Rapper BIA is primed for creative domination. Pushing versatility on her new EP, Really Her, the Boston artist gives listeners a taste of her chameleon flair, which she warmly details in coversation. “It’s like, if you know me, you know I’m real chill,” she says over Zoom. “I’m real laid-back. I’m down-to-earth, but then I also get wild, and I love the runway—it’s a lot going on with me.”
It’s true there are different sides to the multihyphenate entertainer. During an August afternoon, we chat just one week after BIA’s 33rd birthday, a milestone for the “Perico Princess” who’s devoted to the fierceness of her Leo sign. The night before, BIA, born Bianca Miquela Landrau, blew out her voice while attending a Drake concert. There’s a subtle rasp to her signature husky purr and her camera is off, the black screen boldly stating her TOP GYAL display name. At times, she hushes her Yorkshire terrier, Mia, who adorably barks when she wants attention. Fresh off performing the FIFA Women’s World Cup walkout anthem, “Bring It On,” with Australian singer-songwriter Tones and I, and French-Senegalese vocalist Diarra Sylla, in Sydney, BIA’s alert and ready to take on the world.
But first, she reflects on her Massachusetts origins, and the strides that it took to ascend in the mainstream. “People don’t know this about Boston, but we have such a huge rap scene, especially underground. We’re one of the cities that I feel like supports rap acts when they first start to bubble,” she says.
The rapper names local entertainment venue the Middle East as one of the state’s biggest. She’s also performed at the neighboring Paradise Rock Club, where she’ll return with supporting acts Lakeyah and Lebra Jolie for the Really Her tour, but has her eyes set on headlining the House of Blues in Harvard Square. BIA thinks fondly of the city that shaped her and she wants to uplift the next promising regional artists.
“I think that that’s something that I’ve always known—that the city has a lot of culture. As I’ve been getting in more of a position, I feel like that’s something I’ve wanted to do—go back and shine a light on the culture and the artists that are really there.”
BIA had to depart Boston for the small screen while catching on as an artist. In 2014, she debuted on the reality television series Sisterhood of Hip Hop, where she rubbed shoulders—and regularly butted heads—with fellow femcees. Simultaneously, she was signed to Pharrell Williams’ multi-media company and record label I Am Other, where her introductory mixtape, #CholaSeason, seldom got the attention that she garnered on SOHH.
TOP Feben, PANTS Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili, EARRINGS Bottega Veneta
In recent years, Williams has caught flack from female artists that were formerly on his label Star Trak Entertainment, now defunct. Although the women felt undervalued and mismanaged, BIA has nothing but gratitude for Williams, who was introduced to her through Fam-Lay, Williams’ friend and one-time Star Trak signee.
“They always put me in a really good position to try to just do my thing and learn. I don’t really feel like I’m the type of person to ever come into a situation with too [many] expectations; I’ve always been the one to look at it like, Okay, what have I taken from this situation?” BIA says. Adding that Williams and Fam-Lay both gave her “gems,” she expresses that her brief I Am Other heyday ultimately brought her to the forefront: “I wouldn’t be in music if it wasn’t for them.”
After #CholaSeason and her inaugural EP, Nice Girls Finish Last: Cuidado, she needed no introduction for her sensual guest appearance on Russ’ 2019 single “Best on Earth.” The internet went abuzz when pop superstar Rihanna played its chorus in an Instagram clip of her strutting in slow-mo, and BIA’s musical ascendance truly began. Now, she isn’t surprised when fans call her an innovator in “sexy trap,” which some Gen-Z rappers have attempted to recreate. However, BIA gives props to early Roc-A-Fella Records rapper Amil, who was notable for her airy tonality in 1990s to early 2000s cuts.
“I always do what feels the most authentic to me. If people say I’m spearheading a sound, I feel grateful for that,” BIA acknowledges. “All I want to do is create more sounds because I’m not the first to do anything—nobody’s really the first to do anything. All we do is put our spin on stuff and just hope that the people love it.”
DRESS Christopher Esber, EARRINGS Jacquemus
BIA’s high regard for artistry shines through on Really Her, the nine-track follow-up to her sophomore EP For Certain. Unreserved in delivery, the artist flaunts her heavy bankroll and authority on “Millions.” She touts high fashion and being an “international icon” on the experimental “Classy.”
“London” sees BIA the rapper handle her own with nimble lyricism against rap extraordinaire J. Cole, whom she counts as a musical confidant. Listen straight through Really Her and you’ll find BIA—boundless and willing to talk her shit over any soundscape.
“I’m into multi-genres, so when people listen to me, I want them to not expect what they’ve always expected from this project, and listen with an open ear and just know that I’m still growing,” she says. “I want people that listen to it to feel powerful—male, female, everybody. I just want them to feel motivated and ready to take on the world.”
BIA continues to reach for new and experimental heights, like being featured on EDM club banger “Both” with Dutch DJ and producer Tiësto and Atlanta rhymer 21 Savage. Interested in making house music and R&B, she gets second opinions on potential songs from her rap predecessors, like Cole and Nicki Minaj, the latter with whom BIA collaborated on “Whole Lotta Money (Remix)” and “Super Freaky Girl (Queen Mix).”
“She just knows what’s up, and I love that, because she rubs off on me sometimes,” BIA says about Minaj. “When you’re a woman in this field, you gotta put your foot down, and you gotta stand for something, or else people make you fall for anything. That’s what I respect about her—she don’t fall for anything.”
Funnily enough, BIA turned to 2010s Minaj as the inspiration for her heavy makeup looks in high school, as the Queen rapper often donned Technicolor glam early in her career. “I turned into a full makeup girl. Luckily, I don’t have a lot of pictures from that era. Thank God, because I remember there was pink lipstick when Nicki Minaj came out,” BIA jokes. “I regret that era of me doing my own makeup, but I feel like it’s a very feminine trait to have and I’m grateful for it.”
The mishaps eventually set the tone for BIA’s cosmetic line, Beauty for Certain. Launched last February, the brand marks BIA’s entry into the makeup game after once being a seventh grader who had an everyday eyeliner routine. To her, she didn’t look “awake” without it. BIA’s since evolved, with Beauty for Certain boasting splashy palettes that match the rapper and businesswoman’s vulpine charm. She explains her signature cosmetics with joie de vivre, saying that she wears brown lip liner and lipstick #17 in Warm Sienna daily. “It’s not really a nude but a pinkish, natural color. Lined with brown and Cabo Rojo on top is the best lip combo,” she says.
EARRINGS Lele Sadoughi, BODYSUIT Theophilio
Citing BB cream and nail products, she notices that the natural and “clean girl” aesthetic is making a return, and wants Beauty for Certain to go from word-of-mouth to a bountiful empire. “I’m super hands-on with Beauty for Certain,” BIA shares. “I’m truly passionate about nails, makeup, and beauty, because before I had glam, I would do all my own glam. I always wanted to make it easy for people and whatever products I’m using on me, I wanted them to just be able to find them.”
Fashion-wise, BIA’s tight-lipped about forthcoming collaborations, but admits that she’s in a “dark edgy era,” reminiscent of the female artists that impacted her. “I grew up kind of like a tomboy, but I’ve always been really girly,” she says. “I guess the last [people] that could speak to how I felt growing up [were] Aaliyah or Rihanna, where they’re edgy and they’re still sexy, but they’re not doing too much. They’re effortless, it’s natural. It’s like a ’90s [and] millennial thing that I don’t see a lot of as much in artists today. What I used to see when I used to look at artists, I want to get people that feeling.”
But don’t be quick to call BIA’s throwback-esque mien an ode to the millennium: “Y2K is kind of for the kids sometimes, and I’m not a kid. I’m a grown-ass woman,” she asserts.
BIA’s unapologetic showmanship makes her a standout from habitual artists-turned-influencers. She’s still her best advocate, even if that means going against temporary fads. “A lot of people want to conform to what they think is, like, Oh I gotta do this because this is what’s trendy right now. It’s taking so much focus off the fact that we need real representation for women, and to be taken seriously,” she says. “I don’t want to be outside and people [do] not take me seriously because of what they feel like my raps are about and how they feel I represent myself. It has to be taken seriously. It has to be at a higher standard.”
Now, amid hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, BIA crowns herself the bona fide artist she’s always aspired to become, one who’s made it happen through hardships and all. “When I first started rapping, I was looking for somebody that I felt like could be a representation of me, somebody that I fully related to,” she says. “A part of me related to different female artists, but I didn’t feel like anyone really spoke for me. I wanted to speak for me and the people that were like me, and I feel like I’ve done that. I’ve stayed true to myself.” ❤
TOP Feben, PANTS Aleksandre Akhalkatsishvili, EARRINGS Bottega Veneta, SHOES Jeffrey Campbell
STORY CREDITS
PHOTOGRAPHY Myrthe Giesbers, STYLIST Soaree Cohen, HAIR Kiki McBeth, MAKEUP Maddie Jones, PHOTO ASSISTANT Carlos Garcia, LOCATION Juice Box Studios
HERO IMAGE CREDITS
BODYSUIT Theophilio, EARRINGS Lele Sadoughi, BELT Commission, SHOES Neous
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