Down With The Clique

In New York City, a group of Slaysians has created a safe space where queer AsianAmerican culture takes the spotlight

- Oliver Emocling

There is something enchanting about Solange. If her sister Beyoncé commands worship, Solange adjures meditation. Her euphonious music, even before she metamorphosed to her divine persona with the release of A Seat at the Table in 2016, has always had healing powers. Her performance is devotion, almost like a ritual glorifying her roots and culture. Solange is a saint.

Filipino-American designer, DJ, and overall creative Pedro Vidallon, who also goes by the moniker Tito Vida, experienced Solange’s arresting presence once. In December 2017, at the art space Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn, Solange graced a queer Asian dance party. “I honestly don’t know [how she ended up there],” he says. “I didn’t get to talk to her, but I was starstruck. I just couldn’t believe it.”

The party in question is Bubble_T, which Tito Vida co-founded with fellow “Slaysians” Nicholas Andersen, Karlo Bello, Stevie Huynh, and Pauly Tran. And Solange’s visit to the party was not an unexpected gesture. “She’s really all about the culture. The music she does, the people she works with, and the fact that she’s even there,” Tito Vida says, “It just really speaks to how much she’s down for the culture.” And Bubble_T is all about the culture.

Bubble_T, an allusion to the popular Asian drink, was borne out of the need for a space that would cater to the queer Asian community in New York.

By the time Solange made an appearance at their Christmas-themed party, Bubble_T had been the talk of the town since the first party they mounted in May 2017 at The Rosemont in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.