Emmy winning Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox just dropped the ballroom single Beat for the Gods. “I just wanted it to be a cute song for the kids to vogue to,” the actress explained in an extended interview with OUT Magazine. “It really is an homage to that community, the kids who vogue, the kids who drag, the nightclub scene.”
Beat For The Gods, Laverne says, began as a joke with her longtime makeup artist Deja Smith. The actress wrote up a few lyrics, which producer Benjamin K. Damptey encouraged her to record. “After the first session,” she recounts, “things came out in the moment. Then I went back and wrote the song, being thoughtful about what I wanted to put on paper.”
“This song is a reflection of my old club days in New York, and a sort of longing for that kind of situation,” Lavern continues, revealing Grace Jones inspired her looks in the song’s video.
But before you fall in love with Laverne the pop heroine, be mindful this is a one-off event. “I don’t want to do an album, I don’t want to be a pop star.” We were treated to this video because, fittingly, Laverne’s makeup competition series Glam Masters is debuting in two days. Read Laverne’s full iOUT interview here.