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Ratskin Records Uplifts Marginalized, Decolonial Musicians

Ratskin Records Uplifts Marginalized, Decolonial Musicians

Ratskin Records

Ratskin Records is a collective record label and archival imprint focusing on LGBTQ, Black, Native, POC, and disabled artists. The label prides itself on creating decolonized, experimental music in the Bay Area. They work hard to create an alternative to the traditional industry which has been historically exploitative, devaluing artist labor and requiring them to work to the point of burnout.

The goal of Ratskin Records is to engage “the healing power of sound for communities in struggle” as the work of decolonial artists is activism centered on empathy and basic human needs. While the label acknowledges the pervasive bigotry of our culture, they work hard to ensure that they address issues around systems of oppression. By providing material resources and financial compensation to artists who exist on the margins of mainstream consumption Ratskin Records can lessen the divide between marginalized creators and the mainstream industry.

The team has kept busy, with a number of new releases just itching to hit the ears of listeners. Check out some of Ratskin Records newest music videos:

Beast Nest – “Kim, People Are Dying”

Beast Nest is the primary performance project of Sharmi Basu (they/them). Basu intends their work to show, “the abstract and immaterial experiences of trauma and pain can be liberated through our abstract creations in art and sound.” 

The video for “Kim, People Are Dying” was directed by Sepand Mashiahof with cinematography by Ricky Marler. 

Mashiahof speaks to the concept of the video, “It’s about preserving the connections marginalized people have to each other. Everything in the world is constantly antagonizing our ability to keep them… This video is an expression of how important showing up for and sharing space with each other is.”

Stream the video for “Kim, People Are Dying” here:

Dax Pierson – “For the Angels”

Dax Pierson is a musician, producer, co-founder of two bands, and a touring member of a hip-hop group. After an accident in 2005 that left him with a spinal cord injury that caused his individual fingers to be paralyzed, Pierson has largely produced music using a laptop controlled by iPad apps. According to the label, his work is informed by “limitations, college radio segues, hip-hop, 90s post-rock, odd time signatures, new techno, ambient drones, bobbing head beats, and sentimentality.”

“For the Angels” comes from Pierson’s debut studio album, NERVE BUMPS (A Queer Divine Dissatisfaction), and is dedicated to the victims of the Ghostship Fire of 2016 in Oakland, California. The music has been described as “both bright and uplighting and at times heavy, bombastic and brooding as the break down fueled by arpeggiated synths and clamorous percussion takes a darker turn as the track comes to a close, but not before a warm, morose resolve.”

The “For the Angels video” was directed by Malocculsion/Ratskin Records and sought to create “a visual interpretation of time travel  to an alternate creative space in the beyond; a metaphorical and safer space for us all to reunite with lost loved ones we’ve lost through a hyper colorized, fantastical psychedelic journey to an imaginary club where Pierson is the performer.”

Stream the video for “For The Angels” here:

Tyler Holmes – “To Accept”

Tyler Holmes (they/them) is a musician and visual/performance artist who uses music as a therapeutic outlet. Working in the boundaries of trip-hop and experimental pop, Holmes has worked to express their experience of being Black and queer.

The video for “To Accept” was directed by Jody Stillwater and Tiare Ribeaux and focuses on the disconnect between an individual’s virtual persona and their real life identity. The team described the video as, “semi-dystopian yet hopeful, and also playful, provocative, thought-provoking—a science fiction/speculative fiction fable with Cronenberg-esque dark fantasy and humor.”

Stream the video for “To Accept” here:

For more from Ratskin Records, find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Image courtesy of Ratskin Records

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