In the 4th edition of LGBTQ Bopz 
(2023), we highlight the song, โWho We Loveโ performed by Sam Smith featuring Ed Sheeran.
Be prepared to #SLAY! LGBTQ Bopz embraces, highlights, and celebrates singles and tracks by LGBTQIA musicians or allies. In this column, we provide background and insight into the respective musician(s), as well as analyze + go gaga over the decadent bops being served up. Furthermore, when the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is articulated to the fullest. All styles of music are welcome while the BOPZ can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, in the 4th edition of LGBTQ Bopz
(2023), we highlight
โWho We Loveโ performed by
Sam Smith featuring
Ed Sheeran.
Academy- and Grammy-award winning, nonbinary and genderqueer musician
Sam Smith concludes their fourth studio album,
Gloria, radiantly with
โWho We Loveโ featuring
Ed Sheeran. Both Smith and Sheeranโs voices complement each other sublimely. The lyrics are poetic and thoughtful, the expectation from these two songwriters, as well as fellow writers Napes,
Fred again.., Johnny McDaid, and Steve Mac, who also produces. โWho We Loveโ is a a heartwarming closer, characterized by touching inclusivity as opposed to exclusivity โ โYeah, we love who we love.โ
โWho We Loveโ is not explicit in its queerness, but you sense the queer beauty, so to speak. There is something refreshing about this closing cut. When Smith sings, โColour the empty space / Kiss in a crowded place / Stand in a summer rain,โ it feels like the acceptance of same-sex love and relationships โ PDA and all. Notably, in the second half of the second verse, the duo sings, โHolding hands in the street / No need to be discreet / Finally feelinโ free.โ The chorus certainly confirms this acceptance, and the allyship of Smithโs longtime friend, Sheeran: โItโs not wrong / To want the world for someone / Itโs not a feeling you can run from / โCause we love who we love.โ All told,
โWho We Loveโ is utterly sublime.
Sam Smith โข
Gloria โข
Capitol โข
2023
Sam Smith, โWho We Loveโ: LGBTQ Bopz 
No. 4 (2023) [
: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Capitol; Anna Shvets, Monstera, Polina Tankilevitch, RODNAE Productions, Spencer Cooper, Uriel Mont via Pexels; Jim, Kurious via Pixabay; Hugo Herrera on Unsplash]