press image Sonar / Mykki Blanco by Timothy Saccenti
Mykki – is the rising star of the so called queer rap, a sub genre of rap. I was so lucky that I caught him last week on his quick stop in Prague while he is touring the world with his ( or maybe her?) new musical piece called Betty Rubble: The Initiation. Below there are a few impressions and pictures of course…
Mykki Blanco (real name Michael Quattlebaum Jr.) is beyond everything that rap or hip hop music have always represented. His rhymes are very open and straight about, well, everything. Even sexual orientation. He belongs with a few others to a group of artists who successfully crossed several clichés that appear, especially openness about sexuality. Mykki Blanco can easily be described as a fresh breeze in rap and hip hop music, a personage who those genres need right now.
25 year old Mykki, originally coming from the West coast of the US, is currently living and creating in New York. Besides a musician, he is also a poet. The verses he raps are quite sharp and the whole impression is even more enhanced by his raw (but incredible) voice. Mykki is way different from others, a totally unique creation. When he showed up on the stage in Prague’s MeetFactory club, I almost felt sorry for him – there was a desperately small crowd waiting for him. But it seemed that he doesn’t give a f*ck. He just came on stage wearing a handsome wig, bra and adidas shorts. Then he put down a few things and grabbed a microphone and while his supporting DJ Tuco was playing the first beats, Mykki started to rap his well-known piece Haze Boogie. The crowd took it quite well, although a bit timidly. Mykki was so real that people had to procces it first (in my case too). People seemed kind of schocked at first when Mykki suddenly jumped into the crowd and started to dance in between everyone. But when he did that once more later on, people were more prepared. Oh my, some embarassing moments for the Czech crowd at times…
However, Blanco put every single part of his personality to his live gig and it was really noticeable. He doesn’t pretend anything. He is real. That’s why I love him and I think I’m not alone. Tons of energy rolled off the stage, just unbelievable. When he performed The Initiation, it looked like he got into some state of trance. Presenting the last track of playlist – Wavvy (produced by Brenmar btw), he encouraged people to come on stage. Suprisingly, it kind of worked out and it created a nice finish to this very humble and chamber party.
