"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
Check out the video for yourself below.
So you are living in Atlanta, is that where you were born and raised?
Born in Atlanta, raised in Chicago. I spend most of my time in Atlanta now, everything is sort of based out of there. But I love Chicago, and I go back there as much as I can. My mom is from IL.
She’s pretty musical, obviously, and there are actually a lot of musicians in your family. It must be kind of difficult not to be in the music industry, for you, even if you wanted to.
(laughs) Yeah, when you’re raised in the studio, it’s pretty much in you, and it’s hard not to share it.
Do you ever feel intimidated by the amount of musicians in your family?
No, maybe sometimes I feel pressure, but I try not to feel pressure of that.
How do you avoid feeling pressure in your career?
I try not to read comments. But I read interviews… Well, honestly I do look at comments sometimes, but only when I choose to.
Have you ever responded to a troll?
Back in the day, yeah, when I first started getting followers. But I now have a lot of trolls, I don’t really respond anymore.
There seems to be a lot of that, too, coming at you as the only female in a group of males.
People think I’m having sex with all of them.
So what is your response to that?
Stupid. It’s so stupid. It’s like having more than one big brother around.
You guys must have fun, together, on tour— how much time do you spend on the bus? Does it get pretty crazy?
...It’s fun, but it can be a lot sometimes. All the people, all the personalities, all those opinions.
What do you do for entertainment?
We have all the gaming systems, Mario Kart gets wild— but I am terrible at it. Sometimes we just will play music and sing along.
Most popular road trip snack on the tour bus?
Probably Gushers.
When did you get your first tattoo?
On the first tour, Perry took me actually, to get the lightning bolt. After that, I just went crazy.
It seems like the first one you think about a lot, and after that you just kind of get the fuck-its.
Yeah, Perry has it, Yachty has it, pretty much everyone has it… I had to get initiated. I still gotta get my anchor, I just don’t know where to put it… I don’t really see the point in getting them anywhere I can’t see, and I am not going to be wearing any crop tops and shit... Once I fill my arms up, I guess I am done... But I definitely have some plans, “Take no shit, do no harm”. And “sick girl” in cursive.
Any face tattoos you would get?
I actually would get one on my hairline, super small. Shooting stars, would look so fire. My mom said no to that, though. But I started drawing a little ‘xo’ on my cheek, and she thought it was so cute that now she gives me face tattoo ideas.
Is it difficult working with your mom? Or helpful?
We have a fine balance, because I can tell her anything, it’s a good relationship becauese its all about honesty when you mix business with personal.
Where did your name come from? Is it your given name or a stage name?
It’s my government name— well, my full name is longer, but it’s what my sister called me growing up. I had a rap name when I started, but this is what I ended up using.
It’s pretty cool because it is pretty gender-neutral, which means you don’t have to always be defined as the woman in the male group.
People also have this rapper name, and then they create this whole different person based around that idea. This is me, Kodie, and I can be Kodie today. I want my artist personality to be already in me, I don’t want to be like, that’s Kodie, and this is really me.
Do you think that wanting to be more authentic with your musical personality has something to do with growing up around music— that you came to the industry because it was in your blood, versus something you saw on a billboard or on the charts?
That’s the the difference, I am making music for myself not for the fame.
Do you think you will stay focused within the genre?
I definitely want to grow. The most beautiful thing for me is progression, getting better. So I don’t know, the music that I have right now is already different than the music that will probably be on my album. I can’t really explain it, except just to say that it’s bigger music. Just “bigger”, worldly, it can appeal to everyone.
Do you want to do things outside of music?
I want to model, I know I am short, but I think that would be great… But, I just want to accomplish one thing at a time, not stretch myself too thin, you know.
What is your favorite item of clothing?
I did this Vogue shoot, and they gave me these green pants. And I wore them for two weeks straight, every day, just changed shirts and shoes.
That’s brilliant, because you aren’t repeating, you can just say it’s unique and that you are doing something new and creative intentionally. I might start doing that just as an excuse for not doing laundry, though. What city are you most excited to go to on the tour?
New York. The last time I played New York, I sold it out, I was in Brooklyn and it was a live show for my own tour. I didn’t expect people to actually like me like that, but it was lit. Wait— aaaaaaaah Matt Ox just followed me on Twitter.
Glad I witnessed that. Somehow feels like how we should end on this very high note.
Super.
What can you tell us about Cost of Living, your first record with Sub Pop?
Joey La Neve DeFrancesco It's definitely the biggest production that we've been able to do...The songwriting, too, is more expansive. After making the last record, being able to think about the sonic direction to push things in. We were definitely able to add subtleties musically and lyrically and politically. We were recording it with Guy [Picciotto] from Fugazi and also Greg Norman, who engineered our previous record.
How did that collaboration come about?
Victoria Ruiz We actually had someone else in mind to produce, and they had to back out... We talked to a bunch of our friends, and they gave us really good ideas, but people were booked through the spring... Our bass player asked Allison Wolfe about ideas and Allison was like, "What about Guy from Fugazi?" as if it was so easy.
Allison sent an email and [Guy] was like, "This sounds great, but I'm already booked and I don't think I can do it." I just emailed him as if I hadn't seen the rejection, and asked again. He said yes, and his wife figured out childcare. He made it work, which was really nice.
What is your favorite part about touring?
VR The playing time is really my favorite part. It's just really cool to see people sing the lyrics to the songs better than I can. Getting to see new places. This country is so big. It's really a weird country.
JLND ...Our country is just so massive and muddled politically and artistically in so many different ways. To get to bring our [show] and go into these places can be intimidating, but also exciting.
Are their particular messages you've received from fans that stay with you daily?
VR When people post their own art and they'll use, "She's brown! She's smart!" and "Somos Chulas", to get at a feeling that they want to share about themselves, that's really galvanizing. Three years ago, a lot of people were finding out about us from a more underground scene. In the past three years or so, a lot of the people that do use the music and message to continue their own expression are finding out about us because of interviews like this... It's a really beautiful version of a feedback loop, and if you stop one side of it, the whole thing wouldn't work like it does. I think that's really inspiring.
You two also write and edit Spark Mag, a platform designed to “elevate radical artists and connect fans with organizing efforts.”
JLND The original idea came from our friend and boss David Segal... [David] values and appreciates culture and its ability to change norms and organize people to take action... He asked us, because he liked our band, if we wanted to work on something with [them] to bring people into this kind of politics via culture. [We’re] using Demand Progress' existing infrastructure and resources to lift up underrepresented artists, artists who are misinterpreted by the media or just aren't taken seriously enough, to elevate their work and their politics. [The site] launched last year... We continue pretty much every week premiering new songs, putting up features and interviews, and doing all sorts of things to try to redistribute the resources we can get to these artists who are doing this important work.
What are each of you reading right now?
JLND I work sometimes at this place called the Slater Mill in Rhode Island. It's the first factory in the U.S., so there's a lot tied up in the history of the slave trade in the United States, genocide against Native people, labor history. I'm reading this book right now called Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantics and Narragansetts. It's about a Native leader in Rhode Island and southern Connecticut from the 17th century who led various uprisings against the English in southern Rhode Island.
VR I'm reading this book called To Our Friends by The Invisible Committee. It's a book on anarchism, and it talks a lot about populism and fighting against capitalism. There used to be a Barnes and Noble by the hotel that we worked at that I would go to on my break, and I would always look for books in Spanish to give to housekeepers. They never had that radical of books, but they had this book on anarchism and I got really into it. I just picked up the sequel called To Our Friends. There’s a part in the book that’s really beautiful:
“To those for whom the end of a civilization is not the end of the world; To those who see insurrection first of all as a breach in the organized reign of stupidity, lies, and confusion; To those who discern, behind the thick fog of ‘crisis,’ a theater of operations, maneuvers, strategems—and hence the possibility of a counterattack.”
I think it helps speak to the idea that we have to stop dealing in a series of different crises or problems and realize it's part of a war. That's the approach that I try to take to my politics, and to our art.
What are some rituals you subscribe to that make you feel better about the world?
JLND I probably need more of them. There's a Planet Fitness a block away from my house, and I don't take my phone or any kind of electronic. I'll go there for 45 minutes [of] forced non-connection time. That is really hard for me to totally turn off everything at any other point in the day.
VR I always have, but I've started to make more of an effort to pray. I'm working towards physical activity like Joey [laughs].
Introduce us to Magic City. How was it started, and what is your goal with the compilations?
Magic City is a nickname for Miami, but it's also a legendary strip club in Atlanta that has gotten several mentions in rap music we love over the years. Bad timing haha. But also great timing? I don't know.
I wanted to feature a lot of great new artists that I believed in as well as include established artists that I loved in a compilation. I wanted a theme, so I chose the theme to be Miami. It gives producers a fun direction and a project. I tell everybody to just make the song with Miami in mind. The goal was to just give listeners some great free music and for some bigger producers to have fun with the city of Miami, and then hopefully listeners can discover someone new too. Everyone wins. All of the parties I have thrown have featured these artists. The first one I threw was with Trina which was a dream come true. Still can't believe that even happened.
Can you tell us a little more about the lineup and venue for your Magic City party this Saturday?
Well, Nina Las Vegas is a long time friend and one of the best DJs ever. So when I found out she was touring the USA, I was on it. Hoodcelebrityy is on my single "Wine Up", and she is from the Bronx and one of my favorite artists and performers right now. She is one not to miss. I rarely see someone with a presence and confidence like her. She puts out fire songs regularly, and she's definitely going to be huge and I can't wait for it. Helix is a no brainer. He is on the first Magic City compilation, and he's due for a NYC visit. He also has a record coming out that you will want to listen to. LouisVexclusive is someone I have been following for a while. Straight out of Florida! He makes the most "Florida" music there is, and I can't wait for him to play NYC with me. I'm really excited.
Both you and Nina Las Vegas are primarily DJs and have been heavily involved in radio and curation for many years now. When did you first meet each other? How has your friendship grown since then?
We met through Anna Lunoe when I played in Sydney years ago and just kind of hit it off. Me, Nina, Anna and another Sydney DJ named Bad Ezzy stayed in touch for years. All of our journeys in music have been completely different since then, and it's so crazy that we all talk so regularly and visit each other to share it.
You've made countless tirades against the "bro culture" that invades some scenes within the realm of electronic music. What's the worst thing about bros?
They exist and they are in my peripheral.
It seems that all-female lineups have become a trend in the past few months, with many parties going out of their way to brag about inclusivity. In your opinion, is this necessary? Why or why not?
I didn't work my ass off for 10 years, spend all my time and money on making/playing music, fight with family members and significant others about my path and live like a college student in my late 20's to be put in the new "female" genre of electronic music.
My album reviews are up there with every other male artist, and you don't see a "woman" section there. Why does this need to be a thing, and why do people need a pat on the back because they booked someone that identifies as a woman? Don't get me wrong: I'm glad this is being talked about. I've definitely booked and played lineups of almost all women in the past (without parading that around), but sectioning off a group of people isn't helping these days. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've gotten an email like, "We want to put you in this story about electronic music...you will be in the section called 'women something something.'" I'm like, "Wait, why is my electronic song/album in a small boring section of this feature when it's an electronic song/album just like everything else here? Why does this section exist?" If you listen to my music on the radio, it goes fine with every other song produced by other people. Close your eyes. I belong. You don't have to point this out constantly.
What's so special about New York City to you? Do you have any predictions about the club scene here moving forward?
The NYC scene goes in waves. It moves backwards then forwards on a regular basis. I can't say much about it because I'm not around as much as I used to be due to my schedule, but what I can say is that New York is and will ALWAYS be full of really talented, driven, beautiful human beings from all walks of life that will do everything in their power to keep it alive. No matter how high their rent goes up and no matter how terrible the people that move to their neighborhood are, no matter how many times they get fired or their shitty freelance job doesn't pay them on time, they will not be stopped! And that is why I stay here. It's the hardest place to live ever and sometimes drains out your entire soul, so you really, really have to want to be here and have a purpose here. So all of the people who choose to deal with the BS for their art are here in one place. Thank God.
Tickets for Magic City are available here.
