Multi-gendered New York rapper and performance artist Mykki Blanco has announced her debut Australian tour, courtesy of Future Classic and BBE.
New York rapper and performance artist MYKKI BLANCO (aka Michael Quattlebaum Jr) has announced her debut Australian tour, going down throughout June courtesy of Future Classic and BBE.
Male Quattlebaum first adopted the female BLANCO character for a YouTube video back in 2010, and has since developed it into the multi-faceted persona of an actress, author, poet, and rapper. Interest piqued? It should be.
An artist of multiplicity, BLANCO defies the shoehorn ("Who need a one trick pony? My horse run like a Porsche"). She transcends medium: transgender, trans-genre—modelling and writing books of poetry, only to cough up lyrics like "let me dominate on every hatin' motherfucker" (Feeling Special) and "bite the head off a harpy, eat these bitches alive" (Wavvy).
In high-heels, she's kicking in the knees of the 'gangster' archetype, spitting venom with the kind of brazen aloofness that ultimately defines the term: "what the fuck I gotta prove to a room full of dudes who ain't listening to my words 'cause they staring at my shoes". And she's doing it well.
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BLANCO sounds like she should've featured on one of YEEZY's G.O.O.D. Music mixtapes alongside artists like BIG SEAN, PUSHA T and MOS DEF: croaking raps in the timbre of KID CUDI and LIL WAYNE, with an A$AP ROCKY flow. And, as of next month, she's bringing the whole shebang to the stage, playing a bunch of shows around the country in a tour that culminates at Perth's CIRCO festival.
MYKKI BLANCO DEBUT AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Wednesday June 18
Thursday June 19
Dark Mofo Festival, Odeon Theatre, HOBART
Friday June 20
Ellement Lounge, BRISBANE
Saturday June 21
Good God Small Club, SYDNEY
Friday June 27
Hi-Fi, MELBOURNE
Saturday June 28
Circo Festival, PERTH
Words by Gavin Butler
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