Princess Nokia’s cadence is a tight, timed execution. But, she can switch it up to a soft pitched melody — she’s versatile, in more than vocals. During her San Francisco set at the Mezzanine on July 22nd, she reached out to attendees and gave them a little bit of a heart to heart. She cut the music and spoke about her life. For fans who awaited her performance - she was worth the 3 hour opening wait. They held up custom signs while singing along to every word, $9 Pabst in hand included.
S4NtA_MU3rTE, CHAUNCEY_CC and BEBE HUXLEY also performed during the 7 year anniversary of 120 Minutes, who hosts a night of alcohol + dope music every fourth Friday of the month in SF.
Destiny Nicole Frasqueri, a Nuyorican proud of her Afro-Latinx culture is talented and fearless. She’s familiar with a variety of styles ranging from punk to hip hop, and it shows through her work. In an interview filmed by Refinery 29, she comments on living in different worlds, from East Harlem to the Bronx. She proud of where she’s from, and she shows it in a way that’s original and unapologetic.
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One of her songs, “ABC’s of New York” connects you to a world, a mindset of a teenage girl looking at her city with love. None of the hipster/gentrification mess we might find today.
“G is for the ghetto girls/in rainbow clothes...baby haze and well done toes/ single mother’s carry those./ Get it goin...golden globe...in this city tragic glows,” she sang.
The letter “G” marked a place where her alphabet turns into something else - a hypnotizing flow that makes your body bob from head to toe, ready for anything.
Her delivery was tighter than a jab-cross-hook-cross combo. Her stage presence is magnetic. It will have you crawling towards the front, tighter and tighter, until you realize you’re shoulder to shoulder next to a stranger.
Boundaries can be crossed, especially when attending live shows of your shit that makes your crew pop. Princess Nokia addressed all females to the front during her show causing some confusion that led to misgendering individuals. While Princess Nokia has made it a point to address fans in the past who inquired on her views in a tweet of February 2016, the moment presented an opportunity for feminists to think about the spectrum on gender identity and presentation.
Her work as an artist continues to push new conversations among fans and musicians, and she's not going anywhere but up.