Billy Porter (Golden Globe nom – FX’s Pose, Tony Award winner Kinky Boots) has teamed up with two-time Out Music Award winner Matt Zarley to reimagine the 1995 Des’ree anthem, “You Gotta Be.”
All of the proceeds from the single will benefit the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Youth Center.
Close friends for more than 30 years, the two artists had been looking to collaborate on a music project and found the message that “love will save the day” particularly resonant in these challenging times.
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold
You gotta be wiser, you gotta be hard
You gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm
You gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
“Billy and I are both passionate about all LGBT causes, particularly ones that involve our next generations,” said Zarley, who also produced the track as well as directed and edited the video.
“We wanted to help raise awareness for this invaluable organization and the work they do,” It’s incredibly important and is helping save the lives of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community.”
A postscript to the music video shares the sobering fact that there are roughly 1.7 million homeless youth on the streets of the United States, and a disproportionate 40% identify as LGBT. In Los Angeles alone, there are roughly 3,500 LGBT youth living on the streets.
And speaking of ‘community,’ that’s exactly what’s front and center in the music video for “You Gotta Be.”
Zarley and Porter are joined by dozens of friends grooving, twirling, lip-syncing for their lives in solo and same-sex couplings.
After ruling the red carpet during this past awards season, Porter is currently shooting Season 2 of the acclaimed FX series Pose set to return to the airwaves June 11.
Zarley’s latest project is an album titled The Estrogen Sessions, which pays tribute to some of pop music’s most prolific female artists (Dolly Parton, Celine Dion, Sara Bareilles, Whitney Houston) featuring the songs they made famous. “I Will Always Love You,” “That’s The Way It Is,” “Gravity,” and “I Look To You” are just a few of the tunes featured on the set.
Check out “You Gotta Be” with Billy Porter and Matt Zarley below.
