The music that I will continue to make will certainly draw upon those experiences of being a loner, of being an emo goth kid, of being a New York City aficionado, of being a witch, a feminist, a brown radical woman.
Alexandria Ocasio? I think she's dope.
I'm not aloof at all.
I like to honor my West African and Taino ancestry, I consider it sacred and divine.
I like a lot of older rock ‘n' roll artists, like legends like Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. They really influenced me to be very, very androgynous and very commanding, and very very - I wouldn't say odd, but I would say eccentric.
The street-wear and the very androgynous tomboyish girl, that's just not this new persona I'm introducing… it's me 24/7.
Growing up, I loved Boy George, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Queen, Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross.
Every year, I assign myself to make a beautiful art piece which is my musical project for the year.
Black people created rock music, it's a fact. Black people created bluegrass and rock and roll way before Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
My parents were artists, bohemian, hanging out a lot.
I started modeling before '1992,' and I had already done Calvin Klein and Target and Gap and Diesel, Reebok, so I had been modeling for a little bit.
Everything really came together on ‘1992.' That isn't to dismiss my earlier works - they were great - but when I focused myself on hip-hop everything just clicked.
Queer culture was introduced to me at a very early age. It was introduced to me with a semi-positive facet because no one in my family is remotely homophobic or closed-minded.
Growing up in the '90s was the coolest thing to me.
Jordans? No. I thought mohawks, leather jackets, studs, piercings, colored hair, leopard print, platforms, all the bondage wear, I thought that was the coolest thing.
When I was little I wanted to be like Kathleen Hanna or Courtney Love or be attached to the X-girls and hang out in downtown culture.
I'm kind of like a musical Bill Cunningham.
My ancestors had to keep their customs secret for fear of death or persecution, so it's common to be secretive and discreet about Regla de Ocha. But it's my family's spirituality, so I don't want to keep it secret.
I'm not a docile, complacent person when it comes to racial aggressions.
I am a gorgeous woman. That's not me being egotistical or narcissistic. It's just a fact, I'm a knockout.
