In advance of her performance at the Yo! Sissy Music Festival, rapper Mykki Blanco spoke to SIEGESSÄULE about working with Woodkid, transphobia and her album coming out this autumn

Jul. 5 – With “High School Never Ends”, Mykki Blanco and Berliner director Matt Lambert delivered one of the most exciting queer music videos of the year. In her interview for SIEGESSÄULE, she told us about how personal issues have shaped her career, some info on her forthcoming album (simply titled Mykki) and what to expect from her performance at this month's Yo! Sissy Music Festival

Your newest single is called “High School Never Ends”. How do look back at your own high school experience? If anything, I had a really supportive high school environment. I never had to come out of the closet because everyone always knew I was gay. Obviously, everyone gets bullied in their teens, but I was able to defend myself. I've always had a bold attitude when people were confrontation with me. I was actually much more confrontational myself.

The video reminded me of a modern version of Romeo & Juliet. How did you come up with this idea? The director Matt Lambert and I had been wanting to make a video together since 2014, but it didn't fit with our schedules. When he found out that I was working with a label and with Woodkid, he said, “Maybe this is our chance.” And I said, “You're right.” I really love Matt's work, he's one of my favorite photographers. So we just started talking about ideas. At first, the video was just going to be very youthful, like a rave in the woods. And then we thought we should do something more cinematic. Then it became about a hippie commune, then it became about me being a refugee and falling in love with a skinhead. We thought of taking a classic idea and turning its idea. Even though it's been done so many times, we should reinvent a classic love story like Romeo & Juliet, but in a way that reflects contemporary issues, also incorporating queer and gay sexuality that hasn't been seen before in a music video.

How did the collaboration with Woodkid come about? We first met at the Forbidden Fruit festival in Ireland. Our hotel rooms were on the same floor, and it was very late, and he was locked out of his room. I wasn't able to see his performance at the festival because I arrived after, but he was able to see mine, and he was like, “You were really great,” and I was like, “Thank you!” A few months later, he came to another one of my shows in Paris. He still didn't really tell me that much about himself, but he invited me to his studio. We didn't end up creating anything that day, but we got along really well. Then, last year when I was going through a lot of things in my personal life and decided to quit music, he wrote me an email. He said he would love to create some songs with me, that I was too talented not stop creating music. He really took me under his wing. He ended up producing half of my album.

That's amazing. But why did you want to stop making music? I was having problems with my management at the time. They were a bit too young and weren't getting me the opportunities I needed to move forward. I had to constantly tour to make money, instead of getting support from a label, to be able to record. There was just no structure. Also, I was going through things in my personal life. I hadn't come out publicly about being HIV-positive. I felt I couldn't come out with my status and continue as an entertainer. I felt stuck and didn't know how I'd get out of it. 

How were the reactions when you did come out? It got written about in Time magazine and all these huge media outlets. I was really scared, but I received so much support. I knew there was going to be a period when people would continue to write about it and associate that with my music, but I also knew that as long as I created new art, that that would eventually stop. And I'm happy to say that now, people are over it. Now that we live in this culture of reality TV and social media, people ­– especially the fans – they like to know personal information about you, to feel they are closer to you as a person. Now, everybody knows that about me, but it's not what they focus on. Also, I think because I'm super healthy, it's really inspiring to people. It's not like I came out and got sick. It sends the message that you can still be happy and healthy with HIV. Overall, it was a very good thing for a lot of people – more than I realized at first.

What was the working process with Woodkid like? I really learned a lot from him. He's very disciplined. We would meet at ten in the morning and work till eight at night. It's not about this rock 'n' roll lifestyle and working only when you feel like it. He really pushed me to use my voice in ways I never had before. It helped me create a new way to write songs. It's like I gained a new set of skills that I can keep using as I move forward.

How would you compare Europe and the States when it comes to your experience with homo- and transphobia? There are definitely certain places in Europe where I've experienced more transphobia. Portugal, the South of Europe. I love the Unsound festival and my fans in Poland, but I think the country is miserable and I hate performing there. Overall, I think it depends on the culture. Some people are still very, very closed-minded. America has changed in the last five years, but there are ignorant people everywhere. They passed a really bigoted piece of legislation where I grew up, discriminatory against transgender people. People don't even know the extent of what the law does – it's actually so much more than just a “bathroom bill”. It also has to do with workers' rights and civil rights. But overall, I think things are moving forward.

What more can you tell about your upcoming album? It was produced by Woodkid and also a guy named Jeremiah Meece. It's 13 tracks. I think my fans are going to feel it's my best album to date. It's a lot of dance music, but it's also very emotional with honest and sharp lyrics. And a lot melody. It feels super cohesive, and I'm super proud of it. The second single will be “Loner” with a video out at the end of summer.

What can we expect from your performance at the Yo! Sissy Festival? It's a very, very high-energy show. I completely black out once I'm onstage. A lot of clothes come off, a lot of jumping and spinning. Anything can happen. 

The festival bills itself as “the premiere Berlin festival for international queer music” - what does “queer music” mean to you? It means we no longer need straight pop stars – we now have enough artists that people in our community can relate to. We can listen to rap that isn't saying “faggot”. Even pronouns – a man singing about “him” – these are small things that make people feel valued. 

Interview: Dennis Agyemang

SIEGESSÄULE presents
Yo! Sissy Music Festival
Jul. 29 at Musik & Frieden w/ Mykki Blanco, Zhala, Christeene et al.
Jul. 30 at Postbahnhof w/ Le1f, Karin Park, Hannah Holland et al.