Editor’s Note: In addition to our ongoing preview coverage, Vanyaland and Boston Calling are teaming up once again to showcase the homegrown bands and artists that help shape the local flavor of the city’s most vital music festival. Boston Calling’s ’24 headliners — The Killers, Ed Sheeran, Tyler Childers — and its remarkable undercard are well-known and established; but over the next few weeks, keep it locked as we profile the New England talent that decorates the lineup like few other major festivals in the region. More than a decade in the game, Vanyaland and Boston Calling continue to showcase Boston in new ways, and as usual, we have the sounds to prove it.
Artist: Billy Dean Thomas
When and where: Performing live on Sunday, May 26 at 4 p.m. on the Orange Stage.
Artist bio:
Billy Dean Thomas, a.k.a. “The Queer B.I.G” is a Hip-hop recording artist and producer born and raised in Harlem, but currently residing in Boston. Billy Dean challenges the music industry with quick witted punchlines, that highlight intersectional feminism, social justice and growing up in a gentrified city. Recently. named one of NPR’s 2020 Slingshot Artists to Watch, Billy Dean Thomas has been described as a blend between “The Roots and Rage against the Machine” and is known to pack messages as potent as a James Baldwin speech. After sharing their story on ABC’s the View they were nominated for four Boston Music Awards and were recently featured as a songwriter for a grammy nominated album titled “The Love” by the Alphabet Rockers.
Currently an artist fellow of the City of Boston, a recipient of the Brother Thomas Fellowship as well as the first Hip Hop Artist to be invited as a resident at MASS MOCA studios. They have been featured in the Boston Globe, WBUR, WGBH, and have performed at venues such as The House of Blues, Grand Point North Festival, The Brooklyn Museum, and Spotify.
Listen to Billy Dean Thomas on Spotify:
What we’ve written: Billy Dean Thomas on Vanyaland:
Follow @billydeanthomas on Instagram:
Watch Billy Dean Thomas on YouTube:
For all our coverage leading up to, during, and recapping Boston Calling Music Festival, keep it locked to Vanyaland.
