Brivon Talks Sensuality, Queerness, Alaskan Roots, and New Single “And I”

Interview conducted by Alexandria Mitchell-Pressman

From a viral Ellen moment to becoming one of R&B’s most compelling new voices, Brivon is an artist who moves with intention. Raised in Alaska and now rooted in the DMV, she brings a layered perspective to everything she touches—queerness, Black womanhood, sensuality, self-discovery. With the release of her new single “And I”, Brivon steps further into her power, offering up a sultry, emotionally charged track that’s as much about reclaiming confidence as it is about intimacy. We sat down with her to talk about the creative process behind the single, her journey so far, and what it means to make music that feels like home—for herself and for the communities she represents.

Femmage Zine: From your viral Ellen moment in 2018 to your debut project Whatever Happens, Happens to this single, how do you feel you’ve grown as an artist?

Brivon: When the Ellen moment happened, I was 18, just getting out of the house and starting adulthood. It kind of jump-started me into becoming a creative and figuring out the world on my own. It gave me a lot of opportunities and networking skills. I met people in all forms of art: dance, theater, stage, music – and it gave me confidence and people skills. It taught me I can really do whatever I want. If I want to wake up and make music or switch genres or go back to dance, I can. That whole Ellen thing sparked my engine, and I haven’t stopped going since.

Femmage Zine: Do you feel like that engine was always there, or did the Ellen moment give you clarity?

Brivon: I think I’ve always had that engine. I was born in Alaska, which is very secluded. You can’t just drive to another place. Whatever is there is what I have to deal with. Social media was my escape. I made friends, discovered music and art, expressed myself, made YouTube videos. I was always creative. Thank God for social media. Through it, I realized I didn’t have to stay in a small town. I could explore the world. I’ve always had that curiosity. Questioning everything. People say curiosity killed the cat, but at least the cat had a fun time. So yeah, Ellen just put it into high gear.

Femmage Zine: I think getting on Ellen is such a mind-blowing moment. Do you feel like that version of you is still in your music today?

Brivon: I can see the parallels in the two because then, I was just a little girl doing her thing, posting videos, doing what made me happy. It landed in the right hands and put me on a global stage. So I feel like with music like it started off as a thing I did for myself. You know, a little girl in the room just going through whatever I was going through back in 2020.  I did it for me and then I posted it and it just took heat like it just created its own world and  attracted different people and different crowds to me. I wasn't expecting that and I just took it and ran with it. So  I definitely still see myself as that little girl, even though I'm pushing 26 – but, like, I definitely see the little girl. Who's just like, “I'm always just gonna put out stuff and if it comes to me it comes to me,” you know. At the end of the day I'm just doing it for me. 

Femmage Zine: I get that – I’m 26 now and there's still a part of me that still feels like a girl. 

Brivon: No, literally, I still feel like it too. I still feel hot, young and turnt.

Femmage Zine: Literally. You spoke about being from Alaska. My parents have gone and still talk about how beautiful it is. But now living in the DMV, and being grounded in queer Black womanhood, do these layers of identity shape the way you relate to the world and your music?

Brivon: Well, yeah, there definitely are a lot of layers to me, you know? I'm African-American. I'm queer. I'm from Alaska. I'm plus size – so many things. I feel like that sort of is the same when it comes to the world. There's so many layers to everybody.  Yes, every day is 24 hours, which is a very long time. And every day you could do something new, a new story, a new era and I feel  being from that secluded place sort of forced me to break out of my shell a little bit.

And so moving from a place like Alaska, now I'm in the DMV where it's full of culture. Full of Black people, full of queer people, which I'm not used to at all. It was a culture shock, but I embraced it. A lot of people move from all around the world to come to Alaska to start new. And when they start new they leave their past behind – that's where you lose history and culture and identity. Unfortunately, that was my case. I started from a blank canvas. I could have sat in that disconnect, but I chose to make my own story. From back home they just sit in their sorrows and sadness. I just couldn't do that. I didn't see that for myself. So I just upped and left. Went as far east as possible. I don't think I'd get further east than DC.

That's just what I had to do, and I think it just definitely pushed me in ways that I needed. Everybody always has something about them. Whatever you're good at, whatever you're passionate about, you just gotta take it to the moon.You never know how far your ideas can go. Sky's the limit.  So that's  just where I took it – and I just love where I'm at right now.

Femmage Zine: Do you ever miss that isolation? I know sometimes a lot of artists say that incubation helps them to refine their craft or do you feel like you do much better now?

Brivon: I like the balance of both. I’m extroverted, spontaneous, love going out and meeting people. In Alaska, it didn’t feel as secluded because I knew the people. But out here, I felt lonelier at first. I didn’t know anyone. My family was 4,000 miles away. So I had to learn to be in isolation. That’s when I discovered my deep passion for songwriting. I write my best music when I’m in a bad place. When I feel blocked, songwriting helps me express myself. I’ve learned to love isolation. But I also love being part of a community, and I’m working on getting into the music scene here. Going to open mics, art meetups, markets. It's a balance.

Femmage Zine: I love that and I wish you the very best on going out, because it can be very hard and a little uncomfortable, but you have so much talent. 

Brivon: Thank you.

Femmage Zine: So I loved how in ‘And I’ leans into pleasure. I’ve been working on a piece about reclaiming your joy and pleasure. Your song reminded me that pleasure is not just soft and sweet, but powerful and commanding. When you made this track, were you trying to reclaim power through desire?

Brivon: I really was, if I'm gonna be completely candid. I made this song when I felt the most—I mean the least—the most least… see where's the heart… when I wasn't like… when you feel the most comfortable, like the most sensual, the most sexy, confident — the opposite of that.

Femmage Zine: Oh, you weren't?

Brivon: No.

Femmage Zine:  I would not have guessed.

Brivon: Yeah, I was not comfortable. I was not feeling my sexiest. I was not feeling like… like me. And it was weird because it kind of turned into this alter ego thing, where I was like, I wish this was me right now. And so, you know, I see myself before that moment as a very liberated, free woman, right? And so I guess it was more like it turned into like a cry for myself, like trying to prove to myself like even though you're not feeling your best, you can still be all these things. And these are all the things you can be, you know? I can be this, I can be that. And so, of course, [at] first glance or first listen, it sounds like a sex song. I get it.

But I feel like when it comes to music, it's like when you hear it, the perspective you have reflects what you're going through. Yes. So one day it can sound like a sexy song, a sensual song, maybe a love song. But one day, it could actually be about proving to yourself that you are still that person, even though you're not at the moment.

Femmage Zine: That makes it even more beautiful. Like, I'm definitely gonna have to re-listen from that frame of view. Love it. The production of it and the lyrics, even though I now know, it is very like sultry and late-night vibes. So it's just amazing to hear the fact that you weren't actually in that place when you wrote it. Yet listening to it now, that's where you feel like you're at. There’s also this kind of push and pull in the song. Is that something you've experienced in love or even in your art before?

Brivon: I have, only with this song. I never really had that sort of tug-of-war feeling until probably this song. At the time of the song, I was going through relationship stuff and, you know, health stuff—just like, you know, woman stuff. Yeah, women's things weren't aligning with how they usually align with me, you know? And I was like, what is this? What's going on?

Then it turned into a mental battle. And I'm like, I don't know if it's coming with age, I don't know if it's the time, my environment—I didn't know what it was. But I just knew there was a shift happening, and I couldn't explain it. I just had to put that into a song, and it only made sense because that’s the only way I'd explain it.

I write maybe a song every day, But putting [this one] out into the world was a little different. Even with my rollout right now, I wanted everyone to think this is a sensual song about a partner. But once it releases, I have a whole other rollout depicting a different story. And I'm just excited to see the conversations it pulls out and the discussions it does.  Because, again, art has all its different meanings from everybody.

Femmage Zine: I'm so excited. And I definitely get where you're coming from because I think as we get older, your body changes in a way that makes you feel like you have to relearn yourself. I can't wait to hear the direction you take this in, because I very much relate to what you're talking about. I feel like overall your music kind of speaks to queerness, love, and liberation. What does it mean to be a queer artist to you right now in the R&B space?

Brivon: So I feel—I see—I think we all see this huge boom in queer art right now, like even in R&B, in pop, and in a lot of different genres, in hip-hop too. I had seen a guy yesterday – he was rapping in a mini skirt. I said, yo, this is hard! And like, everybody was just so accepting. He's blowing up too, and I’m like, there’s obviously another shift happening when it comes to music. So I'm just honored to be in a space where that's allowed and accepted. I’ve been gay since I can remember. Going through high school gay, middle school gay. It was never a conversation. Everybody just knew, and I was like, all right, cool. And it's cool to be accepted by your community and your environment. That’s a blessing. To put that into something you love—like art, a passion that people take very seriously—and then put it out to the whole world and strangers who might not be as accepting…It’s honestly an honor to be in the time of queerness right now. Like, it’s definitely an age of queerness that is just…it’s crazy. And it's just an honor to be accepted. Whether I get big or I don’t get big, I just want to know that I make art for other queer people to see themselves in. Even if they're scared to be themselves, at least they can feel seen through what I put out.

Femmage Zine: Yeah, that's beautiful. I think that's the best part about art is that you’re able to see yourself in it and be reminded that, you know, you're not alone.

For you, do you find yourself enjoying being labeled as a queer artist, or do you want it to be: “This is who I am, you don't have to label it,” similar to how sometimes female athletes say, “Don’t call me a female athlete. I’m just an athlete”?

Brivon: Yeah. That's a great question, honestly. I could say first, like first figuring out my identity and stuff, I wasn't a big fan of labels. I used to be like those people who were like, why do we always need labels? Why does everybody want to feel like a group? Why can't y’all just be yourselves?

But I think growing up into it and stuff, I feel like I realized there’s power in it more community-wise and security-wise. It is feeling like you're a part of something bigger than yourself. Like yes, have your identity, have your uniqueness, always be you at the end of the day – but also it’s okay to be yourself amongst other people.

There's power in numbers. My mom always said, you know, it takes a village to raise a child. And so I feel like I definitely have taken a lot of pride in identifying as a queer artist. Because that's where you're gonna find your people. You know, nobody supports you, the gays gonna support you. Even in that, the support is not transactional. It's always reciprocated. And I feel like even in any community you find, like, you gotta find your community if you want to be anything, or be of importance, or feel like your life is fulfilled. And so I’ve definitely taken pride in it, and I’ll gladly label myself now. I do not care. Yeah, I’m gay girl. Yeah, I make gay music for gay people and everybody else that wants to hear gay shit.

Femmage Zine: Do you feel that your identity gives you a different lens when it comes to writing about intimacy and desire? Or do you feel like it's the same across the board?

Brivon: Um, I feel like outwardly, on a surface level, it's different, you know, because even when I'm putting out visuals, it's me and a leading lady. Visually, on the surface, it's gonna look like it's strictly for queers, but that's what I love about art. There are layers to it. If you deep dive and take in the words and absorb it and really listen to stuff, you realize it’s not even about gender.

It’s not about sexuality. These are just human topics. There’s no original thought out there, not gonna lie. And I promise you, any topic, no matter who is expressing it, it’s something that someone else on this planet has faced or is currently going through. So I feel like on the surface, it’s different, but deep down it’s really not. We’re all the same. We’re all trying to figure it out, just like the next person.

Femmage Zine: Girl, I'm into that heavy. I'm trying to figure it out. Speaking of visuals, I have been…I’ve been stalking your Instagram. And they are so good. Like, okay, I’m a huge fan of red light. Like anything you put in red light or blue light, Imma watch. I’ll be like, okay. Y’all nasty over there.

Your leading lady with her dancing in the shadow on the wall behind you while you’re singing – it feels so intimate, like we’re watching something private. Like I need to cover my eyes.

Brivon: Oh yeah, so going into this, I actually had a whole team of my closest creative friends that I know, and we had just powwows of ideas. Everybody, you know, I sent them the song, I sent them the reason behind it. And for like a week, we just got together and threw out our wildest ideas: big, small, medium, cost too much money, cost no money. We just threw it out there.

A lot of them were typically sensual things we’ve seen, things we’d like to see. And then we kind of honed in on a story. Like, every idea then turned into a story like, what is this? What is that?

Definitely wanted an attention grab. Once I started teasing the song with sensual clips like, [that’s our] age group. We want to see some stuff. We do scroll, but like if I see someone in red light… that’s why the whole “Silhouette Challenge” blew up back in the day – because we’re like, what’s gonna happen? 

So I had this [idea], like let’s just make sure everything we do has lights. Like, with the couch scene, I made sure it was warm lighting. The silhouette scene obviously had to be a red light.

Even the split room scene had purple on one side, red on the other. I feel like lights are really slept on nowadays, especially in the art of cinematography.
Like, you can have a crappy camera, but the lighting can bring life to anything. And people are drawn by colors – like scientifically speaking, it’s proven. So we made sure every scene had some unique lighting, just to reel people in. And I’ve just been seeing the engagement. It’s been so fun to see.

I have my friends asking me in person, like, what’s going on? Who’s that? That’s a different girl.

But I feel like if I had regular lighting or just a regular filming setup, nobody would even watch long enough. So I have to give credit to my director, Damon. And he went to school for this. We went to school together. He does not play when it comes to lighting and directing, so he’s definitely the engine to all this madness.

Femmage Zine: Well, he did a great job because honestly, I was just mouth open, like, oh okay I see what’s going on here. Very beautiful. How do you hope your audience is gonna feel after hearing ‘And I’ for the first time?

Brivon: I want them to feel like they have to listen again. [On the] first listen, you’re always gonna have questions. I would say for me, personally, this is not a subject matter I really sing about a lot, let alone put out as the first single. It might be like a cutesy little love song but this raunchiness?
I feel like people are gonna question like, is this Bri? Like, what version of Bri is this? I never heard this before…like, she said what? And they have to run it back. And from then on think whatever you want to think but I just want to at least get a second listen out of somebody.

Because then that’s when the mind starts turning, that’s when the thoughts and the questions come, and that’s when the real engagement happens. And then now we have a conversation.

And then now, you know, people want more, and that pushes my limits and pushes my boundaries, and it just becomes a constant conversation into the next single, the next thing, the next single.

And I just always want to feel connected with people that listen to me. Like, I don’t want people just to listen just to say they listened or just to post. I want them to listen because they want to.

Femmage Zine: I definitely feel like this gives a very like grown-and-in-my-body vibe. It made me want to grab my man and tie him up. It’s giving going in the spicy playlist. I feel like you may have touched on this a little, but what's one thing you learned about yourself through creating the song?

Brivon: I think one thing I learned would be that sensuality doesn't just look like one thing.You know, I feel like even growing up looking at the movies, [watching] TV, seeing people and couples and parents – it always just looks lustful and sexy and beautiful and very physical. That’s just what sensuality looked like growing up.
I feel like there are layers to it, just like with anything. Sensuality isn’t always beautiful. You don’t grow up sensual all the time.

Femmage Zine: Girl, that’s me.

Brivon: Exactly! It’s not natural for everybody. As quick as you can get it is as quick as it can go. I feel like making this song – when I wasn’t sexy and stuff – definitely [changed the] definition [of sensuality] for me. I think it’s a taboo topic of like, you know, growing up: “When are you going to get married? Who are you seeing?” It’s not always that easy, putting yourself out there and attracting what you’re attracted to. It’s the whole idea of love, and sex, and all those things – it’s not linear. It’s definitely something I learned. I’m still learning. Since I don’t have my physical, how can I be sexual mentally, spiritually? I’ve definitely been learning that. It’s been rough.

Femmage Zine: I feel you with that. It reminds me of the saying, “It’s not on me, it’s in me.”

Brivon: Yes!

Femmage Zine: I’m with you. I’m learning.

Brivon: Hey, we're going to figure it out.

Femmage Zine: And for my final question – what can we expect next from you? Performances, visuals, collabs?

Brivon: One thing I can promise is there’s going to be visuals. I haven't been playing with the visuals. Still filming to this day for things coming out in weeks. I knew after 2 years of not making music I had to come back with something serious for people to take me seriously.

A music video is coming. For performances, I definitely need to get some confidence in that. Even though I sing alright, I do have a slight fear of performing. I don’t know what that’s about, but I’m trying to figure it out.

I’m going to try to go to open mics in my area. I’m going to put out visual performances for people not in the area. Try to get one more, maybe two more singles out before the winter time.

Hopefully end the year with a project. Maybe an EP, maybe an album. I’m not really sure yet.

There’s a lot of stuff in the works and I’m really, really excited.