Mykki Blanco

Mykki Blanco is a female teenage rapper – the alter ego of New York performer/poet Michael Quattlebaum Jr, who has taken the New York fashion and art scene by storm. Art school drop-out Quattlebaum cites artists and writers such as Marcel Duchamp, Anaïs Nin and Jean Cocteau as influences on his lyrics, while his performances have been compared with experimental diva Diamanda Galás and shock rocker Marilyn Manson. It’s an addictive mixture. In his brutally bleak tracks, Blanco sets himself up as a queer prophet of nightlife and the hip hop community should listen up – not only because Quattlebaum talks openly about his gay sexuality, but also because of his beat productions and punchlines. His »ghetto-fabulous riot grrrl rap« is like an apocalyptic version of Nicki Minaj, the difference being only that Blanco’s gender-bending performance catapults him (and us) way into the future.