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Interview With Lady Twist

Fast-rappin’ hip-hop artist Lady Twist has been making a name for herself on VH1’s ego trip’s Miss Rap Supreme, hosted by MC Serch and female rapper Yo-Yo. The only openly lesbian rapper on the show, Lady Twist was eliminated this week after failing to impress the judges with her rap about drama in the Miss Rap Supreme house.

The 22-year-old from the Chicago area tells those who have a problem with her sexuality to “love it or shove it,” and she has big plans for her artistic career. In a telephone interview with AfterEllen.com, she talked about her hip-hop aspirations; her Midwestern heroes, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony; and why she thinks there are so few openly lesbian rappers.

AfterEllen.com: What is the origin of your name?

Lady Twist: A lot of people think that Lady Twist means a lady with a twist. When I was 15, I was just writing a song and I was in the process of changing my name because at the time it was Lil’ K. And as I was writing, all of a sudden the phrase Lady Twist just came to mind. So it just popped into my mind, and I’ve been running with it ever since.

AE: Does anyone ever think that you got your name from [Chicago hip-hop artist] Twista, since you’re also from the Midwest?

LT: Oh God, yeah, most of the people I’ve met are like “Yeah, you Lady Twista.” And I’m like, “No, there’s no A, it’s just Lady Twist.” I wasn’t thinking about Twista at all when I came up with this, even though I have a fast, similar style to him. My name has nothing to do with him. So it’s just ironic that I happen to spit fast and have a name that can be perceived as being a derivation of his name. I get that a lot.

AE: Well, do you think that the similarity in your styles comes from that fact that you’re both from the Chicago area? Also, how do you feel about Midwest hip-hop, especially the Chicago scene with artists like Kanye, Twista and Common?

LT: I grew up listening to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. That’s where I got whole fast thing from. I used to sit and literally play their tapes and CDs over and over and write out every lyric that they spit to learn, because I wanted to learn how to rap fast. It got to the point where I could write my own fast lyrics and stuff.

As the Chicago hip-hop scene is concerned, right now I think we’re really underrated, because you know we got Common, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and R. Kelly — R. Kelly’s not necessarily hip-hop. I think really Chicago hip-hop is underrated. People underestimate us.

Chicago, we’re kind of known to be storytellers. A lot of people don’t see that because they into Snap [music] and “Superman” and all of that stuff, but Chicago artists are really talking about something. … I think it’s going to come to a point where everybody is going to realize that it’s all about lyrical content, and at that point, that’s going to be when Chicago artists are really appreciated.

AE: Talk about your inspiration for becoming a rapper. Where did that inspiration come from?

LT: When I was about 6 or 7 years old, I used to listen to Kriss Kross and Another Bad Creation. … I would play my ABC CDs and my Kriss Kross CDs … and I would perform like I was in the group. So I’ve always had this thing for being in the limelight, for being in the spotlight and being the performer and being the center of attention. …

Then when I heard Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and that “Thuggish Ruggish Bone,” that just did something to me. That was like throwing a Molotov at a gas pump for me. Everything just blew up from then – it was like, this is what I wanna do.

So I started studying their form and their flow and really memorizing their lyrics and began to feel their style, and then as I got older I learned how to write my own lyrics that were fast, and then eventually I became who I am now as a lyricist.

AE: So that’s quite a trajectory, from “Iesha” and “Jump Jump” and fabricated groups to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony?

LT: That was just the beginning of me admiring artists. … They were getting my attention and just me seeing them, I wanted to be like them. After watching ABC and Kriss Kross, I knew wanted to perform, but I didn’t know in which medium. But then when I saw Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, they so captivated me to the point where I knew that this is really what I want to do. It is a hell of transition, I must admit.

AE: How has it been for you to be an openly lesbian MC?

LT: Well, for some strange reason people look at me and don’t really get that. First of all, all of my life I’ve been a tomboy. Most females … go through the tomboy phase and grow out of it at around 15 or 16. I never grew out of it. I’m almost 23 years old – I never grew out of that phase.

The thing is, my whole theory on that is this: If my mama and my family accepts it, anything anyone else has to say, it’s simply their opinion and nothing more to me.

AE: How has it been for you on the show, being openly lesbian?

LT: When I first got there, one of my first interviews was with the people backstage and they were like, “You’re openly lesbian; how do you feel about that?” And my initial thought was, you know, this is who I am. Either they’re gonna love me or they can keep it moving, simple as that.

So I think that the girls on the show – they accepted me for who I am. The thing is, my personality shines through before anything else, so they really got to love me as a person before they completely came to terms with my orientation. So I really didn’t face any discrimination. I was cool with everybody in the house, so it worked out nicely.

The cast of Miss Rap Supreme

AE: Why do think that there hasn’t been any mainstream female [hip-hop] artist to come out?

LT: Well here’s the thing: I can’t call any names, but I’m pretty sure that there are a lot of female MCs that are gay or questioning or whatever you have. America as a whole is pretty much against the whole gay thing, you know, with gay marriage and politics and all that, but at the same time I think gay is like the new hippie, because everywhere it’s like “so and so came out of the closet,” and I’m like “really.”

It’s kind of like the cool thing to do amongst females, but at the same time if a male comes out there’s going to be hell to pay, so I think that in the end, you know, we feel like we have to play follow the leader. If one person comes out, then everybody else will feel comfortable. It comes down to someone having the balls to say, “This is who I am – love it or shove it.” Either you love me or you don’t, simple as that.

AE: Who are your hip-hop icons?

LT: So this is really a male-dominated industry. My lyrical icons, I would say of course are Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Ludacris, Eminem, Twista, Do or Die, Crucial Conflict. It’s just a matter of people not being scared of what people think

AE: In your song “Uh-Oh,” you talk about women being disrespected. How do you feel about female representations in rap music and especially in videos?

LT: No one can make you look bad if you didn’t make yourself look bad first. You got the females in the videos in skin-tight clothes, scantily clad, and they’re all clapping their booties in booty shorts and all that stuff. If they hadn’t done that to begin with, nobody could say anything and complain about it, because it wouldn’t have been out there, so I say to each his own. If that’s what those women choose to do with their life, then that’s where they are.

But at the same time, if you go outside in a bikini and some booty shorts, you can’t expect some guys walking down the street not to yell at you and go “uh oh” and all [that] stuff. It’s the of aura of what you project to the world.

AE: Did you know about Yo-Yo and MC Serch before the show and about their careers?

LT: I was familiar with Yo-Yo. I knew about her when I was a little younger. I can’t recite her songs because I was kind of young when she was hot, probably like 5.

And MC Serch, to be honest with you, I wasn’t really familiar with him until I got there and everybody told me he was in 3rd Base. … I’m only 22. … I respect them tremendously as artists now that I’m award of what they were about.

AE: What do you think about Khia’s appearance on the show, and do you think it was fair that she was a contestant? Do you think it was a setup? [Khia, who is best known for her 2002 hit “My Neck, My Back (Lick It),” was a contestant on Miss Rap Supreme and was disqualified in Episode 2 for using a pre-written song.]

LT: You know, I don’t really have an opinion about that. Personally, I think Khia is a nice person, but a lot of people see her as a bitch. But I really didn’t have any problems with Khia. I thought she was a very cool person. She is who she is because she’s so bold and feels herself so much because of what she has done.

I respect what she’s done in the industry as a solo independent artist, and a lot of people look at a Khia and say, “Oh she’s a bitch cause she’s cocky,” but actually Khia kind of has a right to be cocky because she stepped on the scene and sold 800,000. I mean I’m lucky if I sold a thousand compared to what she sold.

I saw her and I was like, “Oh, you’re Khia,” and I shook her hand like it was all good – “Nice to meet you, I used to play the s— out your song [‘My Neck, My Back’].” Khia did what she had to do. According to her, she did the show for publicity to promote her new album.

AE: How have your interactions been with the rest of the contestants?

LT: I was real cool with everybody. I was like the peacemaker of the show. I tend to avoid drama. So if it doesn’t have anything directly to do with me, I don’t give a damn what y’all are doing.

There’s a lot of stuff going on in the house right now. Everybody is all divided, but if you’re paying attention to me, I’m right in the middle. I’m not on your side or your side. I’m just cool with everybody. I love all the girls on the show equally. I talk to everybody, minus Khia, on a regular basis. I’m glad I met them. They’re all really talented girls. I was blessed to have that opportunity to share that experience with all of them.

AE: Out of the people in the house – outside of yourself – who do you feel is the best lyricist?

LT: The best lyricist in my opinion would be Rece Steele and Miss Cherry, next to me of course. Those are my top two, but I gotta throw Chiba in there because she was a hell of a performer – bossy as hell when she wanna be, but she was a damn good performer.

Watch Lady Twist perform during this week’s elimination challenge:

AE: If you had to rate these four artists, how would you rate them: Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Lauryn Hill and MC Lyte?

LT: Number one I would go with Lauryn Hill, because I bought her CDs for my mama one year and I ended up listening to it a lot myself. So Lauryn Hill number one, followed by Lil’ Kim because I used to listen to her music a little bit, then Foxy Brown.

Now this is going to sound terrible to most hip-hop lovers, but when MC Lyte was at her height I was still in diapers, so I wasn’t really up on her music. So I’m just going by the CDs that I’ve actually heard. … No disrespect to the great MC Lyte, but seriously I was a baby when she was hot, so I never really heard any of her music firsthand.

AE: Who is your favorite artist right now on the charts?

LT: I’m really disappointed in the current state of hip-hop. A lot of stuff that’s going out there is content-less music. I gotta go with Ludacris. He’s not exactly number one on the Billboard charts right now, but in terms of lyrical content and whose CD I would actually go out and buy, everybody knows Ludacris is my man right now

AE: You’re from Illinois. There’s Barack and there’s Hillary; what’s your take on that situation?

LT: Well, I think that regardless of which two of those candidates make it to the White House, this is definitely a history-making election, but I gotta go with Obama. He’s from Illinois, he’s from Chicago. You know that may be a shallow point of view, but I think that it would be hot to have in the White House a black man.

At the same time, I love Hillary because when I was 8 years old and Bill was running for office, I don’t know how the hell I knew what was going on, but I was like, “I want Bill Clinton to win.” And he got in and I was happy. But now I gotta go with Obama.

I mean, Barack or Hillary either way – like if it’s the first black male or the first woman in office, either way I’m gonna be proud of whichever one of them gets in, but my vote raps with Obama.

AE: What are your future goals?

LT: Right now I’m getting ready to graduate from college in two weeks. I’m finally getting my journalism degree. My plan has always been to use my journalism career to help propel my music career. I want to always have something to fall back on. I know I’ve got lyrical ability. I know I’ve got entertainment value. I’ve also been doing some comedy shows lately around the Chicago area. A lot of people tell me I’m funny.

My ultimate goal is this: I want to start my own record label and get my own stuff out there. That way I won’t have major-label restrictions. If a major label wants to sign me, no problem, but [my] ultimate goal is to run my own business, my own thing.

I do the comedy thing. I write. I produce, make beats, press my own CDs and everything. I’m a business-minded person. I’m not just an artist and I’m not just an entertainer – I’m a businesswoman at the end of the day. …I really want to be able to handle my own affairs, and I don’t want to have to answer to anyone.

For more on Lady Twist, visit her MySpace page.

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