The Blue Banner

Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

From gay rights to will power, cheesy romance to bitter ex's and dance beats to instructions on giving oral pleasure, the lesbian hip-hop artists God-des and She covered every genre in their performance on Feb. 20 at Western Carolina University.

"They're not afraid to stand up for what they believe - gay rights, politics, whatever - and they believe in a variety of things," said junior WCU student Kelly Warner, who attended the show.

The artists, who have been performing together for eight years, came up with their names separately.

"At first I was going to name myself some kind of goddess name, something outrageous, but I couldn't find anything I really liked," God-des said. "I was talking to this gay friend of mine and I didn't want to call myself goddess, but I couldn't think of anything and he was like, 'I know. Why don't you call yourself God-des? Like a combination of goddess and I got this.'"

Both band members refuse to give their real names and prefer to be known only by their stage names.

"We don't give (our names) out. Don't ask our ages. We don't give those out either," God-des said. "You can ask us funny shit, like whether we drink margaritas with salt or not."

Their names and ages were the only things the two women refused to talk about.

Their frank address of social inequality is apparent in their lyrics and overall attitude.

"Gay people, it's 2008 and it's ridiculous that we still can't get married," God-des said to their audience during the show.

"This is about how our generation is too complacent. We have a war going on, and so many of us are not free. It's time that we take a stand and come together and don't just talk revolution, act revolution," God-des rapped in their song, "Stand Up," for which the majority of the audience not only stood but they danced. "Trying to find a sense of purpose in material things; you get distracted from yourself when your cell phone rings."

Another song, entitled "Can't Stand," focuses on discrimination that occurs based on sexual orientation.

God-des described it as the "gay anthem."

"It really reaches people. Anybody from a 60-year-old gay man to a 13-year-old little girl who's trying to discover who she is feels empowered and validated by that song," She said. "Even people like my dad, who's just a middle-class factory worker; he understood gays for maybe the first time from hearing that song because it's so tender and so intimate. It's just so important for people to hear."

Aaron Camp, co-president of Unity, the WCU chapter of Straight Gay Alliance and the organization which hosted the performance, said they brought God-des and She to WCU with hopes of spreading their activism to the campus.

"They (God-des and She) have a really good message, and hopefully people will understand that, and they'll change even in a little way," Camp, a junior social work student, said. "They're for diversity and change, and if you really want to get people to change, you really got to get out there and do it."

Their message attracted junior WCU student Cynthia Leggett when she first saw God-des and She on The L Word almost three years ago.

"I like their lyrics," Leggett said. "They bring in issues."

God-des and She performed their hit "Lick It" at the end of the season finale of The L-Word's third season.

"I remember when I saw you guys like three years ago when I was watching The L-Word and I almost fell out of my chair because you were in the TV and I was like, 'What are you doing there?'' said WCU student Simone Bolka, a long-time fan of God-des and She.

Despite the heavy political content of many of the duo's songs, the duo thoroughly blends a heavy dose of fun into their work to keep the mood light and empowering.

"A lot of the time when you go to see a political act, you walk away feeling defeated in a way. We just try to keep a good balance of politics and fun, sarcasm and irony," She said. "If we can give them even a minute or 45 minutes of relief from life, then that's more important than shoving our politics down everybody's throats."

In addition to their socially motivational songs, the New York-based duo sang an ironic parody of the kid tunes in rap culture entitled "Ja Da," a romantic song entitled "Love You Better" and a tune entitled "I Hate Your Ex Girlfriend."

"At first, when you broke up, I understood her calls. She wasn't over you; she'd cry and she'd bawl. I'd bite my fingernails, I'd grin and I'd smirk, knowing that I stole you away from that jerk," God-des rapped in "I Hate Your Ex Girlfriend."

The duo argues that everyone can relate to this song.

"This is for the people. Gay, straight, you like boys, girls, whatever. Everyone's dated someone with an ex-girlfriend, even the gay guys," She said. "It's universal."

Their variety applies to musical style as well as topic theme, according to the artists.

While God-des raps, She sings soulfully, almost reminiscent of a gospel singer.

"They're two very different types of singers, but they're both very strong," Warner said.

God-des and She performed "Lick It," their explicit instruction on orally pleasuring a woman, as their grand finale.

Because "Lick It" was the song that boosted the duo's popularity on The L Word three years ago, it was received with the most anticipation and applause from the audience.

However, the explicit song isn't popular solely for its risqué subject matter.

"We have a lot of listeners who are construction workers. So they played this song at work one time, and this guy comes up to one of the ladies and is like, 'I just want to thank you for playing that song; it saved my marriage,'" She related. "Our job is making the ladies happy, getting the guys educated. We're for the greater good of humanity; that's how I look at it. We're giving orgasms all over the world."

Although Camp said the event was successful in its message of diversity to the WCU campus, he brightened up considerably at the chance to work with UNC Asheville.

"I would really like to see the colleges of Western Carolina getting busy, and here's Asheville, the big gay mecca of the south and we should utilize that and get a message out there," Camp said.

God-des and She dropped by Asheville earlier in the day for a bite to eat at Early Girl Eatery, a treat at The Chocolate Fetish and a bit of museum touring. The city reminded She of her hometown, Madison, Wis.

"It's like an oasis for people who are different," She said.

For more information on

God-des and She,

visit their Web site at

http://www.god-des.com/

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