“I love songs about sex,” Kim Petras tells Apple Music. “It's such a good topic.” The German-born, LA-based singer and songwriter first achieved attention through viral singles in 2017, starting with the synth-driven “I Don't Want It at All”, and has since become a top-tier name when it comes to heady dance-pop that celebrates excess and feels made for the club floor. Her 2022 EP Slut Pop—which came out just in time for Valentine’s Day—is a high-energy, gleefully sex-positive release that’s as fun as it is explicit. And it’s really, really explicit. It was inspired by “a bunch of Euro shit from my childhood, like Scooter or Mousse T.—‘Horny [’98]’,” Petras explains. “I was listening to a lot of Ayesha Erotica, a lot of Nadia Oh. It just easily came out.” Petras is easily one of the most high-profile transgender people making pop and dance music today—and though her music doesn’t concern itself with gender politics or ideologies, her presence is, in its own way, building visibility and contributing to the acceptance and normalisation of transgender bodies and people. “I think it's important to be positive about that stuff,” Petras says. “I have a lot of fans that are sex workers and things like that. I’m transgender and that's a part of the community. I don't want people to feel ashamed about having sex.” Reflecting on her biggest transgender inspirations, Petras immediately mentions SOPHIE, the Scottish producer who passed away in January 2021. “It's crazy now to listen back and remember when I found her on SoundCloud,” Petras says. “The PC Music gang just started, it was underground, and then it trickled into everything. I want to celebrate her forever and make sure that name stays out there.” Beyond SOPHIE, the list continues: Honey Dijon. Chase Icon. Ayesha Erotica. But decades earlier came one of her biggest influences: the French singer, artist and model Amanda Lear. “If you go back all the way, she was a disco queen in the ’70s,” Petras says. “No one knew she was transgender, and she had all these massive hits in Europe. Then, later, people found out and it was a big scandal.” For Petras, Lear is testament to the fact that transgender people in music are nothing new, nothing shocking. “It’s really crazy that sometimes it feels like there's still backwards progress happening on trans issues,” she says. “Because it's been around, and music has been such an accepting place. In sessions, I wouldn't say that I'm trans. People would find out, but they’d work with me because they thought I was dope. If you’re dope, it doesn't matter what you are. If your music's good, it doesn't matter. So these artists are really inspiring to me and are a big part of me that I carry around forever.” Beyond her own trans community, Petras’ electronic influences stretch across Europe and beyond. “The Prodigy, anything Ed Banger, Uffie, Daft Punk, Justice,” she says. “Also, there is obviously Kylie Minogue, there is Madonna—the really poppy side that I have always loved. There's Gaga, Cher, Prince. I have never stopped inspired being by Prince. I don't think anybody should ever stop being inspired by Prince.” More recent inspirations for the artist are Charli XCX, who Petras describes as a “legit artist and a legit writer—I love when people love writing pop,” and Nicki Minaj, who she calls “another very explicit queen”. While this playlist documents Petras’ own influences, it’s also an opportunity to highlight the influence her visibility can have on others—particularly young trans, gender-diverse and questioning people seeking representation in arts and entertainment. “You really only have this one life to be happy,” she says. “I know for a lot of transgender people, it's survival.” For those who look to her, or who are struggling with their own identity, she shares words of wisdom: “I just want you to know, there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and you deserve to be seen, and you deserve to be respected and accepted. Fuck what other people say about it.”