Butch Lesbian Icon Rio Romeo on Their New Single, Bet

As far as LGBTQ+ creators are concerned, no one is doing more than Rio Romeo (@riodoeseverything on TikTok and Instagram). February is a big month for them with the approach of the one year anniversary of their breakout hit “Butch 4 Butch,” and as we all gear up for the release of their follow-up single “Bet.” We at Gaygenda sat down with Rio to talk about their music and the whirlwind of a year they’ve had.

Rio currently has over 400K followers on TikTok, their go-to platform for releasing their music and talking about their experiences. In late 2020, Rio posted a short TikTok teasing a song they were working on that instantly became a huge success.

Soon after that TikTok was posted, Rio was in a terrible skateboarding accident that caused them to suffer through a traumatic brain injury and chronic pain; they endured both with little help from the American healthcare system for months. Certain doctors they saw refused to believe them, others tried to blame their issues on past substance abuse, and others were condescending and dismissive. Eventually, Rio was able to get into a pain management program that actually helped them a lot. In our interview, Rio said they were currently seeing a ton of specialists, going to physical therapy, and genuinely feeling so much better that they sometimes forget to take their pain medicine.

The recording of “Butch 4 Butch” came in the months after the accident. The clip Rio posted on TikTok was so popular and the community wanted more, so Rio felt a ton of pressure to get it out there. Rio recalled that the recording of “Butch 4 Butch” was “pretty miserable” since they were still suffering from a severe concussion and in terrible pain. Still, Rio got the song out there and it currently has over 12 million plays on Spotify.

None of this would have been possible without Rio’s longtime girlfriend. They started dating only a few weeks prior to the skateboarding accident and she dropped everything to be there for Rio. She was crucial to Rio’s recovery and helped them record the song. A year later, they’re still happily together. On the one year anniversary of “Butch 4 Butch” (February 14th), Rio will be releasing a brand new song called “Bet,” which they described as a love letter to their girlfriend. It’s totally different than anything they’ve ever released with its romantic, slow-dancy, waltz type sound.

A Review of ‘Bet‘

Rio gave me permission to listen to the song in preparation for this article and since we wrote about Rio for the magazine back in September, I’ve been a huge fan; so it was really an honor to get to hear this song early. Not only does this song prove how much Rio loves their girlfriend, it also shows how versatile and talented Rio is. During our interview, Rio said they were worried that when this song releases on Valentine’s Day it’ll make the lonely lesbians of the world even lonelier. I wish I had someone to dance to this song with on Valentine’s Day. It’s just so romantic and sweet and beautiful. Rio really knocks it out of the park with this one—but we really shouldn’t expect anything less from them.

If you didn’t read our first interview with Rio, you can read it by getting the first edition of Gaygenda Magazine (and the second one if you like what you read). Be sure to check Spotify on February 14th (Rio Romeo) to hear their new track “Bet.” You should also go follow them on all their socials, and get access to exclusive behind-the-scenes content and artwork by following their Patreon (riodoeseverything).

We want to say a big thank you to Rio Romeo for sitting down with us once again and helping us spread the Gay Agenda.