The Interview
Chae Buttuh: 'Hoeism is Feminism is Futurism'
The Greensboro, North Carolina native is bringing sexy back to hip-hop and in doing so bringing the realest parts of herself to light. The subversive nature of her work is powerful in how she empowers femme identity and sexuality, distancing it from the shame reinforced by society. "Hoeism is Feminism is Futurism," Buttah says. "HoFi is for femmes who have no problem using their sexuality to survive and achieve goals."
National Book Award Finalist Danez Smith Discusses Writing One's Whole Self: Black, Queer, HIV Positive
Danez Smith doesn't mince words. As a 2017 finalist for the National Book Award for his second book, Don't Call Us Dead, Smith has chosen to paint literary pictures of life as a black, queer, HIV-positive person living in the world. Smith spoke to me about his work, and the following excerpt of that interview is being published on TheBody to celebrate National Poetry Month.
Rapper Blu Bone Brings Fatima Jamal 'Into Nebula'
I first heard traces of his Into Nebula EP that day, during my studio visit, as I like to put it, and I knew then, with certainty, that it would touch people in a special way. Into Nebula's got a soul to it that is very Black: how it moves between house, hip-hop, R&B, and the blues, sampling Donnie Hathaway, Will Downing, and Kerri Chandler. It's notable to mention that the tape was made while Blu was completing school. He is quite an exemplary student in the halls of academia and to the rigor of art-making. The tape is thus a living thesis as it world-builds and leads us towards a future space, talking through topics of race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexuality. The artist has surrendered to the air, and the possibility of spaces unknown, and he's surely riding it, as depicted in the album cover art. What a pleasure to witness him fly and this work two years later.
We bring it all full circle, chatting on the phone how we do about life, excavation and what's ahead. A star is surely born.
‘Pose’ Star Hailie Sahar Reveals Her Facial Birthmark For the Very First Time
Multihyphenate performer Hailie Sahar is no stranger to the spotlight, but she's been keeping one aspect of herself private for years — until now. In an exclusive interview with Allure, the Pose actress sat down with writer and artist Fatima Jamal to open up about her facial birthmark for the first time.
Nobody's Jucier Than Miss Mojo
MISS MOJO is no stranger to the stage — she was made for it. An eclectic amalgamation of all the media she’s consumed from a child until now, the glimmer in her eyes, her dazzling presence and the way she commands a room suggests she has always imagined her name in bright city lights. Her newly released EP, Juicy, is a testament to this. Just a few seconds in and you’re immediately transported into a world that strongly holds and lifts up the vision of self she has given birth to: a fat Black femme MC from Brooklyn. Behold!
Met Gal Behavior With Hal Baddie
Not every doll lives on the shelf in a box packaged at the Mattel Factory. Not every doll is white, cisgender, ball-jointed with blue eyes. Some dolls are made through magic, self-creation and manifestation, like Devin Halbal, a 23-year-old TikTok star and writer from the Bronx with "Met Gala"-sized fashion dreams. Here is a doll out of the box and into the world, documenting her beauty and that of the earth through her travels, selfie stick and penguin bag in tow. Here is a doll that everyone loves to play with for her musings on travel, fashion, fine cuisines, geology, archeology, architecture and kindness, but she refuses to be collected for her own sanity.