MILCK – “Quiet” (audio) (premiere)

Los Angeles’ pop artist MILCK (a.k.a. Connie Lim) started out playing the pop game and trying to conform to gender and racial stereotypes, but’s she too smart and creative to have kept that up for long. Renaming herself MILCK, she cast off the expectations of others and decided to focus on developing her unique voice. In doing so, MILCK has become an artist to watch for her truth to power approach to her new music.

MILCK has described her new single “Quiet” as her thesis. “Quiet” confronts physical and sexual abuse head-on in the most beautifully poetic of ways. The timing of this song couldn’t be more perfect. Women’s rights are under siege in many parts of the world, and the recent election to president of Donald Trump has exacerbated those problems in the US. Old dinosaur attacks on Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, abortion rights, equal pay, and more are prompting a new wave of protest movements coalescing around the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. on January 21st.

MILCK says, “I used to live two lives: a real life, and a fantasy life. For most of my real life, I’ve felt silenced and misunderstood. I acted calm but was always afraid. In fantasy life, I crafted illustrations, songs, lyrics and melodies to make me feel powerful and free. I found a way out of my anxiety. ‘Quiet’ is the song that bridges the gap between my real life, and my musical fantasy world. When I finally wrote it last year, I felt the world’s weight lift from my shoulders. I finally made a song that is 100 percent undeniably, my truth. In this time of polarized politics, propaganda, and discrimination, I am saying: no. I am not a delicate, Asian flower girl that can fulfill commodified fantasies. I am not the model minority who is going to stand by and watch my brothers and sisters of color be scapegoats. I am not the girl who is going to stay a victim, even after sexual and physical abuse. I am not the woman who is going to stay quiet in this era, where there are figures of power in today’s world who promote scarcity, fear, and oppression. No. I can’t keep quiet.”