KEVIN AVIANCE COMPLETES A 20-YEAR MUSICAL JOURNEY WITH SURPRISE DROP OF HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION
The nightlife icon expands his first full-length solo album in more than two decades with five new tracks, completing an unapologetic musical portrait of community, survival, self-love and rebirth
NEW YORK, NY — FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 2026 — Billboard chart-topping dance music pioneer, nightlife icon, and cultural trailblazer Kevin Aviance today announced the release of HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION via Chervana Music, expanding Kevin’s deeply personal 2025 album with five new tracks and bringing one of the most ambitious musical projects of his career into its final form.
Originally released in October 2025, HIPPOPOTAMUS! marked Aviance’s first full-length solo album in more than two decades, a sprawling body of work bringing together more than 20 years of music, nightlife, community, survival and self-discovery. The title itself captures the spirit of the project. For Aviance, HIPPOPOTAMUS! represented something large, fearless and unapologetic: music created without asking permission or worrying about whether everyone would understand it.
HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION opens with “HIPPOPALYPTIC,” a call to arms that sets the tone for the world of HIPPOPOTAMUS!. Across the record, Aviance moves between celebration and reflection, including “BEAUTIFUL,” a mantra of self-assurance and radical confidence, and “BLOODLINE,” his love letter to community, chosen family, and the music that connects them. The new album also includes “THAT PART,” Aviance’s collaboration with artist Sevndeep. Released earlier this year alongside a music video, the track brings together two generations of queer artistry over a relentless dance-floor pulse.
IN KEVIN'S WORDS:
“HIPPOPOTAMUS! is more than 20 years of my life and music molded into one body of work. I called it HIPPOPOTAMUS! because it needed to feel huge and unapologetic. I wasn't making this album wondering whether people would like it. I knew I needed to just make music and put it into the world. Recording this was incredibly emotional for me because every song holds a different piece of who I am: my community, my survival, my confidence, the club, the people I love, and the person I've become. Now, with Deluxe, this chapter and era finally feels complete, and I’m ready for you to experience it with me. HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION is the full thought, the full emotion, and baby, it’s the full Kevin Aviance.”
5 NEW TRACKS COMPLETE THE STORY:
HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION adds five new tracks that extend the album's emotional and musical world.
“SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET HERE” dives directly into Aviance's enduring love of disco, channeling the drums, movement and release of the dance floor.
“THE DOLLS” is a protest record created in support of trans women and celebrating their power, beauty, and resilience. Rooted particularly in Aviance's love for Black and Brown trans women, the track carries a simple and urgent call to the wider community: protect the dolls.
“THE AVIANCE” captures Kevin’s raw electricity of entering a club: his confidence, presence, and energy that comes from walking into a room fully knowing who you are. That feeling? That’s The Aviance, darling.
“OF GOLDEN SUN” turns toward rebirth and renewal. The track reflects on Aviance's ability to begin again, finding another opportunity for transformation with every new day and every setting sun, in collaboration with international DJ and longtime co-producing partner DJ Gomi
The expanded album also gives special attention to “C*NTY,” a new collaboration between Aviance and DJ Gomi. The release revisits the language, attitude, and unmistakable energy that have followed Aviance throughout his career, filtered through a creative partnership that has helped shape his sound for years.
For more than three decades, Aviance has helped define the sound, attitude and visual language of queer nightlife. His catalog includes club staples “Cunty (The Feeling),” “Din Da Da,” “Rhythm Is My Bitch,” “Alive” and “Give It Up.” In 2022, Beyoncé sampled Aviance on “PURE/HONEY” from her Grammy-winning album RENAISSANCE, bringing renewed attention to a voice and attitude that has influenced generations of dance music and queer culture.
With HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION, Aviance gathers those decades of sound, survival, and influence into a single body of work, not as a retrospective, but as a declaration of who Kevin Aviance is now.
HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION is streaming NOW.
HIPPOPOTAMUS! DELUXE EDITION — TRACK LIST
- HIPPOPALYPTIC
- TV SHOW INTERLUDE
- PULLED
- BEAUTIFUL
- SQUIRREL INTERLUDE
- POSSIBLE
- GUESS WHAT
- THE ONLY THING
- THAT PART
- BODY
- GREATNESS
- WHAT A FRIEND
- TIME TO TRY
- BLOODLINE
- C*NTY (DJ Gomi x Kevin Aviance)
- SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET HERE
- THE DOLLS
- AMBIANCE
- OF GOLDEN SUN
- BLOODLINE (Groove Mix)
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ABOUT KEVIN AVIANCE: Billboard chart-topping dance music pioneer, nightlife icon, and cultural trailblazer Kevin Aviance has helped shape queer culture and dance music for more than three decades. A member of the legendary House of Aviance, he became a defining presence in New York nightlife and built an enduring catalog of club anthems including “Cunty (The Feeling),” “Din Da Da,” “Rhythm Is My Bitch,” “Alive” and “Give It Up.”
His influence reached a new generation when Beyoncé sampled Aviance's voice on “PURE/HONEY” from her Grammy-winning 2022 album RENAISSANCE. HIPPOPOTAMUS! marked Aviance's first full-length solo album in more than 20 years and a new chapter in a career built on fearless self-expression, survival and liberation.
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