“Burn the Floor,” Drake Jensen
By Sarah Conley, Contributing Writer
Canadian country artist Drake Jensen recently released the video for his dance anthem single “Burn the Floor,” and the number of fingers I have to count on is far exceeded by the number of reasons I loved it. (I’ll do the math for you: I loved it a lot.) There hasn’t been this much gay cowboy, big dick energy in one room since Depeche Mode released the video for “Personal Jesus,” and I am here for it.
We all love music that reflects us; music that we can see ourselves in. There’s plenty of country dance music for all the Friday night tailgate-dancing, whiskey-drinking, painted-on-jeans-wearing folks out there. But the music video for “Burn the Floor” is exactly the sort of sexy, glittery, leather-clad hootenanny that this queer and weary country girl needed.
I almost never get to see people of so many different shapes, sizes, and identities having this much fun in any kind of media. Dancing, laughing, and kissing seems to be reserved for straight, white, skinny folks. “Burn the Floor,” however, kicks glitter in the face of that idea. But this video was not just a happy accident. It’s the result of an open casting call that Drake put out in Ottawa, Canada. The people you’re seeing in the video are a cross section of the actual queer community in Ottawa, and that’s why the video feels so honest and authentic.
As Jensen told Record World Magazine, “I was blown away by the turnout and the joy is evident in the video.”
He went on to say, “The LGBTQ community has suffered a lot of divisiveness lately and I’m hoping a song like this will bring everyone together and stop all the backbiting and nonsense.”
People in the LGBTQ+ community know what it’s like to be ostracized and rejected. Is it any wonder that drag, kink, and leather communities have always been an integral part of queer culture? The importance of “found family” is a recurring theme in our lives. This good-vibes-only video showcases the love, acceptance, and togetherness that are the very brick and mortar of so many queer spaces and scene venues.
Mainstream country music often only validates one kind of lifestyle, and if you don’t drive a tractor or live near a creek clean enough to go skinny dipping in, it often feels like you’re not invited to the party. “Burn the Floor” is a glitzy, flashy, gleefully ostentatious celebration of queer existence.
As if that wasn’t enough, it comes in two flavors: “Country Mix” and “Kinki Lounge Dance Mix”. Check ’em out: