journey through the loneliness of a queer black church boy in “imaginary friend” ep by an only child

“My Blackness is soft.”

These are the words repeated by an only child, over a sermon by Malcolm X about conditioning anti-Blackness and electrifying snare drums on the second track of his new EP, “Unfriendly Black Hotties. an only child is Quenton Stuckey, a New York City-based dance artist and alternative soul singer-songwriter behind Imaginary Friend, a powerful 6-track exploration of themes such as Blackness, queerness, rejection and love.

Imaginary Friend recalls memories of suppression, telling the story of a tokenized Black queer boy in predominately white spaces who is also the only child of a preacher.

Think church meets modern dance. One moment is filled with powerful vibrato followed by an arabesque or pirouette.

“Loneliness is both intense and tender,” an only child explains. “That’s how I want people to feel when listening to the music. I want people to be more open about how lonely life can be, especially for queer people of color.”

an only child will be performing at MoMA PS1’s Sunday Sessions in November.

Check out Imaginary Friend below!

Vocals: Quenton Stuckey

Producers: Phil Higgins, DESAMPA

Mixing Engineers: Phil Higgins, Casey Chester, Lily Wen

Mastered by: Phil Higgins

Additional Musicians: Steven Zemanian- Drums

Luke Shirock- Guitar

Hot. Throb (Patrick Estabrook)- Drums

Pedro Rodriguez-Guitar

Lyrics: Quenton Stuckey

Photos by Pedro Lopez

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