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“American Idol” finalist Rayvon Owen used his new music video, “Can’t Fight It,” to open up about his sexuality for the very first time.
The Virginia-born singer-songwriter, 24, wanders through a smoky club in the video, which was appropriately released on Valentine’s Day and can be viewed above. At the conclusion of the clip, he locks eyes, hands and, eventually, lips with another man, played by LGBT rights advocate, Shane Bitney Crone.
Owen, who placed fourth on the 14th season of “Idol,” told Billboard that the video’s original treatment had him ending up with a woman in its conclusion. Inspired by the death of a close friend, who “never got to live his truth,” he opted to give “Can’t Fight It” an ending that was more authentic to him as a performer.
“At that moment, I knew in my heart that it needed to be a man,” he said in an interview with the Human Rights Campaign. Praising out stars like Sam Smith and Frank Ocean, he added, “Authenticity suddenly became more important to me than hiding who I am.”
The mid-tempo ballad, which Owen co-wrote with Mylen, Nate Merchant and Isaiah Tejada and premiered on The Huffington Post, contains the lyrics: “I’ve never been good pretending like this, like this/I was done from the moment you hit me with your kiss, your kiss.”
Owen said some family members and friends have had a difficult time coming to terms with his sexuality, which is one of the reasons that he didn’t come out during his stint on “Idol.” Nonetheless, he has been “lucky enough to have a solid support system,” and is confident that “the others will come around.”
“You’d be surprised at the amount of times I tried to pray the gay away from me or tried to tell God to take this away from me,” he said. “It took a lot for me to come to this point to want to talk about this.”
He went on to note, “I think this issue is bigger than me. If I can contribute to that and help get the conversation started, it’s really important.”
We’re proud to see you living your truth, Rayvon, and can’t wait to see where your music takes us next!
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