Chris Conde Gets Hot and Sexy in New Single ‘C.O.M.B.’

Queer, Latinx hip hop artist Chris Conde recently released their newest single “C.O.M.B.”

Produced by Torbjørn, the track is certainly a step in a more pop direction than Conde’s typically introspective noisy, indie rap sound.

“Plus-size people have been conditioned to think that we are not desirable and that we should be ashamed of our bodies,” Conde says. “That dogma perpetuated this idea about myself that I was not sexy and could not be viewed in a sexual or lustful way. I wanted to release this song and video as a way to subvert those belief systems within myself and to challenge others to see that bigger people are in fact sexy as hell.”

The official music video for “C.O.M.B.” dropped on February 17, and on February 22, Conde will have a release show at Bar Freda in Queens, New York, where they will be joined by dream-inspired indie punk outfit Slut Magic, queer rapper Bryce Quartz, poet Elliot Sky Case, and indie pop singer Souvenir.

Conde took some time to talk more about “C.O.M.B.” with OFM, as well as their journey to body positivity and their upcoming European tour.

Can you begin by telling us more about the concept behind your new sexually provocative single “C.O.M.B.?”

“C.O.M.B.,” also known as “cum on my beard.” I had moved to New York City, and I had gone to this sober, queer retreat. I think I was just very horny because I was around all these hot, queer dudes, and everybody was trying to live a spiritual and sober life. So, I’m on the bus back from Connecticut writing this song, and whenever I sit down to write, I let whatever’s in my mind come out of me. I started writing this really raunchy song, and I was debating whether or not I wanted to put it out because it’s so different from the majority of my catalog.

A lot of my catalog is about processing my own internalized homophobia and overcoming drug addiction, and then my last record, Engulfed in the Marvelous Decay, that came out in 2021, was a lot about living in Texas through the Trump administration. A very political observation, but also wanting to put light and love into the world at the same time. So, this is a very different direction that I stepped in, but I was thinking a lot about being a bigger person and just wanting to own the body I’m in. Celebrating myself, my sexuality, and all of me. I just wanted to do it.

I’ve been mostly playing in all-straight lineups with straight, cisgender rappers, so I’m used to subverting the spaces I’m in to be like queer spaces. So, I think this is continuing along that same sort of line for me. Like, I’m going to subvert your standards of beauty and your idea of what hip hop is and be my authentic self in whatever space I’m occupying. We’re human beings. We’re sexual beings. This is a beautiful part of us, and I wanted to celebrate that. Am I going to write a whole record about sex? Probably not, but I do have whispers of it in certain lines in different tracks.

How has it been received by listeners so far?

I have gotten such an amazing response from people! I felt like it would do well, but it’s been cool to see people respond to it with such joy. People are stoked. Like, I saw somebody on Facebook, I’m pretty sure they’re a cis straight dude, but he was like, I really want to post Chris Conde’s new single, but I’m debating whether or not to delete my grandma to do that (laughs). I was kind of afraid of what the fanbase I’ve built up so far would think, but everybody has been excited. So, that’s been a relief.

I feel like there’s so many different aspects to us as human beings. You know, I don’t write just sad music. I don’t write just dark music. I don’t write just overcoming adversity type of music. I’m able to feel a spectrum of emotions. We’re able to have depth as artists and human beings, and I want to be able to showcase every aspect of that.

Have you always been such a big advocate for body positivity?

No, not at all. I honestly didn’t care when I first started rapping and putting out music. I felt like calling attention to it wasn’t exactly my brand, but I think I was dealing with my own internalized fat phobia. I’ve done a lot of work around that these last four to five years, so no, I haven’t always been body positive and wanting to celebrate that. But coming on the other side of that work, I now want to draw attention to it. I am a bigger person, but I’m also beautiful. I think I’m sexy, and I feel good about myself. It’s taken a lot of work to get to that place.

And now you’re performing in leather harnesses, crop tops, jock straps, etc. Are you now trying to incorporate themes around body positivity into all your projects?

Yeah, I’d say so. It’s definitely been a lot lately. Will I always do that? Maybe not. Just like when I was getting sober, I wrote a lot about doing drugs and trying to stop doing drugs, but I don’t really write a lot about that anymore because I haven’t drank in almost nine years. I haven’t done meth for an even longer amount of time, so it’s less on my mind. Because I’ve had to work through a lot of body issues and fat phobia recently, it’s definitely popped up more in my work.

Why do you think there is still such a negative stigma about plus-size people, especially those who pursue entertainment?

Because I think we’ve been conditioned to believe that skinny, white, muscular people are what’s considered beautiful, because it’s profitable. It’s profitable to marginalize, and that’s why it exists. That’s why racism exists. That’s why marginalization exists. If you’re able to say this one specific group of people is important, pretty, and worthy of your time, money, and love, that’s profitable. I think people like Lizzo and  Missy Elliott were trailblazers for that, but I think Lizzo, in more recent years, has been able to come against that sort of thinking.

And also, people like Eureka O’Hara. On her season of Drag Race, there was a scene when she came out with Miz Cracker; they were doing some sort of talk show challenge, and Eureka came out with her full body exposed. I was like, oh my gosh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fat body showing that much skin on international television. That was 2018, and that was very inspiring to me. At that time, I wasn’t taking my clothes off completely yet. I was doing it here and there, but that was a moment where I saw someone trailblazing for us fat people.

I don’t mind saying the word fat because there’s nothing wrong with it, and I think by being able to post thirst traps and have my body exposed, it’s helped. It’s put me in a place of confidence, and confidence is attractive. I think we’re starting to understand and be more open to accepting all body types. Less of the colonial conditions, ideas, and belief systems around beauty.

Ultimately what do you hope audiences take away from your music?

I want people to see that what I’m doing is art. I didn’t get into hip hop because I wanted to be the next big rapper. I’m an artist; my medium is hip hop and rap, and I’m navigating a musical terrain while putting these phrases together in a way that makes people see images in their head. I want to create that art for people and myself. So, I want people to know that what I’m doing is great because I think it’s great (laughs), but I want them to also be inspired by it. Just like how any artist would want their audience to respond to their work, I want people to be changed by it, moved by it, and I want to create art that is telling a story.

Have you always had a passion for singing and songwriting?

Yes, ever since I was a kid. I was a huge Michael Jackson fan, and I wanted to be like him. I was so inspired by his dancing musical ability. When I was in the second or third grade, I would come home from school and learn all the choreography from his music videos. I also had a keyboard, but my first instrument was the viola. Both my mom and dad were musical; my stepdad was musical, so I grew up around it, and I was always in talent shows. It wasn’t until 2007 when I started writing rap. I did it as a joke at first, but my friends were like, “This is good. You should keep doing this,” and I did.

You will be gearing up for a month-long European tour. What can you tell us about that?

I’m on a record label called Fake Four, and there’s another guy on the label, Myles Bullen. We went on a three-week West Coast tour last April, and we had a great time together. It’s sometimes very hard to find people you can travel with, and we just really connected. Neither of us drink or do drugs, and we value drinking water and sleeping (laughs). We have similar ideas and standards about traveling and conserving your energy.

So, we’re going to go on tour again in March and April. We leave March 16 and come back April 9, and we’ll hit Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Amsterdam, a bunch of places. We’re super excited. His album came out early last year, and mine is almost two years old now, but we’re still promoting them. I’ll have vinyl and merch to sell, but yeah, this is my first European tour. I haven’t been to Europe in 20 years, so I’m excited to get there and find myself in a Berlin dungeon!

What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your music career?

I just want to continue putting out art that’s worth making. I want to put out another album, and I’d love to tour Japan, Australia, South America, Mexico, all these places. Then I guess the smaller goal is, like, I really want to be more connected to the queer music scene in Brooklyn and New York City. That’s part of the reason why I moved here. There are so many talented queer artists here doing amazing work, and everybody is grinding as hard as me.

No shade to anyone I was living with or any of the artists in Texas, but I found a smaller group of people there going all in with their music. Here, literally everybody I meet that’s doing art in some way, they’re in it to win it. You have to be because New York can be intense. So, ultimately, I want to keep putting music out, and I would love to be more known in the queer world. I want to be that bitch that people know, and I plan on being my authentic self in whatever space I occupy, just like anybody else should.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Conde by following them on Facebook and Twitter @chrisconde, Instagram @chriscondetherapper, TikTok @chrisconde666, or visit their official website, chrisconde.com. “C.O.M.B.” is available on all digital music streaming platforms.

Photos courtesy of Stacey Lovett and Michael Ryerson Dekker