Kai, The Black Angel
Mossy Mugler — Ever since moving to New York, what would you say has been your biggest milestones so far?
Kai — I will name a few but the main one was graduating.
M— Graduating school?
K— Yeah, but I would definitely say, being on Dev Hynes’ album cover was kinda like, really cool. It was really meaningful. What’s so funny is that I literally fell in love with him in Philadelphia and when I moved to New York my school had us doing this thing where we had to put up a picture of our favorite artist on our door, and mine was literally him, it was literally Dev Hynes.
M— Stop! You literally manifested this into existence.
K— That's why I’m like damn, the world is crazy.
M— How did you feel when you got that text?
K— Well, when they called me they were like; “You have to put your own outfits together” and at the time I had no money or anything like that.
M— So they asked you to style it?
K— Yeah they were like you gotta do it all yourself and at first, I was like 'where the fuck am I gonna get everything? Where do I even find angel wings?'
M— Right.
K— I kinda just jumped into it like, I didn't even get the chance to be happy about it till after the fact. It was like, 'oh shit I gotta figure some things out right now.'
M— But you got it together! That cover was cunt.
K— Yeah It was really cunt. I was happy.
M— How do you feel like New York influenced your artistry compared to when you were in Philly? Did being in New York help solidify your self-expression?
K— Absolutely. It's something that me and my best friends talk about a lot when we see each other. In terms of self-expression, my room in Philadelphia was in the basement so for me it was easy to get dressed however I wanted and then escape from the back door so I don't have to worry about anything my mom was gonna say about my outfit. Being in New York I don't have to sneak around anymore. In terms of my craft, I’m not gonna say it hasn’t done anything for me but i'll definitely say it exposed me to like, other possibilities. I already know what I know but it just helped me elevate like these pre-existing ideas.
M— Definitely! For me, being in New York helped me be surrounded by people who understand my art.
K— Yes! And that's another thing, you get to meet like-minded people all the time. Yes yes yes. And Philly is not like that at all.
M— We know you express yourself through various mediums of art, obviously multidisciplinary cunt. As a multi-disciplinary artist, Do you find it difficult to maintain consistency in every field you want to practice? and how do you maintain it?
K— Well to answer the second question first, maintaining — it is like, don’t look at it as a job, you have to look at it like it's something you have fun doing. I feel like it becomes something you have to juggle once you start making money, so reminding yourself that this is fun and that this is something you love doing will help you create the time for what you love, you know?
M— Yes! It must’ve been exciting once you started making money.
K— Yeah no shade it definitely was.
M— Right, I feel like New York gives that like, make money out of what you love type vibe.
K— Yeah, it definitely gives the space to do so.
M— Your looks are fierce bitch. So far, you’ve worked with brands like Hood by Air, Telfar, Weslah, and many more. Who or what do you look up to the most when it comes to fashion and why?
K— Okay so, I definitely look for exclusivity the most when it comes to fashion.
M— Exclusivity how?
K— Because like i'm more attracted to rare things, rare finds, things that are one of a kind. I love having to hunt for clothes and that inspires my looks. Just like, rare things. From the names you listed, I would say that like, Telfar and Shayne (HBA) would be the main. I love Weslah too though, I love weslah, but with Shayne and Telfar I love that they like, look like me and impact people the way I would wanna impact people you know? Also, let me say Shayne again because like, I was watching this Kerwin Frost interview with him and Ian [Isiah], and they were talking about the current world and the youth of New York and it was so inspiring like I don't know if anybody knows this but he [Shayne] actually, asked me personally. It felt great getting that stamp of approval, I was gagging. He was like I see you doing your thing I see you’re doing your "ah ah ah," you know?
M— It’s a very “I made it” moment.
M— You mentioned that you wanna impact the scene the same way Telfar and HBA do, what does that look like for you? For Kai?
K— I feel like, maybe if it's just like, I don’t know actually, but just from like a surface-level point, I would want people to start picking up on my aesthetics or like my ways of like, thinking, you know what I mean? Exposing people to a new form of reality is picked up by what I do.
M— You wanna be like, patient zero basically.
K— Right!
M— So all of us know Kai, the model, the photographer the artist, etc. But, not everyone knows you as Angel Balenciaga/Mattel, a renowned voguer in the ballroom scene, tell us a little bit about how Kai and Angel are different from each other? And what impact did the ballroom scene have on you?
K— I don’t think Kai and Angel are two different people, I think what it is, I think it's just another identity for me. You know what I'm gonna say I'm really bad at like compartmentalize!
K— Exactly! That's how Angel was born, because I was tryna do that while in ballroom, and that's when I realized Kai and Angel are the same thing. The same person.
M— Ugh, finding that word was killing me! But yes, I see what you mean like they’re all you, just different extensions.
K— yeah, and ballroom had such an impact on me like, sometimes I get emotional thinking about this but like, there’s been times where my real family would not pull through for me and my ballroom family would help fill that void. The impact that ballroom has had on me is showing me what unconditional love means. Even sometimes when I go out there and I might not do my best they’ll always be reassuring saying like you’re still THAT girl, you just had an off day and that's okay. That feeling is really unexplainable. Ballroom is a safe space for me. Feels like heaven.
M— We’re you in ballroom in Philly too or just in New York?
K— I taught myself how to vogue in New York. I’ve been to a few balls' in Philly, but I’ve never walked. It was kinda like research.
M— Sexy.
M— Is maintaining an online presence strenuous on your mental health? What’re your tips on staying sane while building a career?
K— Okay, the online presence thing — is it strenuous? I don’t know, at least not for me. I’m not always on Instagram, I make sure l live in the real world. I look at Instagram as a tool. Something about being able to have friends all over, have friends in Montreal, overseas like, its beautiful. Shout out to Instagram for that, shout out to all social media for that. I will say though, this feeling of like, me needing to take time away from Instagram, its like a conditioning thing just because of how I’ve seen other people using it and ah ah ah but just like, its a tool, use it for what it's good for but don't make it your life. I mean unless you wanna be an influencer, but that's like your life. It’s a lifestyle, but if that's not your lifestyle, make sure you step away every so often. For artists, this is something I had to learn like, don't rely on Instagram to get you work. There’s still alot of work to be done outside of Instagram in order to progress in your career.
M— Like putting yourself out there, going to the parties, going to the gigs, going to the ball, networking.
K— Yeah, for artists fundamentally you have to do that.
M— It’s such a huge part of growing your career and that's definitely something Instagram can’t fully offer. Like, Instagram isn’t at the venue.
K— Right like you actually have to talk to people.
M— Right it's not like DMs, its like an actual convo'. Crazy.
M— This photoshoot was heavily inspired by surveillance culture. It’s giving 'if they’re watching let’s give them something to see!' Surveillance culture has impacted so many artists with censorship / banning SWers / Queer & Trans artists, etc. How do you think surveillance culture has impacted your ability to express yourself on any platform and how much are you willing to compromise for the sake of maintaining online guidelines? Fuck it?
K— It’s definitely giving do whatever the fuck you want. Do you know what’s so cool? I posted this picture of my GNC [Gender non-conforming] friend with their chest out and it got taken down but they give you that option to plead your case and I explained to them how wrong they were to do so. I wrote them a paragraph saying this is my work and that the person in the photo doesn't even identify as female so the fact that you can see the breast is completely irrelevant. After that, they were like "okay." And they let me keep it up! So I feel like, especially if it’s your work, there's a lot you can do to help continue pursuing what you wanna do regardless of the guidelines. It’s definitely a fuck it type of situation.
M— Who knew the corporate demons had some kind of reasoning?
K— Yeah seriously! Like….
M— I think it's important for all artists to talk about. Where do you see Kai The Black Angel going? Where do you want to go?
K— I still wanna be able to model and do all of those things but on the outside of that, I wanna' start my own production company. I’ve tapped into enough mediums to be the person who’s qualified. A part of me also wants to start an agency, I dont know there’s so much I wanna do.
M— So it’s giving ambition.
K— It’s very much giving ambition, you’ll see.
M— You're like just hold on be patient!
K— Right! Right!
M— Yes! Well I’m super excited to see where you’re gonna go! Obviously, you’re an incredible artist and what you’re doing is gonna change so many things for so many people. You’re young and you’re a pioneer which is cunty AF. I’m so glad we had this interview. Now the world gets a chance to see what's between your ears.
