>, @themmememes<\/a> and @bi_astrology<\/a> \u2014 I\u2019d call this niche \u201crelatable queer chaos\u201d and their memes are truly some of the best in the game. This breed of hyper-specific, exaggerated surrealist queer commentary that pulls no punches and hits the nail directly on the head brings me endless joy. It\u2019s weirdly affirming to know my emotional rollercoaster of a life is right on track, according to these absurd lil windows into queer life circa 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can you not stop talking about on the internet right now?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My new Criibaby<\/a> EP \u201ccrii<\/a>\u201d came out on June 10 so I\u2019m grateful for these songs to be out in the world! One thing that distinguishes me from other indie artists is that I write all my songs without any gender-specific lyrics. No binary pronouns, no heteronormativity, all written from an openly queer perspective as part of a conscious effort to create more inclusive music. That was the intent behind my debut popsoul EP love songs for everyone<\/em><\/a> and I got some really sweet notes from fellow queer folks who said it really resonated with them and made them feel seen, so I\u2019m excited to be releasing more gender-neutral music. (It also premiered in Billboard and played on BBC 6 Music, which was crazy validating! Turns out critics can be nice??) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With love songs for everyone<\/em> I wanted to send a message that no matter how you identify, this feel-good, empowering music is for you \u2014 and you are welcome here. Exist! Freely! My new EP is pretty different \u2014- for starters it\u2019s a lot more personal, and some of it comes from a bit of a darker place because that\u2019s just honestly where I was at when I wrote these songs. And I didn\u2019t want to hide from those emotions. I think as queer people, we feel all this pressure to put on a good face as a way to say, hey, I\u2019m queer and I\u2019m thriving!<\/em> But sometimes you\u2019re just not<\/em> ok\u2026 and that\u2019s ok. I guess that\u2019s my main message with this EP: frankly, you don\u2019t always have to have your sh*t together. Which is something I\u2019m still trying to learn for myself. Sonically it\u2019s inspired by a mix of neo soul, lofi, jazz, and alternative aesthetics, but I wouldn\u2019t really define it as any of those. As someone who is often assumed to be straight based on how I appear and present, I want to show the world that queerness doesn\u2019t have any one look, sound, or genre. They\u2019re some of the best songs I\u2019ve ever made and I\u2019m really proud of them. I hope you check it out<\/a> and let me know what you think!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the first online community you engaged with?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yikes, this is really embarrassing, but I think it would have been Yahoo Answers. If you don\u2019t know what that is (good), it was basically like Reddit on training wheels, but \u2026 worse than whatever you\u2019re imagining? I can\u2019t remember everything I posted (thank god) but I almost certainly asked strangers on the internet if they thought I might be gay. Good times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also got really into Daytrotter<\/a>, a website for this studio in Illinois that hosted recording sessions with indie artists, kinda like NPR\u2019s Tiny Desk, before that was a thing. I found a lot of new music from people I\u2019d never heard of that way, and this was during my absolute raging hipster phase, so it fueled a ton of music discovery. In classic hipster fashion, I was really into listening to stuff my friends hadn\u2019t heard of. That and Radiohead, tons of Radiohead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What articles and videos are in your Pocket waiting to be read\/watched right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Them<\/em> released a new queer music monthly<\/a> that I\u2019m excited to read up on and listen through. I hope to be included in one of those someday \u2014 it would really mean a lot to me to be recognized by that magazine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could create your own corner of the internet what would it look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m working on it! Right now I\u2019m building up a Patreon-style group of VIP fans that get free merch, secret listening parties ahead of my release dates, and eventually backstage access to my live shows. DM me on instagram<\/a> if you want to come along for the ride\u2014 it\u2019s free, and shaping up to be a really sweet community!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rising queer artist <\/em>Criibaby<\/em><\/a> invites listeners to look deeper within themselves with her genre-bending, intimate music. Using a unique songwriting method she describes as possessing \u201cno names, no genders, only the feelings, only the bare truths,\u201d Criibaby’s songs contain only lyrics without binary pronouns, written from an openly queer perspective in a conscious effort to create more inclusive music. Drawing upon neo soul, lofi, jazz, and alternative aesthetics to form something entirely her own, Criibaby\u2019s intricate layers of delicate, emotional vocals and emotionally bare lyricism come together to form a new kind of introspective sonic escapism. You can find her on <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>LinkedIn<\/em><\/a> and<\/em> Facebook<\/em><\/a> and can listen to her new EP \u201ccrii\u201d on <\/em>all streaming platforms<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here at Mozilla, we are the first to admit the internet isn\u2019t perfect, but we are also quick to point out that the internet is pretty darn magical. The internet opens up doors and opportunities, allows for people to connect with others, and lets everyone find where they belong \u2014 their corners of the internet. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1861,"featured_media":69153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461998,464320],"tags":[4708,464099],"coauthors":[464060],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nQueer Singer\/Songwriter Criibaby Finds Pride and Joy at the Intersection of Tech and Music<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/\",\"name\":\"Queer Singer\/Songwriter Criibaby Finds Pride and Joy at the Intersection of Tech and Music\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/278\/files\/2022\/06\/mcoi_criibaby_header_1920x1080.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-17T16:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-17T14:28:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3faed232f5f77657a0767a5ed7f0d7a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/278\/files\/2022\/06\/mcoi_criibaby_header_1920x1080.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/278\/files\/2022\/06\/mcoi_criibaby_header_1920x1080.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Queer Singer\/Songwriter Criibaby Finds Pride and Joy at the Intersection of Tech and Music\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"The Mozilla Blog\",\"description\":\"News and Updates about Mozilla\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3faed232f5f77657a0767a5ed7f0d7a\",\"name\":\"Damiano\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/f3f112b58d4b4aab8b6f0d73a0dc0ec2\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c3e9a15f51ab52102d48fe2303b77e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c3e9a15f51ab52102d48fe2303b77e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Damiano\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/author\/ddemontemozilla-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Queer Singer\/Songwriter Criibaby Finds Pride and Joy at the Intersection of Tech and Music","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/","name":"Queer Singer\/Songwriter Criibaby Finds Pride and Joy at the Intersection of Tech and Music","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/278\/files\/2022\/06\/mcoi_criibaby_header_1920x1080.png","datePublished":"2022-06-17T16:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-17T14:28:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3faed232f5f77657a0767a5ed7f0d7a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/278\/files\/2022\/06\/mcoi_criibaby_header_1920x1080.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/278\/files\/2022\/06\/mcoi_criibaby_header_1920x1080.png","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/queer-singer-songwriter-criibaby-finds-pride-and-joy-at-the-intersection-of-tech-and-music\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Queer Singer\/Songwriter Criibaby Finds Pride and Joy at the Intersection of Tech and Music"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/","name":"The Mozilla Blog","description":"News and Updates about Mozilla","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3faed232f5f77657a0767a5ed7f0d7a","name":"Damiano","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/f3f112b58d4b4aab8b6f0d73a0dc0ec2","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c3e9a15f51ab52102d48fe2303b77e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0c3e9a15f51ab52102d48fe2303b77e9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Damiano"},"url":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/author\/ddemontemozilla-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69152"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=69152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}