Mikaela Mullaney Straus (born December 19, 1998), known professionally as King Princess, signed to Mark Ronson’s Zelig Records released her debut single “1950” in April 2018. King Princess identifies as genderqueer and uses she/her pronouns. Moreover, she identifies as gay. In an interview with MTV News, Straus explains that she chose her stage name because it “encompasses the complexity of her gender.”
Straus was born and raised in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, her great-great-grandparents were businessman Isidor Straus and Ida Straus, who both died in the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Titanic, and her father is recording engineer Oliver Straus and Aggie Mullaney.
She spent much of her childhood with her father, in his Mission Sound studio where she learned several instruments, including bass, guitar, piano, and drums, as well as music production techniques and insight into the music industry as well as meeting multiple celebrities, including Missy Elliott.
“I was the studio rat. Bands would be asleep on the couch, and I’d be like, ‘Hey!’ And they were fucking lovely to me. People would come through and teach me shit.” - King Princess
In 2017 she became the first artist to sign onto Mark Ronson’s Zelig Records label, which is an imprint of Columbia Records.
“I felt that if I didn’t know exactly what I wanted my shit to sound like, and I didn’t know who I wanted to be involved with, and I didn’t know what my production sounded like I had no place signing a record deal. So when I knew I was ready, that’s when I started working with Mark Ronson.”
On November 1, 2018, she released her currently stand-alone single “Pussy Is God,” which was co-written by her former significant other Amandla Stenberg. In January 2019 Straus collaborated with Fiona Apple on a cover of the latter’s song “I Know.” But it is her infectious song “Hit you back” that really makes King Princess our “It Girl” this month with its familiar hook and strong social message.
“If it brings (young LGBTQ people) joy to call me a ‘queer icon’ on the internet, then 100 percent fucking do it. I wish I had a gay icon. This is a new generation of kids who have queer people to look at and be like, ‘I want to be like them one day.’ We had straight people who were our gay icons, and we adored them, but there weren’t a lot of gay people who were hot, out, and loud. In that sense, of course, if it makes these kids happy, I feel like I’m doing something of importance.” - King Princess
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
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NOT SO CIVIL MEDIA Social media has become a mean-spirited place to bully, and the only thing the platforms seem to care about is supplying the addicts with more drugs for us to be addicted to. We don’t have a problem with great accounts showcasing beauty and artistic thought, but the benefits are being overwhelmed by toxicity and egomaniacs.
Smaller digital spaces will be the trend in 2020, where users can find thoughtful connections and relationships without the harassment and bullying found on platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. See the recent Cornell University study, which found that female Instagram influencers are criticized for being too real, and also for not being authentic enough. We’re also seeing an increase in teen suicide linked to social platforms.
2020 brings a search for new, more intimate social platforms. Are you in?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) in manufacturing
Artificial intelligence is part of everyday life now, driven by device ecosystems, such as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. But now, computer vision and emotional recognition are starting to explode and are breaking out into manufacturing.
Companies like Kindred, Osaro and Vicarious are already using AI technologies for manufacturing. The method involves training neural nets on large quantities of data, such as photos, and then getting them to make inferences on new data. Osaro blends deep learning with reinforcement learning, a technique that generally entails teaching machines through trial and error. Kindred’s technology is used to automate part of the distribution for apparel brands such as GAP, and Vicarious is attracting investment from Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg.