Isabella Lovestory Bares All in Exibisionista

How did it feel to be back in the city for a while? Do you notice any shifts in your connection to the city since moving to London?

When I first moved to London and was traveling back and forth, I would gradually feel less and less connected. 2024 is an ending and a beginning. This time last year, I stopped holding on to what New York was for me those years ago. I allowed myself to feel like a new person just like all the other new people that come to the city and discover new sounds, new scenes, and new people.

Before, when I was living in New York, I had moved out but now when I come back I stay with my family, and we live in East Flatbush, Brooklyn which is like the hood. So it's a grounding experience to come back to my home and see that there's still this part of New York that remains unchanged. In regards to gentrification, there are subtle changes. A lot of businesses are closing down and new businesses are trying to open up but I've learned to accept that this is New York. New York is for everyone. I’m learning to accept the waves and eras of the city and experience it in the present.

Is your sound itself influenced by your upbringing in New York?

Yes, for sure. New York is like the second Caribbean for migrants and East Flatbush specifically is a very Caribbean-dominated area. Having immigrant parents, my upbringing was a mix of worlds. Growing up, everyone around me was a Caribbean kid as well. So we've been drinking and turning up and throwing parties since we were pre-teens. I feel like that's a similar experince New York kids have.

Being completely immersed in the Caribbean music of soca, dancehall, and calypso has definitely had a prominent impact on me. So has New York music, especially hip hop and rap. My music speaks to those two worlds. I'm specifically thinking of my song One Time which was partially inspired by the Litefeet movement which is such a New York thing. I was inspired by those drums, that sort of West Coast bounce, and seeing how dance and music speak to each other regionally. It's been a melting pot of a lot of influences and I appreciate that.

Do you think that native New Yorkers hold the same space in the city that we did when we were younger? Is it the same or have you had to shift the native New Yorker complex a bit as you get older?

There's so much to consider. We graduated in 2020 and obviously that was a great time for the city. Everybody left that wasn't from New York. The rent was so low, I was able to move out and just enjoy life. But then after high school, you have an influx of students and a departure of New Yorkers as well for college and stuff like that. I feel like the problem is that people are cosplaying as New Yorkers.

New York is the only place that people move to and then claim as their origin city. That's why I feel like there is this need to create a distinction between being born and raised here because there is such an extreme difference. Y'all flew here we grew here. I wish people were more honest about their whereabouts then we wouldn't need to have this complex.

In my experience at least, New York is very segregated. It's unfair when people can move to the city, come get all the job opportunities, get all the invites, and get all this accessibility into the city. Whereas the people that have been here have to climb so many more stairs to get the same sort of accessibility. It's a different entry point. I think that makes it harder for native New Yorkers to have the same sense of presence as we get older. We have been hustling growing up in this chaotic-ass place our whole life. It's definitely interesting to navigate.

Your work is very multi disciplinary. You're not just one thing so how do you balance all of these different areas of your creativity? Are you leaning more towards one area right now? 

It is definitely seasonal. In the winter, I'm locked in my incubation just to learn, research, study, create, and do that introspective work. Ultimately what has led to me being multidisciplinary is constantly learning new things and expanding my skill sets and remaining curious. My mind is split between so many different places. I'll be doing one thing but then I'll have a question about it and that leads me down a whole other path. I become obsessive with things.

Are you curious about anything interesting right now?

I am about to start teaching production and DJ lessons now. There's a lot of people who are interested in how my mind works and what my process is and being someone that is self taught in so many ways, I have a passion for education. So I was like, ‘Okay, why not do lessons?’ We're going to make a school now. I'm also working on an app and a documentary. At this point, my artistry is not just making songs but an archival and radical approach to what it means to be a creative.

You do a good job of not pigeonholing yourself.

You can never, I think that’s the New York effect. You are exposed to everything a little bit.

Your most recent album DOWN 2 EARTH has a really unique sound. Did you have any specific inspirations on this album?

This album was definitely an upgrade in terms of my technical capacities and trying different genres. Oftentimes, especially with Black female artists it’s so focused on R&B and rap. Don't get me wrong, I love that stuff, but let's push it. Let's make it a little fusion. I was pulling influences from Solange, Skillibeng, and Vybz Kartel.

How is it different from Poster Girl?

Poster Girl was my first project but I was already an image. I had already been in Vogue and done campaigns so it was putting a sound to that image. Poster Girl was this statement of ‘this is what I represent in the fashion and music landscape.’

Whereas I feel like DOWN 2 EARTH was more introspective. Like literally, let's get down to Earth and tap into Talia Goddess. I was trying to get deeper into my sound and discover what it is I want to represent. That's R&B, that’s indie alternative, that's dancehall, a bit of club. I was trying to spoon-feed people a little bit more and more and keep pushing the envelope of what to expect.

Is there anything coming up that you're really excited about?

I'm so excited to release new music. I've been refining this Caribbean influenced R&B retro sound and getting into more up-tempo dance music while still feeling soulful. I'm really excited about the new music and making a statement that I am alternative and I am queer and being at odds with everything, that I'm constantly pushing the envelope.

I feel like the alternative space right now is so alien-coded. It’s very futuristic and I want to bring a diasporic edge to that and bridge those two worlds together because we've always been futuristic and we've always been alternative.