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It is impossible for any musician, at any level, to 100 percent prevent the leaking of music. Beyoncé, Madonna, Radiohead, Kanye West and Harry Styles are among the superstars who’ve fallen victim to leaks of upcoming albums this century, and less than a year ago it happened to Taylor Swift, with The Tortured Poets Department. But in the fast-and-loose, run-and-gun world of underground hip-hop, where previewing snippets of often unfinished music weeks and months before a project drops is de rigueur, leaked music is a chronic problem.

No one in next-gen rap was more plagued by the scourge in 2024 than OsamaSon, the South Carolina-raised and now LA-based young gun. Born Amari Middleton, who thanks to a string of 2021-22 singles and two buzz-generating mixtapes, OsamaSeason and Flex Musix, made quick work of rising to the top tier of the scene, throughout 2023. Last year, it was poised to take the kinetic 21-year-old even higher – and it did, but it was far from according to plan. A series of leaks, including one in May resulting from a phone hack in which literally hundreds of tracks were stolen, made for a gutting time. Lil O’s only new music drops last year were a collab EP with Glozz40Spaz, a handful of singles, including the summertime stunner with aura prince Nettspend, “Withdrawals,” the fall tracks “ik what you did last summer” and “The Whole World Is Free.”

Still, anticipation built for OsamaSon’s third mixtape Jump Out, ready to go after several reconfigurations, until it too was leaked on Christmas Eve. So it was back to the drawing board for another track revision, followed by yet another leak in January, at which point O cut his losses and dropped the record, a few weeks ahead of schedule. Promo plans were upended, there was an anticlimactic feel to it – it was enough to leave a young rage rapper truly enraged, or at least bummed. But it was out, and the good news? After all that, Jump Out is a hit, at least by underground standards. It’s cracked the Billboard 200, it got a more-than-respectable 8.2 from Pitchfork, and O’s notoriously picky and extremely online fans have mostly embraced it.

Jump Out delivers more of the rowdy, dizzying cyclone of sounds OsamaSon’s come to be known for: wiry, swirling synths over 808s on the grind – the most bone-rattling tracks, like “Frontin” and “New Tune” are already fan favorites, but share space with the bright, tuneful “Made Some Plans” and “Luv.” O’s vocals are sometimes crisp and sometimes blurry and buried. And if every lyric isn’t completely discernible, that’s okay. Or, rather, that’s “ok,” as in, producer wegonbeok, OsamaSon’s right-hand man on Jump Out. There is no more in-demand beatmaker in the new wave at the moment. Two months ago, ok (William Minnix) was executive producer on Nettspend’s first major tape, Badassfuckingkid, and he assumes the same role on Jump Out, to even more compelling effect.

The two Carolinians (OsamaSon is from Goose Creek, SC, while ok hails from Charlotte, NC) partnered on 15 of the deluxe version’s 20 tracks, while the balance of the tape was done by O’s other longtime partners, members of the international beatmaking collective Draco.fm, including legion, skai, Warren Hunter and gyro. It’s a celebratory record, focused more on successes than frustrations, flexing harder than Flex Musix. “Lil O, big boss bully” the rapper proclaims himself on the quotable standout “I Got the Fye,” adding, “I don’t pass out no hugs, bitch, catch a slug.” Racks are in abundance on Jump Out, as is fashion. Women are needy and weapons are ubiquitous: Glocks, TECs, Dracos and MACs: on “Waffle House” he cleverly wields a MAC for “Mack” – a reference to London artist Phreshboyswag, an erstwhile member of Xaviersobased’s 1c collective with whom Lil O has had an extended, if inconsequential, beef.

Amari Middleton is not one to let music pirating chuds get him down for too long. He’s too busy continuing on an upward trajectory and Jump Out, with its confident, often taunting air, feels like an assertion that he’s ready to take another step up. In underground hip-hop, conventional wisdom holds there is almost no such thing as dropping too much music — a mixtape or EP twice, even three times a year, along with multiple loosies, is par for the course. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say: disappear for too long and the attention-challenged fans are on to the next one. So for OsamaSon to go for all of 2024 without a new project and still remain at or near the top of his world is remarkable. Part of that achievement is due to successful tours – he feels he’s leveled up his live shows, including playing at three 2024 Rolling Louds – and a wellspring of support from followers who sense he has much more to offer.

“They used to call me Lil O, hit a M, now I’m Big O” OsamaSon boasts on Jump Out’s “Logo,” and it’s hard to argue with him. With a Jump Out headline tour set to launch in late March and plans to spend most of the year wilding up mosh pits worldwide, don’t be surprised if this time next year, he is an even bigger O who’s transcended what anyone can reasonably call “underground.” Even Lil Uzi Vert has taken notice, recently posting a surprise snippet of himself rapping over Lil O’s “Freestyle,” sending the underground into momentary overdrive. Two days later, PAPER sat down in Lower Manhattan with OsamaSon.

O, I usually start by congratulating artists on their latest project but in your case it’s really congratulations, because I feel like you guys have had so much to overcome to get to where we are right now with Jump Out, with all the repeated leaks and reconfigurations and postponements. Do you feel even more gratified that despite all that the record has gotten a great reception these past few weeks?

Yeah. I’m not gonna lie, there’s actually been a lot of times when I’ve sat back and thought of this and I’ve been – I don’t want to say a depression state, but for a few months after everything that happened, that got leaked, I did feel like I was in a pretty bad space, where I didn’t feel like I was myself anymore. I didn’t feel like I had control over anything.

Around the end of last year?

More so the middle of last year, or I’d say around my birthday, in May.

When the big leak happened? [a reported 400 tracks]

Yeah, when that happened, the Iron Maiden shit started going on around the same time [the metal band reportedly threatened a lawsuit over O’s use of an image they claimed was too close to one of their longtime ghoul mascot, Eddie], there was just a lot of shit hurtling and adding on top of it. So I was in a pretty bad space. And it didn’t take me to realize that until towards the end of 2024, when I had people telling me like, “Yo, this isn’t the same Osama. This isn’t the same Osama that I knew that wanted this shit,” you feel me? It was like, “You letting this weak shit get to you.” And so I started to realize that I was letting it get to me too much. But at the same time, I was pretty mad about it, thinking, “Why did they do this to me? What did I do to deserve this?” On the good side, it was like – I didn’t really have to drop last year. Because of the leaks. And I don’t wanna say I’m blessed for that, cause I did want to drop. But there’s not a lot of people that can just go without dropping and have their music get received so well that they still score raves, no matter if they release it or not.

I have to ask you about what everyone’s been talking about in the past 48 hours which is this video of Uzi doing his thing over your “Freestyle” – did you know that was coming?

[laughs] Nah, I didn’t know it was coming.

So what was your reaction, and…

I mean, I seen it, I think I was in the car and falling asleep on the way to the hotel, until I got to the hotel, and people were tagging me and shit, and texting me – and I just wanted to sleep! I didn’t really know what was going on? Obviously I got a hell of a lot of notifications, and then I woke up and I seen it, and I was just like, “Oh, Uzi just exploded!” He was just goin’ brazy. I been knowing him for a minute. We got introduced by some mutual friends.

There was a rumor there last year that you guys might be collaborating.

Yeah I don’t know where the rumor came from, but that was around the time that we was locked in. But I didn’t tell nobody, or it wasn’t something that I wanted to announce publicly, cause I just don’t feel the need to do that. There’s a lot of people that have reached out to me, a lot of my favorite artists, personally, people that I have listened to growing up, especially in the underground scene. But I don’t feel the need to broadcast that, or show that to everybody, you feel me?

What new songs seem to be really connecting? I know I’ve seen a lot of fans talking about “I Got the Fye” and “Ref” and “Logo,” which is a bonus track.

It’s hard for me to tell you because, as I’m going through the comments, every time I check a song they’ll be like, “Aw, I know I said that last one was my favorite, but this one is really my favorite!” And I been checking that now, as the project has been out for like a week or ten days, people are coming back and they’re like, “Yo, I know I said this shit was ass, but I was tripping, this shit is really like top 10 on the tape!” [Laughs]

But the real heavy hitters, that I know for sure are knockouts, are “Frontin,” “Ref” – I feel like “I Got the Fye” is getting received a lot. “Southside” – I feel like a lot of people like the intro. Or you can call it “C-Note” – some people call it “C-Note.” Those ones – and “New Tune” – that was a snippet that people was wanting since I was on tour, cause I was previewing that while I was on tour.

When the big leak happened, last May, were you completely blindsided? Do you remember your reaction?

I was embarrassed. I’m not gon’ lie. I can tell you that I ended up getting a text from [veteran Atlanta producer] Zaytoven, on Twitter. It wasn’t Zaytoven though, it was somebody who had hacked into his account. And I thought it was really Zaytoven cause people followed him and shit, and I was like, “Oh shit this actually might be Zaytoven.” And they sent me a link, and I clicked the link and shit, and it was just ripped from there. But I didn’t know, literally until the next morning. I hopped on the beats that “Zaytoven” – quote unquote – had sent, all that shit. And I woke up the next morning, and it was like, “Damn.” And we were already going through a little bit of n—-s selling our songs and shit, leaking and shit, but that was just from people sending it around. Now they had my whole vault, my whole phone, everything in my phone, from my pictures to my notes to my messages and contacts. I woke up and they was telling me, “Yo they’re selling all your music! How’d they get your music?” I’m like, “It could only be one thing. I did text ‘Zaytoven’ last night,” and we just figured it out. We got in touch with his son, and he was like, “Yeah it was hacked.”

This might be a question that’s asking you guys to get into the minds of someone who would do that, but I’ve been covering piracy and/or leak stories for a long time, and I’ve still never understood what would make someone want to do that, other than, to prove that they can.

People just want to be known for something.

But you can’t seriously call yourself a “fan” and …

But they genuinely are fans, though, because these same kids will have me as their profile picture! These kids look up to me, brah, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it I’m texting the hackers that’s hacking my phone, and – I found the hacker that hacked my phone one time. And I go to his profile picture, right? And it’s literally me. And I’ve never texted this kid, he follows me, everything. I text him, right. I’m like, “Yo, how are you leaking my shit, you’re hacking my shit, but you’re a whole fucking fan?” And goes on to reply, “I barely even know you! I know nothing about you! I’m not a fan of shit!” He goes and changes his profile picture from me to some random. You feel me, so it’s like – they just don’t like being caught, but they are fans for real.

There are plenty of fashion shout-outs on Jump Out, and I asked [O’s publicist] Sam the other day if you had done any modeling, cause it seems like a natural for you. You’re 6’ 2” – you haven’t been approached to do any runway shows or anything?

Nah. I think I need a modeling agent!

But it’s something you would consider.

Yeah, but I mean I do have crazy anxiety, so I probably would be nervous to do it. I’m not gonna sit here and say, “I’m ready to just jump in and do it!” [laughs]

Sam: Well you killed it today!

Yeah. Well photo shoots is a little bit easier, you feel me. And I think I’m a pretty good-looking guy, I don’t think I really got any bad features about myself…

That’s why I’m saying you would be a natural! And so, as far as all the guns — the Glocks and TECs and Dracos and MAC mentions on the record – I will say there is a MAC, or “Mack” bar that keeps getting all the attention, which you posted about the other day, from “Waffle House,” I guess people who know, will know who – a certain Brit [Phreshboyswag] — you are talking about.

[Laughs]

That lyric – what is it, “I’m gonna spill his beans”? I don’t know, is that, do people make more out of that as a beef than there actually is?

It’s just a bar. [Smiles]

Yeah? So it’s not some serious like feud going on.

Yo, some people aren’t even allowed to leave the place that they’re in? So it’s like – you can’t beef with nobody that can’t travel. You feel me, so it doesn’t even make sense.

Fair enough. One thing there’s not a lot of on the record is drug mentions. There’s a “percs in my piss” line on “Going Dumbo” and a drank reference on “Made Sum Plans.” But that’s about it. And I went back and looked at OsamaSeason from two years ago and there’s X mentions, and Xan mentions all over, on like “Summer Sixteen” and “Werkin” – but I don’t see as much of that now. Is that a reflection of where you’re at?

It is, man! I’m getting older. When I was a kid, trying to do everything I seen, trying to be super influenced by the rappers. But now I’m an influencer and I’m getting older, so I’m not trying to rap about shit like that no more. I’m not trying to rap about being off X all day, and getting jet lagged and shit. That’s not even that cool, that shit hurts your body. Like, doing those drugs, you get a short, a quickness of happiness, and then your body’s fucked up, you get things called withdrawals, if you can’t afford that shit. And this is nothing that I feel like I – since I’m older now and I understand it a lot more – that I should be just promoting in every line. You feel me? There’s a bar in there [on “I Got the Fye”] that says, “I’m addicted to cash, these boys addicted to drugs.” And that’s not even about anybody specific. But if you feel like it’s about you? Then you might have a problem!

There’s another line about people getting “geeked on benzos” – it feels like there’s more of you observing others on drugs. Do you get what I’m saying?

Mm hmm. I’m a good observer, bruh. I like to watch people, I like to see how people think, how people react to certain shit. I’m a good observer.

It reminds me of the “Flxr” video from last year, and what I loved about that was –I loved the messaging in the graphics. That whole thing about “How do I download motivation?” and you’re like, first, “Get the fuck out of bed!” “Do your homework, meet new people, explore new things” – it might seem like no-brainer advice, but I think some people need to be told that.

Yeah. People – shit, I’m not gon’ lie, some of the messages in that video? I be needing that shit! Sometimes I be needing it. And all of those messages aren’t specifically coming from me. Those aren’t quotations from me. It’s really my editor, Stan. He’s a super, he’s motivational, you could ask him, “What’s your favorite thing about Jump Out?” and he would send you a three-paragraph essay, and break it down. That’s just the type of person he is. He loves motivating people.

Is it kind of coming from that same place of motivation in the new song “Room 156” where you say, “Bitch you won’t know if you never try to go”?

Yeah I feel like it’s the same shit, it’s the same motivational thing. But it’s all in how you take shit. I feel like all my lyrics, it’s just – how you feel about em is dependent on how you take it. Somebody might hear that line and think, “Oh this n—a just disrespected me, he just called me a bitch!” or somebody might hear that line and think, “Damn, you’re right! If I don’t try to go I would never know!” You feel me, you never know until you try it, you never know until you do it!

I mean, I’m curious if some of your fans may be in a place in their life where they don’t want to get the fuck out of bed because they feel like they have nothing to get out of bed for.

You have to make something to get out of bed for! Yo, sometimes I feel the same way. And sometimes I don’t get the fuck out of bed. But you have to make something to get out the bed. You have to make your life worth something, to get out the bed, and do something! Even if you don’t have something to do, make there something to do, make it a goal to wake up and – yo, when I make my bed up? That’s when all the plans start falling in line! All you gotta do is get up.

In “I Got the Fye” you call yourself the “big boss bully”? You don’t seem like a bully to me!

No, cause people be trying to bully me though. They be trying to bully me, so I gotta let em know I’m the bully, you feel me? If y’all wanna play the bully game, we can bully each other. I’ll be the big boss bully, It’s just me flexing, you know.

I just don’t know why, certain artists people seem to want to target for abuse. I talked to Rich Amiri about it back in December. I talked to Nett about the doubters and haters. And they often seem to happen for no good reason.

Yeah. You never know when you’ll get hit with it bruh.

But you don’t seem to be subjected to that, people seem to have a lot of good will towards you.

Nah, honestly, me – seeing everything that’s going on, I feel like I have been targeted like that. But I don’t know, they just pick and choose. But you shouldn’t feel bad about it. You should just roll with the punches and keep doing you. You can’t let em get to you, cause that’s how they break you. They’re trying to break you, that’s their whole goal. They’re trying to see if they can get a reaction out of you. They want to see if they can be the reason that Lil O quit! “Oh yeah, I texted Lil O and said this and then he deactivated! I did that!” you feel me, they want that type of shit, so you just can’t let them get to you. I feel like everybody has to go through it. There’s no point where somebody has the perfect career, where it’s like no hate, no hate, no hate.

At the end of the Well Well Well you did with Emwell [of Our Generation Music] a year ago, he had you write down negative words people had said about you, that you then smashed in a box?

Mm hmm

And one of them was “unlistenable” – which I think meant people who say they can’t understand your lyrics all the time? Is that still a thing?

Mm hmm. I don’t understand it, I feel like some people genuinely have like fucked up ears? But I hear snippets that I put out, or some shit, where I can hear the words perfectly. Everybody in the studio can hear the words perfectly, and I got fans texting me every single lyric perfectly. But then you got the vast majority of haters that’s getting like 20 thousand likes on their Twitter shit’s like, “How can y’all understand this? I can’t understand a single word he’s saying right now!” So I genuinely don’t understand. I don’t know if people are saying it just to joke, or if they genuinely can’t understand it.

I mean sometimes you want the vocals to be more up in the mix and sometimes you want em to be more buried, right?

They don’t understand that though. They’re not artists. I don’t think they would ever understand it, because as I became more and more of an artist, I started to understand.

Just to circle back, since 2024 didn’t necessarily play out because of unforeseen circumstances, exactly as you had planned – do you have a game plan all set for 2025?

I’m really trying to be on tour the whole of 2025. And just becoming him, becoming that it factor, a person everyone wants to go to, to represent their brand. So I’m gonna be working on that, my image, and really just performing hard.

I will just finish with what I said at the beginning that to see the year you just had and the setbacks – to see all the love that it seems to me you are getting from all corners. There’s no one really in your world, at your level at this moment, so hopefully you feel proud about that.

Thank you man. I am pretty proud of myself, but you know, I can always do better! I’m just striving to be greater and greater. I’m not done yet.

Photography: ANTONY RiDDLE

On a new track, a recipient of the gospel of Six Sex exclaims at the altar of the “princess of perreo”: “Thank you Six Sex, my ass is bigger!”

The club diva, co-signed by the likes of Charli xcx, caught up with PAPER ahead of the release of X-Sex. “It’s a transition, because I have, along the way, done different genres and styles of music,” she says. “My last EP was definitely club music, and this one has some sparks of that, but maybe transitions a little into pop music. I wanted to try new sounds, and try new textures in the music.” The aforementioned song is a sort of instruction manual for squats: “It literally says, ‘Step one,’ etc. It will maybe be called ‘My Ass Is Bigger’ or ‘How To Make My Ass Bigger.'”

There’s also a video in the works for the new EP, based on airplane safety manuals and her many travels over the last year. “We were looking at the drawings and started thinking: ‘Hey, maybe we could do something with this.’ Maybe giving instructions, but not for an emergency, of course, but for dancing,” she says.”

Fans will know this absurdly playful lyricism and tongue-in-cheek coyness already from songs like the delightful “U&ME,” one of the best tracks out last year, featuring the iconic line: “My boyfriend is gay/ My baby is shit/ My name is Six Sex/ My ass is too big.” Six Sex laughs as she speaks about the track’s inspiration: “Everything I write is real, but also slightly mixed with fiction.” According to Six, “That phrase comes from being on tour and constantly speaking to my gay friends. A lot of people just see this relationship like some girl and some guy, but there are so many ways that people can relate to each other, and I’m referring to that kind of emotional intimacy that you can have with someone.”

The answer reveals a rich underworld of the project Six Sex has been working towards the last four EPs, soon five, with a debut album in the works this year. Playful and coy and witty, sure, but with a deeper sense of purpose, a rich inner and outer world expressed through the medium of club and dance and pop music. Six Sex connects this to the success of Charli xcx’s Brat last year. “[The album was] maybe not so much an inspiration for me personally, but definitely an affirmation that when certain big, really valid artists talk about certain subjects like partying or clubbing or going out, drugs, everything, it makes other artists able to talk about certain subjects without feeling overexposed,” she says. “Especially female artists, to be able to talk about subjects we usually wouldn’t, and show ourselves in a truthful way instead of hiding some subjects because they are taboo.”

For more on Six Sex’s EP, out now, read our full interview below. A translator was utilized for parts of this interview, and it has been edited and condensed.

Your sense of humor comes through in a lot of songs and videos, like “My boyfriend is gay,” on “U&ME,” which went viral, at least on my side of the internet. Where does that playfulness come from?

Everything I write is real, but also slightly mixed with fiction. A big part of reality, some [aspects] of fiction. That phrase comes from being on tour and constantly speaking to my gay friends. So it was basically true, you know? A lot of people just see this relationship… some girl and some guy, but there are so many ways that people can relate to each other, and I’m referring to that kind of emotional intimacy that you can have with someone, even if it’s not heterosexual intimacy.

For example, when we were on tour, Leandro Vazquez, who is my creative director and my best friend, played a lot of roles, professionally and personally. He will be the one doing the videos and the live show direction, but he will also be the one holding the purse for me when I’m in the toilet… a lot of really important and really simple tasks that make our relationship very special.

You’ve been partying and touring in so many different places. Do you have a favorite in recent memory?

When it comes to a favorite experience, it was the first show of the European tour. Last July, in 2024, in Switzerland, in a small city called Lausanne. They had a festival, and it was a free festival, and we actually didn’t know what to expect, we didn’t know if it was going to be 50 people, 100 people, 200 people. So our hopes and expectations were really low, and we don’t really know how this happened, but apparently word got out that her show was worth watching and the music was worth seeing live. At some point they had to stop letting people in, because there were so many people. For 45 minutes, we had this amazing little rave right beside a cathedral. It was crazy that the first Europe tour started like that.

It must feel good to know that your music has gained such a global audience and reached so many places you didn’t expect, like Switzerland.

It happened in an organic manner, since the beginning of my project, I’ve had small groups of people listening abroad and studying my music. And that crowd began to grow over time. It was not normal, but I was used to it. Even at an early stage, I had more listeners in Mexico, or the US, than in some cities in Argentina. It makes me happy that in a lot of different places with a lot of different people, fans can appreciate my music, even though I sing in Spanish, or even in English, it doesn’t really matter, because what they love is the artistry and the storytelling and the whole package.

You’ve been working on new music, and you’re putting out an EP very soon. What can you tell fans who are excited to hear what you’ve been working on?

For this new EP, it’s a transition, because I have, along the way, done different genres and styles of music. My last EP was definitely club music, and this one has some sparks of that, but maybe transitions a little into pop music. I wanted to try new sounds, and try new textures in the music. I want to know how people react to that, and I’m also getting ready for my debut album, which is a process that will be happening this year. I want people to not take my music so seriously, as in obsessing over labels and cataloging my music, because I will always be changing my style and searching for new sounds.

What inspired the transition to pop?

I’ve put out four EPs, and this will be my fifth. My first was electronic textures and moods, the second was very alternative, very special reggaeton, the third was also reggaeton but more mainstream and also Mexican sounds, because it was made in Mexico. The fourth EP was also electronic, but dedicated to the club. My music is a winding road through the mountains, up and down. There’s definitely different phases.

What pop artists have you been inspired by, or would hope to work with?

When it comes to artists, Brat and Charli xcx had a huge impact last year. Maybe not so much an inspiration for me personally, but definitely an affirmation that when certain big, really valid artists talk about certain subjects like partying or clubbing or going out, drugs, everything, it makes other artists able to talk about certain subjects without feeling overexposed. It was a good impact for a lot of artists, and especially female artists, to be able to talk about subjects we usually wouldn’t, and show ourselves in a truthful way instead of hiding some subjects because they are taboo. I think that when more mainstream pop music utilizes subversive esthetics, it creates a really big cultural shift, which maybe enabled my Satisfire EP, in some ways, to reach the virality it did because of timing.

What properties does club and dance music have that has allowed you to express yourself in such an open way, in the lyrics or otherwise?

When it comes to nightlife, and when it comes to that kind of ecosystem, people will usually allow themselves to express themselves in a way that they wouldn’t in any other kind of context, and that specifically applies to me. It was a consistent place where I could be transparent and whoever I felt like being, without so many social constructs. I also like going out a lot, and I like having fun, listening to music and being with friends and dancing, and enjoying myself. It is a place where I feel most inspired and most comfortable. It really represents a very pure feeling. Dance and club spaces also allow people to be uninhibited, and I tend to live my life in an uninhibited way. Yes, nightlife has helped me express a lot of things, and even though I may live my life in that way already, it’s still important for my music to continue to help people feel freer in those spaces.

Photography: Catalina Jacobo

Annie DiRusso’s latest single is all about a guy you — unfortunately — know. The percussion-heavy, witty, blistering guitar track is rampant with nods to “my friend’s shitty ass film school ex-boyfriend who’s always telling people how to make their art but never really making any of his own,” DiRusso tells us. Just before the track peaks, merging her voice over a swirl of guitar chords, she howls: “You know what I think’s cheap?/ Saying you’re a writer and not writing anything.” Brilliant.

The Nashville-based, New York City-raised singer-songwriter brought together friends for the Coyote Ugly-inspired visuals for the track — premiering today on PAPER. Singer Eliza McLamb, internet darlings Kelley Heyer and Caroline Calloway star in the video, with comedian Caleb Hearon taking on directorial duties for the video — all coming together to tell the story of a “crazy girl in the big city following her dreams,” DiRusso says.

Today also marks the release of DiRusso’s debut album, Super Pedestrian. “A lot of the album is about this push and pull of acceptance and resistance. It’s me learning to surrender and about not being in the passenger seat of your own life (even though I never officially got my driver’s license),” DiRusso says of her visceral and vulnerable first album.

Below, DiRusso shares more on “Good Ass Movie” and what she’s most excited to share with fans next.

How do you hope fans feel when they hear “Good Ass Movie?”

I hope it makes them feel like they got the magic in them.

How did you translate the song into the video?

To me this song is such a four piece rock band song and I really wanted to capture that in the video. Additionally, Caleb Hearon and I wanted to pay homage to one of our favorite good ass movies of the early oughts, Coyote Ugly, about a crazy girl in the big city following her dreams.

What are some challenges or highlights from creating the music video?

Highlights were working with my friends and having so many people extend their various talents. Challenges were dancing in heels all day (I’m a sneaker pedestrian).

What are you working on and excited to share with fans next?

My debut album Super Pedestrian comes out today and I’m going on tour later this month. Every night is going to be a “Good Ass Movie.”

Photography: Danica Robinson, Emilio Herce

If you’ve ever felt the pangs of fandom — heart attacks while waiting in Ticketmaster queues, showing up to the venue nearly a day before the performance, textbook knowledge of all the lore, feelings and interviews around your fav’s album and (of course) a beating desire to be able to speak with them (or, hell, dance with them) in person — then you’ll likely vibe with Spotify’s latest fan-focused event.

Last week, in a Brooklyn warehouse, Lady Gaga’s biggest fans (who answer to Little Monsters, thank you very much) were invited to an exclusive listening event to celebrate the release of her album, MAYHEM. The fits? Fabulous. The vibes? Immaculate. But no one expected the level of intimacy, as Gaga herself danced with fans in the warehouse, signed their vinyl (and bodies) and then sat down behind multiple microphones to answer their unvetted questions.

PAPER was lucky enough to be there and as we locked away our smartphones, swayed to the music blasting from the speakers and nodded in agreement as every massive fan asked their earnest question, one thing became crystal clear: there are fans and there are Little Monsters — and with every anecdote of Gaga’s life-changing impact on not only their lives but NYC’s club scene, it became clear that MAYHEM would be another chapter in an everlasting, matchless career.

Below, PAPER shares some of the highlights of the conference as well as a video of the unvetted Q&A session in full— paws up.

On Azelia Banks and “Ratchet”

Little Monster: Hi, I’m Mario.

Lady Gaga: Hello, Mario.

Little Monster: It’s been a long time.

Lady Gaga: I’ve seen you before.

Little Monster: You know our history. I put you on to a rapper, Azealia [Banks]. My question is, did you see her tweets about “Disease” — she was praising it.

Lady Gaga: I did.

Little Monster: Word. You know. Justice for “Ratchet.”

Lady Gaga: That too… this really is a Little Monsters press conference, it might as well be 5 AM.

On the Character She Embodies on “MAYHEM”

Little Monster: In the way you made the Harlequin album for the character, if MAYHEM had a character that you constructed that album for, who would it be?

Lady Gaga: The lady you’ve known for the last 20 years. I think MAYHEM for me is an integration of who I am in real life and who I am on stage and how I really started to celebrate bringing those two things together, two things that don’t really go together actually. Turns out that’s the whole me. This album holds all that tension the softness, who I am on the inside and the intensity I like to bring to my music and my stage performances and how I hold that in one space. For me that’s my personal mayhem, otherwise known as exercises in chaos.

On “Telephone Part 2” with Beyoncé

Little Monster: My one question is, what’s the tea on “Telephone Part 2?”

Lady Gaga: Somebody get my kettle! The tea on “Telephone Part 2” is that there will be. But I’m not gonna give it all away, you wouldn’t want that anyway.

Little Monster: A sneak peek, a taste or something?

Lady Gaga: I think that you should all call Beyoncé together.

On Her Impact on NYC

Little Monster: In “Abracadabra” you say, “Don’t waste time on a feelin’/ Use your passion, no return.” How does it feel to know that all of the passion you’ve put into the New York City nightlife has been shaped by that passion you’ve put into it? I can’t imagine going out to a club or bar in Brooklyn or Manhattan and not hearing Gaga in that bar. And if I don’t hear Gaga in that bar I’m getting the fuck out of it.

Lady Gaga: New York completely shaped who I am as an artist. I didn’t want to leave New York when it was time to go to college, because I felt like I hadn’t seen it all yet. Being on the Lower East Side especially with Lady Starlight — an amazing musician. That time was so special because I had this community and I was living in this area where everyone was a musician or writer or photographer or dancer or club promoter or bar tender working in the arts or nightlife and we all supported each other. And I would have never created my stage performances and my persona had that community not existed. It means a lot for my music to still play in New York and just to see you all here so vibrantly, that time… it feels like it’s still alive in you.

Little Monster: It’s really alive in all of us.

On Inspiring the New Generation

Little Monster: I wanted to start off by saying I’m a heavy supporter of you. I’m 19 years old I’ve been listening to you since I was five. I remember when my mom would tell me I would listen to “Telephone” with my t-shirt and her heels on. So, I wanted to say, you being a big celebrity you have a lot of haters and you don’t let that faze you. So I wanted to ask you: What inspirational speech can you give to the new generation?

Lady Gaga: You just go to do you and all you can do is your best. All any of us… this is just what I believe, I’m not really an authority on anything but this is what I believe… I think we’re all trying our best and that’s all we can do and sometimes people aren’t going to like it and that’s life. That’s a quote from a song I sang in Joker [Laughs]. You have to be willing to die on the sword of your work, too. I stand by everything I’ve made and things that I don’t stand by I know when I’m wrong and I can adjust myself and learn. It’s okay to make mistakes, too. We have to be, for ourselves, the inventor and conductor of our own symphony of our life and… it’s my music. When it’s all over it’s yours. I wouldn’t leave yourself behind is what I’m saying.

Photography: Arturo Holmes for Getty Images/Spotify

If The Fame was a manifestation, MAYHEM is Lady Gaga’s temperature check — and a confident one at that. Now, nearly two decades into the pop star’s mountain-like career, we’ve seen her lunge in all directions to fight against, escape from and through it all, create her own artistic reality. At times, this has meant landing on entire planets that only exist in Gaga’s mind (and, by proxy, all of ours). We followed her into the past and also the future, traversing the many shifts and immersing ourselves in the whiplash of Gaga’s evolving designs. MAYHEM sees Gaga sitting with herself in full scope — where she came from, but more importantly where she is today as a result of that journey — to address the world as a multi-faceted musician whose influences are as vast and chaotic as she is.

The ‘08 energy of Gaga’s debut album that catapulted her to stardom is felt throughout this project, only now from the perspective of a 38-year-old woman who’s experienced more than she ever could have anticipated at the beginning. There’s a simplicity to that time, which she recently emphasized to Zane Lowe while at Lower East Side’s Welcome to the Johnsons, where she first explored her identity and started inventing Lady Gaga. “I’m not here anymore,” she says, “but MAYHEM definitely began here.” Then, dancing felt easy (“gonna be okay!”), sex was just a game and wealth seemed out of reach — an innocent downtown fantasy that Gaga wielded with fake blonde hair and enough references tucked inside her catsuits to bury Stefani Germanotta — at least temporarily.

Gaga’s not dressing this era in one particular look or overly expansive narrative; she’s leading music-first with an encyclopedic knowledge of all the greats and an honest reflection of who she is. Now, there’s more urgency to a night out on the dancefloor when Gaga repeats, “Hit the lights, DJ, c’mon,” like it’s a religious commandment in “Garden of Eden.” Whereas she once did it “for the fame,” singing about a “life of material” with praise, Gaga interrogates what happens when it’s finally achieved on “Perfect Celebrity” — an angry, stadium rock anthem where she admits, “I’ve become a notorious being,” and one we’re all responsible for. Then, there’s Gaga’s much deeper relationship with love, which is at the heart of MAYHEM and a response to her fiancé Michael Polansky — the discovery of love (“Vanish Into You”), the fear of love (“How Bad Do U Want Me”) and the acceptance that she has it (“Blade of Grass”).

All this is backed by instrumentation that sounds familiar, albeit developed, to that of Gaga’s discography at large. There’s the ’70s funk-inflected lip curl of David Bowie and Prince, juxtaposed against The Cure and Radiohead, rock bands who defined Gaga’s taste as a songwriter throwing back PBRs in New York dive bars. There’s early-2000s dance-pop that tastes like a straight shot of vodka and from-the-earth, gritty industrial that rattles like the walls of a gothic rave. Gaga executive-produced MAYHEM with Polansky and Andrew Wyatt, which explains it being so unapologetically her — not just one Gaga, but many Gagas at once that pull from years of absorbing music. French DJ Gesaffelstein is the only featured artist on MAYHEM, fueling this sonic push-pull with a rebellious grit and Gaga’s menacing declaration that she’s, above all, a “Killah.”

Ahead of album release, PAPER called up Gaga, bare-faced with messy blonde braids and a black beanie, to talk about MAYHEM. “My fans have wanted me to feel confident for a long time, and I do,” she says, “so here we are.”

The album is amazing, I’ve been processing it all morning. For me, “Perfect Celebrity” really stuck out as something special. In it you say, “You love to hate me, I’m a perfect celebrity.” Is there a specific experience that inspired wanting to write a track like that?

It’s so interesting you ask that because when I made [“Perfect Celebrity”], I was shocked by what it was about. It poured out of me: “I’m made of plastic, like a human doll/ You push and pull me, I don’t hurt at all/ I talk in circles cause my brain it aches/ You say, ‘I love you,’ I disintegrate.” It was a song I’d been wanting to write, but that I was maybe nervous to write. What that song is ultimately about is that, for myself and for many people now, there’s the real us and then there’s the clone of us that we project to the world — and having a complicated relationship with that, and almost raging out on that record about it.

And also being mad at myself, like that record is a little bit like, Why do I do this? I don’t understand why? Why am I a part of this thing that I have all this rage about? And also that being a celebrity nowadays, there’s an element of being able to hate the celebrity that’s part of entertainment. It’s been a long time since I’ve grappled with fame on a song. I haven’t done it for a long time, so I returned to it and it’s something I’m super nervous to talk about. Because I feel really grateful for the career that I’ve had and I love being an artist, but it kind of just came out on that song.

One of the through lines on MAYHEM that I recognized was you grappling with love, and whether or not you deserve love — whether or not you’re capable of the experience of love, but ultimately still wanting it and having it right now. What do you think MAYHEM says about your relationship to love?

What MAYHEM says about my relationship to love is that sometimes I’m a complicated person, and I don’t know that I’ve always been that easy to be with. My partner has this unique situation with me, where he’s in a relationship with both Stefani and Lady Gaga, and I’ve tried to integrate myself into one person. But my mayhem is that there’s a lot of me’s, and I’ve tried to express that in my videos so far for this record. You know, in the [album] art with the broken glass, the fragmentation, the cut up imagery, like what does it mean to be completely broken? But broken people find other broken people and then we fall in love, and then we hold each other together the best that we can.

The Gesaffelstein collaborations feel like a long time coming. In a way, I was surprised at how light some of the tracks are, like with “Killah.” I almost anticipated you two coming together to make something really dark. What was that process like for you?

He’s on a few songs on the album. We did “Garden of Eden” together as well, and we did “Blade of Grass” together. He loves classics, and there was this special moment that we shared over making music and collaborating together because I can relate to people being like, “I want you to be Gaga. I want you to do your Gaga thing,” and me sort of going like, “I don’t really know what that means. It’s like a stereotyped idea of what you want me to do.” And I was doing that to him. He loves classic music, he has a timeless soul.

So I brought an idea that Michael and I had started together, “Blade of Grass,” into the studio and worked on that with him, as well. And “Killah” is, like, totally Gesaffelstein’s thing, but it will be so surprising to people, because it’s in a way that he’s never done it before. “Killah” is an industrial funk song, I’ve also never done a record like that before. Gesaffelstein and I are both dark in that we’re just rebellious with our music. So it’s not about one sonic aesthetic, it’s about our energy. But, yeah, “Killah” is an ultra-confident song. I love that song, I loved making that song and I can’t wait to perform that song. And the bridge is one for the books to me.

Also the outro — the outros in general are so crazy and indulgent. I wanted to talk about those, specifically, and what you set out to accomplish there — and your production involvement with MAYHEM at large.

I co-produced the entire album and I was very excited to do outros on the record, because I want to dance, and I’m so excited to be dancing again. I feel like I rediscovered that on the Chromatica Ball, but I was not able to really dance in the same way for many years. So yeah, I wanted to build the performances into the music. There are some truly great outros on this album. I know it sounds probably weird to talk about your music that way, like I’m talking about my own record with so much pride, but I think it’s okay. My fans have wanted me to feel confident for a long time, and I do, so here we are.

The album title is so interesting after listening to it fully. Without diving too deep into the lyrics, it’s sonically a dance album — and especially when you’re in the middle section, it has this real ’70s funk, bright feeling, but then it’s called MAYHEM. Why did you feel that made sense for this project?

Because it seemingly all doesn’t go together. Since the beginning of my career, I’ve had people say, “Well, what is your musical style? What is your visual style? Can you explain to me who you are?” Like, “Help me digest you.” And the answer is, “No, I’m not going to help you digest me,” because I’m a chaotic artist, and my art is chaotic, and my influences, when you put them all together, they don’t make sense unless I’m the one that’s touching all of them and putting them all together.

So for me, MAYHEM was about actually embracing that about myself. And also not being literal; calling the album MAYHEM and having every record be dark, right? That is actually not what mayhem feels like to me. To me, personal mayhem and mayhem in the world is when you have opposing forces and you need tension. There’s got to be light to be tense with the dark. There has to be fragility to interact with something that’s intense for it to feel chaotic. So the album is more chaotic because of the variety of influences and the fact that it’s not homogenous. In the way I’m talking about Gesaffelstein, too, and his desire to be seen by me in the studio. I really related to that, and I wanted to bring that to this album as well, the whole me.

My fans have wanted me to feel confident for a long time, and I do, so here we are.

Photography: Kevin Lebon

Esme Emerson‘s “Stay” is a slow-building, twitchy daydream that explores grief, loss, and (of course) love. The British-Chinese siblings (Esme and Emerson) tell PAPER it’s a “plea for more time with someone, even if it’s just a minute,” adding: “There are so many things to do and say to our loved ones, and never enough time for it all. It’s also about how easy it might seem to leave but how important it is to stay.” The track comes ahead of the release of their latest EP, Applesauce, out March 7 on Communion Records.

The EP promises more of Esme Emerson’s ethereal vocals playing up against strange and askew sounds. The visuals, premiering today on PAPER, encapsulate that feeling of pushing feelings down as the pair runs around at dusk, burying bodies under the glow of a truck headlight. The duo are set to head out on their first headline tour in the UK in April, telling us they’re “working on the live five-piece arrangements of the EP songs.” The tour will also see the band sharing tracks off the EP live for the first time. “We’re always writing, and so we’re excited to share new music whenever that might be,” they say.

At times, Applesauce is lovelorn and lucid, like on “Stay.” Other times, it’s upbeat and nostalgic, like on the vibrant guitar track “Too Far Gone.” As a follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2024 debut EP Big Leap, No Faith, Small Chancer, their latest adds depth, context and vulnerability to their discography. “There are two apple trees in our front yard. Every summer (since we were kids) the apples fall from the trees, roll down the hill, and rot over autumn,” the pair say of the EP’s moniker. “This year, however, our mom picked them. There were too many to eat, so she made applesauce. As well as meaning ‘nonsense,’ Applesauce as an EP title feels like home. Nostalgia is really important when it comes to our songwriting. It probably comes from being siblings. Making music often feels like looking back on our lives together. Our childhoods, growing up, making mistakes.”

Below, Esme and Emerson talk to PAPER about “Stay” and how they hope listeners can use the track to explore their own feelings of loss while also shaking it to the Jersey beat at the chorus.

How do you hope your fans feel when they hear “Stay?”

Esme: For anyone grieving a loss or struggling with their mental health, we hope they find comfort in it.

Emerson: For the rest, we hope they feel the need to get up and shake it when they hear the sick-ass Jersey beat in the chorus.

How did you translate the song into the video?

Esme: Spaced out with the song playing in the background, had an idea — burying bodies under truck headlights, naturally — and simplified so we could afford it; brought it to our friend Dajiana Huang, who is a camera genius, planned it, filmed it. Boom, Bob’s your uncle!

What are some challenges and highlights from creating the music video?

Emerson: One challenge, which is also honestly a highlight, is that we were filming on a farm with two ponies and a little farm cat who were all very curious about what we were doing. They obviously didn’t care about our limited filming time due to filming on tape, so they were hanging out with us and inserting themselves in the video. Love those guys.

Any additional news or highlights you’d like to share with PAPER readers?

Emerson: I’d like the PAPER readers to know that Esme is looking for a D&D group so if anyone out there fancies it please hit us up.

Esme: So many sets of dice, so few adventurers.

Photography: Dajiana Huang

Courrèges artistic director Nicolas Di Felice has been committed to optimism, freedom and creating safe space since he revived the brand in 2020. Five years later, for his Fall 2025 show on a confetti-covered runway, that mission remained the same, using color as reminder that celebration is more important than ever in a period of time that feels particularly gray.

It makes sense, then, that Spanish-Catalan musician Bad Gyal was sitting front row, since people around the world throw it back to her songs. She released her debut album La Joia last year, and most recently dropped a new song, called “Angelito” earlier this year, as she continues to gain momentum in Spain, Latin America and now in the US.

Bad Gyal documented her experience at the Courrèges Fall 2025 show in an exclusive photo diary. Click through, below, to follow along.

Obsessed with the look details.

I always feel pretty in Courrèges.

Love the vibe of an old iPhone camera.

Can’t wait to see the show.

Shades are always a mood.

I always love sharing moments with Nico [Di Felice].

Can’t wait to see the final result with the pixie cut.

The lighting of the show was beautiful.

I feel very confident with the new hairstyle.

Final touches before showtime.

I loved the show!

The look fits amazing on my body.

Just sitting being pretty hehe.

Photos courtesy of Bad Gyal

From the moment she steps onto the stage at London’s Roundhouse, Nathy Peluso has the crowd in the palm of her hands as she effortlessly commands the stage with her infectious energy and flawless vocals. As a performer, the Latin superstar is an all-encompassing force of nature that radiates confidence and supreme talent.

As the dust settles from a memorable evening, a soft-spoken and relaxed Peluso talks over Zoom from the waiting lounge of Madrid Airport as she prepares to fly to Miami for the US leg of her GRASA Tour. The dates are in support of her sophomore album by the same name, which took Peluso’s career to the next level. Raw and authentic, when it was released in May of 2024, it received wide-spread critical-acclaim, winning her three Latin Grammys, including Best Rap/Hip Hop Song with “APRENDER A AMAR.”

Today, she kicks off her US tour at Miami’s The Fillmore and shares her latest single, “Erotika” with an accompanying video — a track inspired by the early 1990s salsa erotica scene in New York City, further showcasing Peluso’s ability to bridge the gap between traditional Latin music and new wave with electrifying results.

Your London show was incredible. What was that experience like?

Thank you! It was so good. It was one of those shows where I didn’t want to leave the stage. I was having so much fun with the public and everything was magic. It was an incredible experience.

What can fans expect from your upcoming US tour?

They can expect to feel so much freedom. [My shows] are a space where I communicate power and catharsis. It’s so important that when people come to my show, they are not the same when they go home. They learned something, they discovered something and felt it. For me, music has this power and it’s so important for me to pay attention to that. I always try to give all that I have to make such an experience for my fans because they trust me. It’s a very fun and emotional concert and very attractive to see. You can sing, dance, kiss and everything.

It must feel so empowering on stage because you have complete control of the audience and you almost become one during the show?

When you are communicating and the people are taking it and giving you energy, it’s such an important moment for an artist because when you are in the studio and shooting and composing, you are with a little crew or alone. When you are on stage, something very powerful happens because you are exchanging energy. That’s the moment you realize why you are doing all of that shit because it’s to share. If you don’t share it then it’s like it’s not real. The shows are important for me as an artist to realize what I am doing in this world.

I loved GRASA. Did you feel like you were bridging the gap between traditional Latin music and new wave?

Yes. I am always looking to show people what I love and amplify it. It’s an honor for me. Folklore is the most important thing to understand and to investigate like Bolero, Salsa, Merengue and Bachata. I go crazy for it, it’s like my medicine. For me, it’s natural. I want to play Bolero because I love it and I listen to it every day of my life. I also start my day listening to Salsa. It’s natural, I listen to Salsa, so I’m making Salsa. If I can share with people how I feel listening to Salsa then I want them to feel that way too. I make Salsa and Bolero and it’s so romantic. There is a mystic thing inside our music that really lifts me up.

I love the new single, “Erotika.” Is this a sign of where your music is heading with this Salsa vibe?

I’ve always loved Salsa. I’m crazy for Salsa. It’s my real relationship in music, I always go back to it. I’m always looking to tell stories with Salsa because it’s such a good space to tell stories and develop characters.

No matter where you are in the world, listening to Salsa must transport you back home?

That’s right, that’s the feeling! When I am around the world, I play Salsa and I feel like I’m in a good place. It is like a ritual. It’s my medicine. When I am feeling bad I put on Ray Barretto, Willie Colón or Frankie Ruiz and I start to feel like something good is going to happen.

After the success of GRASA some people might feel the pressure to live up to expectations for the next album. But for you, it must give you more confidence and freedom as fans love the authenticity you bring with your music?

It’s an honor and a privilege that I can do whatever I feel like. Real fans are always trusting and listening and supporting, even if they don’t understand something because I am going crazy. They have patience and wait for me.

I’m so grateful because I can do whatever I want. I feel free with music to go with what my intuitions are saying. People are trusting and they come to the show and sing the songs. They want me to be like that. They don’t want me to do what I’m supposed to and industry shit, they want me to be authentic.

Does it feel like Latin artists have more space to take creative risks now? We have seen the success of GRASA but also the latest Bad Bunny album — Latin artists can get success by being authentic more than ever before.

For me, the real success is authenticity. If you’re not authentic, then maybe it’ll work short-term, but if you want something to live forever, then you better be authentic and real because you have to deal with it. I prefer to be real and do what I feel, that’s the real success to have the opportunity to listen to how I feel and communicate that. Artists are responsible for sharing that realness to the world and create conversations with people, even if they don’t like it. Even if it doesn’t work, it’s still successful because you’re learning and doing what you feel.

You’ve been doing music professionally for over a decade and it has been a surreal journey. Do you ever have a chance to take a step back and see how far you’ve come in that time with sold-out tours and Latin Grammy success?

It feels so natural because I work a lot. I’m working non-stop to be able to be a better artist, to be a better person, to be a better singer, to be a better dancer, to be a better daughter and everything. So, when I see the fruits [of my labor], I feel proud and grateful, it empowers me to get even better. It feels like a blessing for me to be here and respected. All the Grammys, sold-out tours and success are a blessing to me but I never take it for granted. The people are always supporting me. I can’t wait for more, I think I have a lot to learn, to win and to grow. I’m in the present and I’m having fun.

Photography Courtesy of Nathy Peluso

Furries, video games, Chief Keef songs, Baltimore raves… welcome to the world of Cortisa Star.

PAPER’s favorite viral rapper came out swinging last year on her breakthrough single “Fun” before following it up with equally distinct tunes like “What You Want” and “Misidentify,” each heavy on the glitched-out sounds of the post-hyperpop generation. Now-legendary producer umru worked on her debut EP, and Star plays it coy when asked about other collaborators on the project: “It’s a really new sound, especially because the studio area pulled that new sound out of me. It was a space where I could scream as loud as I could.”

At times, the hyperpop trappings and blown-out vocals recall emo’s heyday, now looped around and filtered through the Chromebook production style of Cortisa Star. Can fans expect screaming on the new EP? “Yes! Really dramatic vocals.”

Often, Zoom Star is fast, witty, and full of quick asides and anecdotes that keep me on my toes. Her lyrics bleed through the conversation, as does her irreverence toward the spotlight she’s found herself thrust into.

Star cuts it straight when asked about the influence of places like Delaware, her home, on her sound. For her, it’s much as it is for many finding their way from the fringes, she says. “It’s hard, because I was mainly raised in Delaware,” she tells PAPER. “And there was no music scene whatsoever… I’ve always been tapped into the internet and posting. I’m not too social when it comes to real people IRL.” With that came the influence of video games and cartoons, “because online was my escape from my small little town. This year was my first time going to a bunch of cities. It was my access to the world.”

Read on for Star’s full chat with PAPER, along with backstage photos from her recent Brooklyn show.

How are you feeling about your upcoming EP?

I’m so hyped. It’s already recorded, though, so I’m hyped for it to come out.

What can you tell me about it — anyone you worked with, features on it?

There is a feature on it, I’m really excited. It’s a really new sound, especially because the studio area pulled that new sound out of me. It was a space where I could scream as loud as I could.

Can we expect screaming on the EP?

Yes! It’s really dramatic vocals.

How has your life changed since you tweeted: “Straight people found out about me, and they are losing their damn minds, OMG?”

Honestly? My life, other than work and traveling a whole bunch, obviously meeting a bunch of other people… my life hasn’t changed that much. I usually do the same thing. I take my dog out and hang out with my twin sister.

What’s the dog’s name?

Zuko, like from Avatar.

You have a lot of cartoon references, you said that you were inspired by an episode of Adventure Time, with beatboxing.

I’ve always been playing video games, cartoons, I always loved anime. I never got outside too much as a kid.

If you could pick a video game character — like Ivy, from Soulcalibur — Well maybe not Soulcalibur, I’m an old lady — but who would it be?

Probably Pearl from Splatoon 2.

Oh yeah, the fashions, I can totally see that.

And she’s a rapper!

You went viral last year after you did “Fun” on 4 The Block. When you wrapped that, could you tell that what you had done was really hot, that people were going to respond positively to it?

No! I wasn’t even gonna upload that song. In the beginning, I was like, “I’m not even gonna upload this song for real.” Because I made that song in 45 minutes. It was supposed to be a joke.

Serendipidous. I’ve talked to a lot of artists who say, I put this down, I maybe wasn’t really thinking about it, I uploaded it, and suddenly my phone’s blowing up. Was that the experience for you?

Yeah, I had a feeling, because of the shock value of some of the things I said in it, but I didn’t realize that people would be that gagged.

Have you always been a sort of provocateur like that? Always said whatever is on your mind? Or is that something that comes out in rapping specifically?

Honestly, it depends on the situation. If I’m outside and I’m around other people, I don’t say a single word. I wait until people talk to me. But if I’m around, if I’m comfortable, yeah, I just be saying random shit. I should probably put tape over my mouth.

How did you come to rapping and uploading your videos online?

In 2016, I was in the spam era of Instagram, and I was always posting skit videos. So I’ve always been tapped into the internet and posting. I’m not too social when it comes to real people IRL.

You also live in Baltimore, which has such a distinct sound. And you’re from Delaware. What would you say are some of the influences that you absorbed from those places?

Definitely Rico, but it’s hard, because I was mainly raised in Delaware. And there was no music scene whatsoever. The only person I knew from Delaware was Sukihana, and she lived two hours away from me.

Shoutout Sukihana.

Shoutout!

Do you think that because you grew up in an isolated place like Delaware, you took a lot of your references from online?

Definitely online, because online was my escape from my small little town. This year was my first time going to a bunch of cities. It was my access to the world.

Did you ever expect that music would be the thing that let you see so many different places you’ve never been before, especially so young?

Honestly, no! Before I started making music, I was in high school, but then I dropped out of high school, and I was going to go home to become literally anything. I was either going to be an aerospace engineer or an astrophysicist, a scientist, or whatever situation.

You could have been the first astrophysicist rapper! I think that’s something that you could still do, probably.

I’ll have to sell my leg for college tuition. [Laughs]

Talk to me about dropping out of high school. How did that experience lead into you pursuing this next chapter in your life?

Honestly, for the first year, I wasn’t really making music like that. I was working at an ice cream shop on the beach. I was doing nothing. I am trying to get my ass up, you know?

You’ve become known as a rave queen. You talk often about them, and going to parties. What’s the scene in Baltimore like, or Delaware? Have you even been to a rave in Delaware?

In Delaware there are no raves. I’ve never heard of a rave in Delaware. I’ve never been, unless they’re not telling me there’s secret raves in the water. But in Baltimore, the raves, it’s so beautiful. In Baltimore, everyone is queer, trans, and if they’re not, their sister or their friend is.

You talked in a recent interview about your dream club, and you mentioned you would want the furries there. Instead of your dream club, I’d live to know who are your dream people to party with?

There’s at least 12 furries, and they all have a table, and they’re all kind of like, mean, if you’re not a furry, they don’t want to sit next to you.

Okay, so mean, hot furries, first and foremost.

Their fursuits are real nice, like $3,000, and then… maybe just them. Just the furries.

Is there a big furry population in Baltimore you’re aware of?

Honestly? Yeah. Shoutout to the Baltimore furries, I know y’all, and a lot of them are hidden.

Maybe this year could be the first time there is a furry rave thrown in Delaware, maybe that’s something you can make happen.

And then three people would show up!

We’ll collaborate, we can find a way to get everyone out there. We’ll have to bus them in from New York or Baltimore.

I threw a little show, my first ever live performance, in Delaware, and it was I think 4/20, in 2023, and somebody came from Philly. I was gagging.

I live in Philly, and I definitely have known a lot of people from Delaware who come to Philly to party, not necessarily the other way around!

No, you’re right. That’s why I was like, What?

I was reading an interview recently where you described “Bitch, Where?” By Chief Keef as a diva-coded song, which I’ve become obsessed with describing things as. What are the qualities of something that make it diva-coded to you?

Not really elements of the song. It’s when I listen to something or if I see something and I’m like, me being in the area of this is really deep. It makes me deeper, and I feel so much deeper when I’m listening to “Bitch, Where?”

Do you have any other songs you’d describe as diva-coded?

“Save Me” by Chief Keef is diva-coded.

So Chief Keef, generally speaking, is diva-coded.

And they might hate me for that, but you know, there’s divas all around the world.

Let’s get Chief Keef on the next EP, the next album. Maybe he’s on this one!

God wasn’t too good. [Laughs]

You have a new EP coming out. Lots of people are excited for what you’re going to do next. What are you most looking forward to this year?

I’m looking forward to traveling and getting to perform for more of my fans around the world, because I’m always so glued to the East Coast. My first LA trip was my first time to the West Coast ever in my life.

What did you think of it?

It was scary! There weren’t that many people there, just because of the fires. It had this weird atmosphere, almost apocalyptic.

I’ve got to run now, I have to go listen to some Chief Keef and get to the airport…

Get to that diva music!

Get to that diva music! Well, for me, that’s Mariah Carey, but I think we’ll find a middle ground there somewhere.

Mariah and Chief… ultimate diva zone.

I am trying to get my ass up.

Photography: Diego Urbina