Women in hip hop don’t have it easy, just ask anyone in the business. Keeping it real is difficult when most female rappers are anything but. Dolled up into sex objects, or shot up with testosterone, hip hop is seriously void of real females. Maybe this explains one of the reasons Kid Sister’s album has been so heavily anticipated. She’s not trying to impress anyone with something she’s not, rather she says things like “I’m gonna fart on Usher.” Not to mention, she has skills. The Chicago rapper has a style of her own, and as SFCritic chatted with her, it became clear it’s more than just music.
SFCritic (SFC): In the past you’ve called yourself a nerd, and your music as "nerd hip hop". Why do you call yourself a nerd?
Kid Sister (KS): Everything is like a silly joke to me. It’s always hilarious to me that we do these shows in Vegas, Miami, and all these grown and sexy places. I’ll be getting ready listening to the Hairspray soundtrack the 1988 version, listening to Chubby Checker [she begins to sing]. Then we get to these grown, sexy places, and the bass is like [boom boom] and I’m just like, “Whooaa...Why can’t we all just hangout, watch "Adult Swim", and eat a bucket of chicken, cause you know that’s what you want to do anyway." Let’s just nerd out, and after that let’s play Cranium.
SFC: How did you get the name Kid Sister?
KS: My brother picked it for me. This was when I first started doing music and he was like, “Wouldn’t it be great if when you came on the stage, the transition would be like [scratch noise] kid sister.” We are so dorky.
SFC: Did you start rapping first with Flosstradamus?
KS: Yeah. They had a group first, and were doing parties around the city. I thought, “Ooh, I could do that.” I’m the musical one and he’s the athlete.
SFC: How did you end up meeting A-Trak (boyfriend and label manager)?
KS: We met each other at a festival. He was friends with my brother and Curt already because they’re DJs. We met at Intimation Pitchfork, which I don’t think they have anymore. It’s just Pitchfork. Are you familiar with that festival?
SFC: I’m familiar with Pitchfork. I’m actually looking at your interview as we speak.
KS: Oh, “I want to fart on Usher.”
SFC: Actually, it’s the sequel interview.
KS: Oh, I want to fart on Usher 2. I don’t want to fart Usher.
SFC: Might that be the biggest thing you’d want to take back from telling the press?
KS: No, that was funny. There are so many artists that are so manufactured and they have to watch what they say so much, and blah blah blah. I’m like, “Really?”-- can you imagine living your life like this, that’s so weird.
SFS: This is true.
KS: One of my girlfriends Sam -- she’s my best friend that I travel with and she’s my tour manager. When she’s around during interviews she never butts in or says anything. The one thing she will chime in on is when an interviewer asks, “So Melissa, you’re really not provocative. Do you always find yourself being wholesome?” That’s just who I am. I can get a little sexy. I just don’t feel comfortable getting super sexy. Sam and I are always like, “We have parents that we honor, love, and respect."
SFC: That point actually brings up what I was going into next. Critics kind of point to a mold for female rappers. One of them is provocative, sexy, or slutty.
KS: Right, you can be sexy or you can be hard. I guess I want to be understood as the girl who made it just by being herself, PBR drinking, mall shopping. I want there to be a regular girl with a quirky personality who makes it, and hopefully, I’ll be that girl.
This interview is republished from SF Station.
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