Kim Petras Opens Up About Being Taken Seriously for Her Music

Kim Petras is on the May 2019 digital cover of Atkode, out now.

Here’s what the 26-year-old “Blow It All” singer had to say…

On whether she feels pressure to tell her trans story: “In general, I don’t feel pressured to do anything. I’m proud of being transgender and it’s just a part of my life. I want people to focus on my music, for sure. I’d love to be taken seriously as an artist. It just so happens that I’m trans. But, honestly, I don’t feel much pressure to do anything. I try not to let anything affect me, but I always want to help trans kids. There’s such a high suicide rate, which is awful, so I really want to help.”

On whether she’s alluded to her trans journey through music: “Not yet. Maybe one day – I don’t know. I’ve never written a song that was like ‘oh, I’m transgender.’ I think songs should be about your emotions and what’s happening to you as a human. It’s not really about your gender identification. I don’t know if I’ll ever write a song about that.”

On writing fun pop songs: “I just want people to have more fun. I’m all about fun. I love music that I can listen to and forget myself and my problems. That’s the kind of music I want to make. I want to make fun music but, at the same time, I want to do what feels honest to me. I’m really just making music for myself. It’s the type of music that I love and I’m always happy when people have a good time with my music.”

For more from Kim, head to atkode.com.