Whether it’s the summer anthem "Be Your Girl,” the love letter to his mother “Suzy Cutie” or even the dance floor stomper “High Heels” (with vocals by Tony-winner Lillias White), John Duff is going to keep us talking.
With his latest release, “Stick Up,” Duff is offering commentary on the world today in the most smoldering way possible and at the same time, jumping into the world of OnlyFans. On the heels of the release of the video for “Stick Up” (inspired by a beloved cult classic), Duff sat down to chat with me about his new video, his album “Greatest Hits (Deluxe Edition)” and the collaborations he has had that have taken dance floors by storm!
Your new track “Stick Up” is truly an event and a larger than life splashy one at that! A go-go boy/bank robbery style big video is definitely not something we see every day in terms of music videos!
My favorite movie is “Showgirls” and when I first approached Brett (Loudermilk) and Zain (Curtis) about making this video, “Showgirls” came up. There are so many things that I love about “Showgirls.” It’s so sexy that it’s not even sexy, it’s so sexual that it does not even register as sexy, you are just so desensitized by the end to that factor. And the plot changes every couple minutes with the unexpected happening. I also knew that the song is about the adage “believing the politician cares is like believing the stripper likes you.” So we knew we wanted the politician character to be there, and yeah we wanted murder in there.
I honestly have been wanting murder in something for years and nobody wanted to do it. It’s a sort of reflection of what I see and maybe what is true; in late stage capitalism in order to succeed or really make it to the top, there is no path without corruption. So there is no character in the video that would be deemed a “good person.” Everyone is sort of meant to be portrayed as some sort of slimy character.
There is always an element of burlesque-style sexiness in your work, and now you are releasing a truly revealing version of the video for “Stick Up” on OnlyFans. What made you take that leap to that platform?
It’s so exciting to be an artist and all of these years in people are saying, “When John, when?!” The sad part is they’re actually asking me, “When are you gonna do an OnlyFans?” It’s partially always been there for me to do and I would be lying if I said that made any money from doing these (laughs)! I think that the summer that I performed at Chicago Pride and I opened for Natasha Bedingfield and I was performing for about 8,000 people. I had just spent more money on my performance than I made and when I left the stage a very high up person at OnlyFans was off-stage and said that I should join the platform. It was a ping of irony, but then I thought about it and thought, “I’m no better than it.” Then we went into the studio two weeks later and wrote "Stick Up” about that. That is what the song was really about it, no one is better than anyone else for getting their bag. The meaning shifted I feel, as time passed.
Spotify Wrapped is consistently a topic so buzzed about at the end of the year. Your anthem “Be Your Girl” is going to be on the top of plenty of people’s Wrapped lists this year, mine included. It was truly a production in every sense of the word.
Thank you! I had shot that video two years ago and I did that song about four years ago. I knew that it was great, I knew that that whole project was great. I just didn’t know where it went in the world. With these algorithms, my existing audience has an expectation of “Hokey Pokey” or whatever. I thought that I would keep building and I would get there, I would keep working towards it. It was really just burning a whole in my heart to not put it out, so I gave it a year.
One thing about “Be Your Girl” is that it got a stunning remix courtesy of the legendary Eric Kupper. Hearing your tracks, and male vocals specifically, on a dance floor is always a treat especially if the remix is done as well as Kupper did for “Be Your Girl” and other tracks like “High Heels.”
Oh, it is so cool! My manager laughs at me because he throws out all sorts of DJ names to work with and I just have a propensity for the ‘90s icons! It’s amazing to hand off something and get back their version. I am thrilled to always have anyone else’s spin on it. Sometimes I don’t even like the remix up front, but I trust the people and I put it out and I might end up liking it more than the real song!
Tongue is consistently planted firmly in cheek with your material and your album being named “Greatest Hits (Deluxe Edition)” is a perfect example of that. Behind all of the bravado though, you have a song titled about your mother (“Suzy Cutie”) and there is definite emotion behind the entire package.
I talked to my mom yesterday and she definitely did not like the “Stick Up” video. I mean she respects it, the aspect of me being liberated and bold she has respect for. I told her that the whole last project was for you guys, I did that almost as signing my own permission slip to do whatever the hell I wanted after! I always have a curiosity of who would I have been if I had listened to my parents from the beginning and not veered from the path, but co-mingling elements of who I am now.
You bring up an interesting point: who would you have been had you not veered from said path?
I have been performing since I was 8 years old. At the same time, I have been getting rejected since I was 8 years old. I have consistently been someone that has been looked over or not considered, and that was in high school, even in the plays. I mean, I was talented but those people hated me for some reason. So I come into this whole thing with no one ever telling me “yes.” I wonder what the world would have looked like had people told me yes; because to this day still I am the only one telling me yes. There has been no door opened for me, I just keep kicking it!
I chose a hard path. I never quite resonated with the “woe is me” tropes like everyone else; I have my reasons if I chose to though. I am out here, I don’t drink and am a pretty happy person. I realize that in that there is a lesson that I can really offer.
There is something to be said about kicking down doors and making space for yourself. You are getting a Broadway icon like Lillias White on your projects, so you are doing something right. Hearing her belt on your single “High Heels" is just sublime.
She’s a real musician and singer and she heard the songs and thought they were good. That was the bottom line there. She looked at the lyrics and said, “Wow, these are actually really good.” Her being so tight with Cy Coleman and so many writers that I looked up to, that is all the validation that I needed, it must be pretty good.
You are the type of artist that could do a large Vegas style show, whether on your own or with other artists. Do you envision a world where that could happen?
Well, we’ll see. Just like the song “Stick Up” is talking about, I’ll do pretty much anything! Looking at the numbers right now, “Stick Up” is pretty much going to eclipse everything that I just put on that last album. So it looks like we might be staying in the clubs for a little while.
The events of the last few weeks are resulting in people putting their creativity and their art first and foremost. What is your own plan to get through the next sure to be challenging, four years?
I wrote “Stick Up” in July because I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming. I’m feeling for all of the people who didn’t have that awareness of where we were in the world because of the bubbles that we live in and these containers, I kind of knew, so my process had already begun; “Stick Up” is the first piece of that. For me as an artist, it has always been about what I can do to liberate myself. What can I create that isn’t there, what thing is going to help me find out something more about myself? Because as Marianne Williamson said, “When we liberate ourselves we automatically liberate others in the process.” It’s just about carrying on fearlessly and for me real joy, happiness and celebration is still perseverance.
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