A combination of gruff rap and beats that sound like "Tetris" on crystal meth, Mykki Blanco is equal parts Marilyn Manson and DMX. She is also the female alter ego of 28-year-old California native and former Chicagoan Michael Quattlebaum Jr., and you likely aren't familiar with his music.
That's a shame; on 3 mixtapes/EPs (with a full-length debut arriving in October), he's explored sounds ranging from juke to riot grrrl-leaning punk, stretching the limits of what rap is considered to be. From his magnificently conceived but still-jarring video clips to making headlines for events like his May arrest in Portugal ("for being gay," he wrote on his Facebook page), if your taste level begins and ends with milquetoast pop divas you might want to stay home the next time Mykki Blanco comes to town.
"I would consider myself a very visible underground performer that's not fully in the mainstream," the rapper, who now lives in New York, said by phone. "It's that odd space where if I put something out, blogs will post it without me sending out a press release. At the same time, you ask Joe on the street who Mykki Blanco is, and he'll probably say, "Who the [bleep] is that?"
I talked to Le1f a few months ago, and he expressed concern about the "gay rap" movement music writers lumped both of you into a few years ago. It seemed like acts like the two of you and Cakes Da Killa got pigeonholed.
It's true! When that whole gay rap thing happened, I kept thinking, "I gotta find an exit and make sure people know I'm different." I've made certain decisions in my career that maybe weren't the most popular decisions at the time to avoid that pigeonholing. In a certain sense, Le1f might feel more of that because he has a more mainstream appeal than I do. I've really worked hard to let people know that I'm a FREAK freak. I've really, really, really tried to embrace that. That idea of me just being a rapping drag queen is two years old now. That was subversive for 2012. It's not anymore, so now I'm going to do what's subversive now.
You're originally from California but earned a scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Yeah, I dropped out after a while. My Chicago experience was two completely different things: There was a huge underground scene-warehouse parties, a real bohemian culture--that was very nurturing. The other side was dark. Nowadays, you can walk down State Street in skinny jeans and no one says anything. When I lived there, we would get harassed all the time. Somebody threw a full two-liter of soda at my friends and I one time. I've never lived in a place where people have had such a problem with people looking different than they do than in Chicago.
You left and have come back a few times since. Has anything changed to you?
It was crazy because I left for a few months, and when I came back everything changed. My friends and I used to be so weird, but now we're the normal kids. We used to get called names and now it's cool, haha. The place has changed so much.
For the better?
I'd say it's finally cool to be weird in Chicago. [Laughs]
You've got a new record coming out in October ...
Yes, and I'm working my butt off right now. We're looking at the week of October 13th. It's called "Gay Dog Food," and it'll have hip-hop influences but won't be a hip hop album. Honestly, it's going to be a reflection of my live shows. My show is a very punk thing; always has been. When I went out with [now-defunct rap group] Death Grips on my first tour, they had this insane energy, and it reminded me of bands that I came up listening to. They would fill the room with their sound. They created this energy that took you over. You don't want to dance; you want to mosh. I have this song called "Riot" (off of 2012's "Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss") that's a juke track but starts a mosh pit every time we play it live. After that Death Grips tour, I swore that my next release would be electronic music that give you the feeling of a hard punk rock show. "Gay Dog Food" has that.
Rap album that's "not a rap album," noise and punk influences, insane live show ... gotta ask, how many "Yeezus" comparisons have you heard by now?
[Laughs] I knew that was coming eventually. When that album came out, I got hit up on Twitter by all kinds of folks. Saying things like, "Someone in Kanye's camp must have been listening to Mykki Blanco" or something.
Do you feel ripped off?
To be honest, it made me happy. I'm happy a record like that came out because it made people who've never heard that kind of music ready, like it prepared their ears for something new. I'm so ready for people to hear the new stuff that I had a conversation with my management, and they were worried I wasn't going to play any of my hits or that I would commit career suicide ...
...Like your old tourmates Death Grips? People understand subversiveness and those punk aesthetics, but that doesn't mean you crap on the people who paid to see you.
This is the thing. When it comes to any sort of negative reaction to your art, you just keep working. All that controversy goes away with work. I wanted to do an alternative album. That's "Gay Dog Food." Now I'm already booking sessions for the new rap-focused album. If you don't like this one, another one you like is coming. If you don't like the weird stuff, I got commercial stuff coming. You keep working. Remember when people didn't like Rick Ross? Remember when people didn't like Beyonce? Ignore the other stuff and keep working.
Mykki Blanco, Oct. 4 at a secret location, $20. Go to Via2014.com for details.
erwilkins@tribune.com, @ernestwilkins
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