Queer hip-hop artist Mykki Blanco is more interesting than a Twitter hashtag. Though Blanco might have made headlines after experiencing an alleged homophobic incident on a Delta airlines flight and getting a “Fuck Trump” tattoo in Paris, Blanco’s music is more intriguing.
With distorted punk, a cameo from Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, and queer-centric lyrics, Blanco’s 2014 mixtape Gay Dog Food challenged the rap rulebook and played outside the genre’s rigid lines. On Mykki—Blanco’s studio debut released in September 2016—punk, pop, dance, industrial, and even string music all make appearances.
How has the persona of Mykki Blanco as sort of this fantasy character/alter ego evolved over the years into the album you just released?
Mykki Blanco began as a performance art project. But over time, what’s been awesome is that I’ve really been able to meld Mykki with my own personality, playing with characterization, and with just letting Mykki Blanco be kind of like a palate, a blank slate for many of the other theatrical ideas I’ve had.
With this album, I really wanted to create something that people would listen to and say oh, so this is what Mykki Blanco is actually like. I talk about drug addiction and coming out as HIV positive—and other very personal things I share on the album. I really just want to continue to use Mykki Blanco as a platform. Hip-hop is the catalyst that has enabled me to have a platform, and I do musically want to go places where I haven’t been, but I also want to use Mykki Blanco in a more interdisciplinary way, too.