Get ready world, because Mykki Blanco has put out a new track to bring in the new year with, and it's fierce. In case you don't religiously scour the pages of Spin or Pitchfork, Mykki Blanco, the alter ego of poet/artist/Renaissance man Michael David Quattlebaum Jr, is a fearless and talented rapper based in New York who is about to take the world by storm, if the slow build of bigger and bigger gigs and more and more coverage is anything to go by. Blanco is part of a new wave of transgender and queercore rappers sweeping the nation, and although hir star power might not yet be as strong as Le1f or Nicky Da B, ze's already a force to be reckoned with in the worlds of music and fashion.
"Wavvy" and "Haze Boogie Life," off of hir latest mixtape Cosmic Angel were my summer tracks, but Mykki Blanco's newest single, "Booty Bamboo" is the addictive tune that's going to carry us all grooving into 2014. It combines hir brash rapping style with a beat that you'd have to be comatose not to move to. Here are the top seven reasons you need to start listening to Mykki Blanco right now, so put down your silly Drake CD's, turn off the Childish Gambino you've had on repeat for a month now, and get moving.
1) Because ze's repping NYC, and giving all of us a good name
Mykki Blanco rose from the streets of Harlem, was nurtured by the downtown art scene, and represents all that is amazing about this multi-culti magical place that is New York City. Ze is hot, capable and ready to conquer the rest of the nation, but one of my favorite things about hir music is that it always reminds me of home.
2) Once you start listening to hir music, you will not be able to stop
I've had "Wavvy" on repeat for months now, and it's still one of the first songs I listen to when I'm in the mood to dance. I'll get back to you all in March, but I've no doubt that "Booty Bamboo" is going to be much the same.
3) Hir music videos and general aesthetic are a visual treat
The outfits, the hair, the cinematography, it's all glorious and worthy of a thousand watches and listens and considerations. The cover art for "Booty Bamboo" is evocative of scribbles in a sexually explicit notebook, and the videos I've watched for "Head Is A Stone," "Join My Militia," "Wavvy," and "Haze.Boogie.Life" are all sumptuously styled, gorgeously shot, and wonderfully executed in general. At the risk of sounding like a pretentious loser, Blanco's videos illustrate just how far an artistic vision and cohesive concept go in the making of a star.
4) Music mags cannot stop talking about hir
Which is fair enough, shit is catchy as all hell. I challenge you to listen to hir album and not wish you were hir just a little bit.
5) Because ze also has the loveliest speaking voice
Check out the beginning sequence of "Wavvy" and wish that you knew Mykki personally. I'm often obsessed by people's speaking voices, but hir voice and way of speaking is as gorgeous as hir songs. All hail Mykki Blanco.
6) It is absolutely imperative that we all revere hir, and convince hir to do a song or an entire album with Zebra Katz
Mykki Blanco and Zebra Katz are like two sides of the same sexy coin, talented queer rappers, who need need need to do a project together or my head will actually explode. Go listen to Zebra Katz's hit single "Ima Read", featuring Njena Redd Foxxx and just imagine the aural beauty that would come of a Mykki/Zebra venture. If you're crying silent tears, that's probably the right reaction.
7) Because you're sick to death of overhyped artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, etc.
Not to say that any of these artists are bad, merely that there is so much interesting stuff going on in the world of hip-hop that it seems high time to give these big names a rest and give some of the new kids the spotlight. Sure, you could watch Kanye's video for "Bound 2" for the zillionth time, or you could switch it up with some Mykki Blanco. Personally, I know what I'd choose.
