An advocate for self-love and acceptance, Reid Zakos has taken his inspirational music and performed at various events with the goal of motivating others to be purely themselves.
With his latest single "A World of Yes," Reid Zakos touched on the tribulations of growing up as a part of the LGBTQ+ community, and wants to empower others with his message of uniqueness within this track.
A dancefloor pop track that induces infinite movement, we're absolutely loving Reid Zakos' empowering theme accompanied by sweltering electro-pop production.
Taking a listen to "A World of Yes," we're instantly dancing away with the intoxicating and powerful synths. With a groovy bassline and a heavy kick, we're well aware of the heat that's about to take over this track.
While Reid Zakos begins singing his inspirational message, we're blown away by the sweet delivery and effortless clarity within his vocals. Meeting the toe-tapping hook, a deep and powerful dance beat overpowers the track and takes us back to the nights we miss most.
Reid Zakos sings a message of repeating these positive affirmations to set you up for your destined glory, a message which needs to be heard much more nowadays.
Reid Zakos' single "A World of Yes" lets us realize the importance of individuality, and the power within the simple word, YES.
Hello Reid, and a warm welcome back to BuzzMusic. Your single "A World of Yes" is incredibly empowering and uplifting. What was your main inspiration behind the creation of this single?
Thank you! The producer of the song Andrew Conroy DM’d me on Instagram and told me he wanted to write with me, so we met up for coffee and discussed the idea of “self-love” pop as a genre. We were inspired by 2011 Britney Spears “Femme Fatale” and Lady Gaga “Born This Way” songs that were all fun, dance-oriented, but songs that have uplifting lyrics that weren’t necessarily always about love or relationships like so many other songs tend to be.
The goal was to write a feel-good song that anyone could relate to that would inspire self-love and positive messaging. I think as artists we all experience a fair share of rejection, either growing up and trying to fit in, or in the entertainment business, or both - we hear “NO” many times more than we hear “YES”. The lyrical concept for the song is that you’re entering a whole world of “YES” and that anything is possible if you’re open to it and ready for it.
Why do you think your single "A World of Yes" is doing so well statistically?
Well, I intentionally planned for it to be released on the first Friday of Pride Month, so I think that was part of it. It’s very celebratory and lends itself to pride playlists and summer playlists. I also think it’s a great time for dance and house-oriented pop music to be making a comeback! From Lady Gaga’s new album “Chromatica” and Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” (even though we are in the middle of a pandemic) people still yearn for the dancefloor and want to dance again which I think is beautiful and playlists have responded to it in that way. I also think I’ve been releasing singles and projects consistently and the timing was right for me to put out a big dance track in celebration of pride.
What did you want listeners to learn from the inspirational single?
I hope whoever hears it just simply feels good about themselves while listening to it! - In any capacity. It’s a weird time in the world right now with COVID-19 and all the racial injustice that’s happening and being brought to light on social media. But the song is packed full of both kindness and positivity and I think we are all doing the best we can at any given moment, but we can still do much better, and if you can say “YES” to yourself and your own life you will grow in so many ways and in return (hopefully) be kinder to other people. No matter how many times you get rejected if you can say “YES” to yourself then you might not need as much external validation because you’ll feel validated from within.
We've heard that you grew up in a family versed in jazz music. What drove you to leap towards pop music rather than the jazz you grew up with?
I think I’ve always found ways of embracing both in my artistry. I think you can have a great dance-pop track but infuse it with a jazzy vocal. I always use "Bathwater" by No Doubt and "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse as examples of this. I still to this day perform some classic jazz standards in my sets, and I hope to write more jazz-oriented songs but make them sound modern. As a dancer, I was exposed to all different types of music, but pop music always excited me the most. I’m not sure why maybe because it feels more relatable or universal? (Not that jazz can’t be though)… Jazz (to me) feels very meditative, but it can also be very liberating and visceral, raw, and exciting! Pop music in a lot of ways is more structured where jazz can be more off-the-cuff and improvisational. But I celebrate both genres and I am interested in exploring combining them!
How do you use your platform to inspire others going through a difficult time, especially within the LGBTQ+ community? How will you continue this in the future?
I feel like speaking up about LGBTQ+ issues as they come up, listening to other people’s struggles, using my platform to further amplify voices other than my own to create awareness, donating to causes I believe in, and leading by example through kindness, bravery, and understanding is how I personally can make a difference. Authenticity and celebration of diversity and queer culture.
The timing of this single release was interesting, it was difficult for me as a white queer male (with a lot of privilege) to speak about when the Black Lives Matter movement was getting a lot of attention on social media after George Floyd’s death. It’s important to amplify black voices during this time, and promoting a new song felt awkward to me. Growing up most of my closest friends were people of color and/or queer people of color (including my partner) so I felt obligated to stand up for them and be there for them but in a way that didn’t serve myself or my own image but instead to amplify their voices. I didn’t want to cancel my single release because pride month was important to me for the song, so instead, I pivoted and I’m donating the proceeds from streaming and digital sales of the single to the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.
Going forward I will continue using my voice for positive change (when appropriate), and I will make an effort to educate others rather than scold, and support people that need help and more awareness.
What has been keeping you inspired throughout 2020?
It’s been a weird year! Hahaha, but I think honestly…I’m holding out hope for the next live show (whenever that is realistically possible). That's what has kept me going the most. The other inspiring thing about this year has been that we are all going through this together and we can either make the most of it and explore our creativity and reflect, or let it affect our happiness. I choose to keep creating and to keep promoting kindness and positivity wherever and however I can. Also Lady Gaga’s new album “Chromatica” – thank goodness we got that this year! Haha