By SP

Starr’s two songs, Sun Again and Alright, have been playing during some erotic sex scenes between Jenny and Marina in the first season of The L Word. Starr mentioned in her PlanetOut interview by Jenny Stewart (2006) that she used to work with the show’s music supervisor and this is how her songs ended up there. The idea that the songs were played during some intimate scenes was very pleasing to the singer. She said, “Well, I have to say it was pretty amazing. I haven’t seen my music played over such an intimate scene before … so, yeah, seeing that intimate scene in The L Word was pretty amazing, and I’m pretty flattered to be associated with the show. It’s not a shitty television show at all – in fact, it’s pretty progressive.”

In the same interview Starr also mentioned that she hasn’t seen the show until the night before the interview, “I'm not a big TV watcher, and I was pleasantly relieved. I’d heard stuff within the lesbian community. You know, some of them were up in arms, I think, because they thought there wasn’t enough representation of, like, brown and big dykes. But it’s television, and those kind of people are never properly represented on TV. So I don’t know why a lesbian TV show would be any different. And also, I know a lot of beautiful dykes – it’s not like thin, beautiful lesbians don’t exist. So anyway, when I finally watched the show, I was relieved, because I was expecting something other than what I saw.”

About Kinnie Starr

In her biography from The Official Website, the singer described as “MC-singer-poet-actress-beatnik – musicmaker – who was born in Calgary, became her adult self in Vancouver, and was raised on heavy doses of Zeppelin, Sade and De La Soul’s Daisy Age.... Discovered she could kick it live one night in NYC (1993), when an open mic called, and the crowd carried her through three blazing encores…”

Her first time in front of the microphone and an audience have been a very memorable experience for a young musician and as we can read in her biography from Planet Out Pop Profile: Kinnie Starr by Josh Tager, “In 1992 Starr formed her first band, in British Columbia, securing a reputation for rhymes and rhythm. But it took a trip to New York City to reveal the full range of her abilities. At an East Village club on an open-mic night, Starr’s friend pushed her on stage. Stunned, her first time on stage alone, she could only whisper a few words at first. But she quickly found her way and received three encores as the crowd stomped and clapped along.”

In her blog on myspace.com Kinnie Starr also posted a little biographical note, introducing herself to her fans, “alida kinnie starr was born and raised in calgary, alberta, home of the goddamn calgary stampede. daughter of mohawk/euro criminal defense lawyer michael starr and irish/british guidance counsellor donna starr, kinnie is the middle sibling and only girl; sandwiched between two brothers and forced to play goal in way too many hockey and soccer games. sneaking into cars at night, driving prairie highways underage without a lisence, listening to heavy metal, new order and rap music (run dmc, zeppelin, sabbath, metallica, motorhead, salt 'n pepa, afikka bambaata, and ll cool j to name a few), a.k.s. found solace in music with attitude.”  

Starr’s music

Kinnie Starr’s blog is a very interesting place to visit because there the singer talks about anything from her music, her nephew being born 7 pounds 2 ounces or even asking people what they think about shaving their private parts that it would look like they are porn girls.

It is in Starr’s blog that her fans learned about her love for music when she wrote on August 22, 2006, “a fresh reminder as to why i play music.............:  there is something unspeakable about the connection that settles in when the music is working.....  everything becomes beautiful.... i feel lucky to get these reminders of just what music can offer --- a feeling like there is nothing else there ... like my body doesn't exist and  there is no room for thought .... it's all just rhythm and love and air...wow.”

And Kinnie Starr’s music is beautiful and the interesting thing about it is that sometimes it’s hard to define her style. In Starr’s Biography (2003) from maplemusic.com her music is described in following words, “Starr began making her presence felt around 1995 with edgy visual arts, graffiti, rhymes, outspoken race and gender politics, decidedly unorthodox performances, stunning good looks and envelope-pushing, beat-slamming recording … A juggernaut that Toronto’s NOW magazine described as rich with ‘visceral rhymes, napalm delivery, spoken word montages and eagle-eyed surveillance of the three S’s – sexuality  spirituality and society’.”

In the article Kinnie Starr lost in race by Ian Nathanson (October 2000) we can read, “Where Starr fits musically also blurs several boundaries. Her live shows come equipped with a smorgasboard of words, beats, moods and languages (she belts out in English, French and Spanish) set to ambient dub and hip-hop beats, with spurts of jazz and heavy funk/rock cropping up sporadically. Starr also doesn’t restrict herself to holding fort on stage. Without warning, the 30-year-old can pop up in the middle of a crowded room, her sneering vocal limits reaching as far as her microphone cable will allow. Or, she'll just do away with a mike entirely and challenge her audience to listen more carefully.”

In another article New Starr of hip-hop by Lisa Wilton (June 2000), the author describes Starr’s music as diverse and unique when she wrote, “singer Kinnie Starr has proven to be one of Canada’s most diverse artists.
Her eclectic blend of folk, rock, pop and intelligent hip-hop is one part Joni Mitchell and Rickie Lee Jones; one part Grandmaster Flash – and wholly unique.”

Though hip-hop is only a part of Kinnie Starr music it is also a very big part. As the singer was quoted in the same article, she said, “I love hip-hop … I’m a huge fan and I totally recognize that I don’t really fit in with the rest of the genre … Hip-hop is expression, it’s poetry, it’s about being yourself … So ultimately, that translates to anybody who really loves the art of hip-hop. I think they can see that.”

In the Interview with Kinnie Starr to AfterEllen.com by Kris Scott Marti (August 2004), Kinnie Starr was asked to described her own sound and she replied, “People call it everything, but the last record I called ‘head-nodding pop with a fresh sexy hop.’ Cause it’s like a pop but steeped in hip hop and R&B. The next record is going to be a bit more rock. You know old school like LL Cool J and Run DMC and stuff, you know how old school hip hop draws a lot on rock… well it’s kind of like that.”

In the PlanetOut interview Starr also said about her music, “It’s pretty rooted in words. It’s definitely lyric-based. It’s kind of … I’ve heard it described recently as very laid-back and similar to Sade and India Arie, which I think is a pretty close parallel to what I now do. See, when I first started making records, I was doing more punk rock, but now I have a much stronger affinity with just … beats and good songs. And I now prefer music that is more sexy than it is angry.”

Her song Alright, which was featured on The L Word is one example of the sexy love song that captures the emotions and passion. Kinnie Starr was asked in her PlanetOut interview if she was in love while writing that song to which she replied, “Yeah. That song was written when I was falling in love, and the guy I was falling in love with was still in a relationship with someone. And then he left the relationship, but you know how when someone leaves a relationship, it’s never like: ‘OK! Are you ready for me now?’ You know, you can’t do that if you really care for the person. So that song was me trying to explore the idea and trying to get to the simplest sentiment behind that feeling of: If I open myself up to you, and if I actually accept that I’m in love, then I’m going to really … FALL. That’s what that song is about.”

While talking about the song, Starr’s sexuality was brought to question as well in this interview. When asked if she was straight, the singer said, “I've been in love with girls. My first love was with a girl when we were younger. My first relationship was with her, and then she and I both started dating guys. And then over the years I have fallen in love with girls, and now I'm with a guy, so I guess I'm bisexual. But I just ... I hate that word so much.”