VIA PRESS RELEASE | Today, Russian protest art collective Pussy Riot’s release “Laugh It Off” featuring New York based artist Vérité and multi-dimensional rapper Latashá, the second track from the upcoming project to be released via Neon Gold Records (Charli XCX, MARINA, Christine and the Queens etc) later this year. Another powerful pop knockout, like “Punish” co-written by the Swedish Grammy-nominated artist Tove Lo, who assumes the role of executive producer for the forthcoming project as well.
The song will be made available to NFT collectors as a 150 piece limited edition series via the Sound.xyz platform. “Laugh It Off” comes complete with a visual by Berlin-based 3D artist Ksti Hu. Nadya Tolokonnikova elaborates on “Laugh It Off,” released specifically on International Day of Gender Equality, “Women-identified and LGBTQ+ people don’t need to be empowered, we need tools and funds to empower ourselves.”
Vérité says: “Laugh It Off “is such an appropriate title to this song because as women existing in male dominated spaces, we’re constantly expected to be accommodating and deflect strange, presumptuous behavior gracefully and without ruffling any feathers. Collaborating with PussyRiot & Latashá, these unapologetically strong women who don’t give a fuck about playing nice and whose mission is supporting and amplifying female, non-binary and LGBTQ+ voices in music and beyond feels right and I’m stoked for the world to hear it.”
Latashá says:“Big love for Vérité and Nadya, two of my faves. Really excited to have laced this track with a verse to add to the incredible power that it ignites.” About the upcoming project, Tove Lo adds: “Getting to enter Nadya’s world and be a part of this project is my pussy power passion project! She’s an iconic artist with an incredible life story who goes into everything with a bigger purpose. I hope we all get to live in the Pussyverse!”
ABOUT PUSSY RIOT | Conceptual artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova, founding member of Pussy Riot, a global feminist protest art movement. Today, hundreds of people identify as a part of the Pussy Riot community.
Was sentenced in 2012 to 2 years’ imprisonment following an anti-Putin performance. Went through a hunger strike protesting savage prison conditions and ended up being sent to a Siberian penal colony, where she managed to maintain her artistic activity and with her prison punk band she put together to tour around Siberian labor camps. Published a book Read and Riot: Pussy Riot’s Guide to Activism. Co-founder of independent news service and media outlet, Mediazona. Has spoken before the US Congress, British Parliament, European Parliament, appeared as herself on season 3 of House of Cards, performed at Banksy’s Dismaland exhibition.
Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayer was named by The Guardian among the best art pieces of the 21st century (“feminist, explicitly anti-Putin, protesting the banning of gay pride and the Orthodox church’s support of the president”), collaborated with Banksy on his Dismaland exhibition, endorsed by Marina Abramovic and Ai Weiwei, created an immersive experience in Saatchi gallery in London. Pussy Riot joined the NFT community in early 2021, co-founded UnicornDAO and started UkraineDAO, is a PleasrDAO member, a supporter of a stronger female representation in the NFT space.
Pussy Riot stands for gender fluidity, inclusivity, matriarchy, love, laughter, decentralization, anarchy, and anti-authoritarianism.
ABOUT VÉRITÉ | The last two years fundamentally shifted how Vérité is approaching her world. As an independent artist, her career has always been an exploration of how to create and build outside traditional structures and the current landscape feels like familiar terrain for the artist, who’s learned how to thrive while hustling in uncertainty. A prolific and “spellbinding” (NPR) songwriter, executive producer and performer, her independently produced albums, EPs and singles have garnered 350M+ streams across all platforms with 1M+ monthly listeners. She has become a leader in pushing what is possible as an independent artist while bridging the gap between tech, artists, and fans.
ABOUT LATASHÁ | Latashá is the epitome of a polymath creatrix. A multi-hyphenated entrepreneurial artist, Latasha is an NFT Music pioneer and Head of Community at NFT protocol ZORA by day. By nite, She is singer-songwriter, rapper, producer. and performance artist. Her heart-work is in forging her theories and stories of Black femininity, self-empowerment, autonomy, love, and transcendence into all that she voices and using technology from NFT’s to Midi controllers to bring her experiences to new dimensions. She has toured across the world with her work “BLAK”, and “Teen Nite at Empire” bringing audiences energy and visuals that bring you into her world. She has also spoken at various conferences from SXSW to ETH Hackathon about her walks as a fully independent artist finding her own path through success. She is currently focused on a new album for 2023 and continuing initiatives in the NFT community like her educational meets festival platform ZORATOPIA, focused on onboarding artists, especially marginalized to the forefront of crypto, tech and blockchain.
