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Music

Firsties and Faves with Kitty: "My First Date was to 'Pirates of the Caribbean 3' and It Sucked"

We talked to Kitty about her first high school party, the Kardashians, and why Claire's is better than Hot Topic.

Boys only want love if it’s torture, and no one knows it better than Kitty, the self-described "rap game Taylor Swift." The artist formerly known as Kitty Pryde (now it’s just Kitty) first hit an Internet sweet spot back in 2012 with stream of conscience, Garageband raps about stalking her crushes and working at Claire’s. Once the tongue-in-cheek video for “Okay Cupid” went viral, the teenage, red-haired rapstress quickly became a Tumblr-worshipped millennial icon. But what made Kitty such a bloggable phenomeon was how shamelessly she embraced a pop-culture identity that took cues from trap rap to My Little Pony. She was just another Beiber-loving white girl piercing other people’s ears at a mall in Florida who happened to be good at rapping and so there. (Now's when we disclose that Kitty is a friend of Noisey and has written for us several times.)

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Kitty’s nonchalant soul-baring always felt more spilt than spat anyway, like the words were literally falling out of her mouth. Her diary-rap aesthetic reflected the suburban woes of the self-obsessed Tumblr generation. In unicorn leggings, liquid cat eyes and gigantic hair bows, Kitty’s Kawaii-like presence was, as she once put it, “very youtube-able.” But to call Kitty a product of the Internet is to discredit her as an artist with the ability to evolve beyond it in the way that she has.

Over the course of her past two releases, Kitty’s music has grown from deadpan rap collaborations into newly sophisticated pop trance. But at the end of the day, she's still the perpetually lovesick 20-something whose live-tweet approach to feeling feelings threw a wrench into hip-hop for at least a second. So maybe Kitty really is the rap game Taylor Swift, considering the way she’s managed to climb out of a very deep pigeonhole in the music world and out the other end.

First date?

The first real date I remember actually calling a "date" was going to Pirates of the Caribbean 3 when I was 13 with a kid from my church. It sucked. While I was getting ready to go I tripped and landed tailbone-first on the sharp corner of my desk and ended up chipping my tailbone. I didn't do anything about it because I really wanted to go on the date, but after two hours of the movie I couldn't stand to sit on my fucked up tailbone anymore and called my mom.

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Favorite rap verse?

There are so many, but I think my absolute fave is Nicki Minaj's verse in "Dangalang."

"Excuse me, can I see your dangalang brother? I mean you know,

juggle your balls like the Ringling Brothers

I'm the Harajuku Barbie, I ain't trippin on your change

I mean look, I got the sports package on my Range

I just dip in the pink for the pink effect, diamonds on my neck for the link effect

and I was wondering if I could lipsync on that

You know my name ring, ring Tinkerbells

Watch? Check, Chain? Check, They be on the raincheck

I be on the move, they be reachin but they can't catch

I'm with the baddest bitch on the island stylin, black Miley Cyrus, sayin hi to pirates

I be singin him ballads, while he tossin my salad,

when I pet my parrots all you see is colorful karats"

First CD you owned?

"Barbie Girl" - Aqua

Favorite Pokemon?

I don't know. Squinklepuff?

Favorite outfit?

I really like to wear this crop top I got from Hollister with these overalls I got from Abercrombie.

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First job?

I worked at my grandpa's Harley Davidson shop. Learned everything I know about beadblasting.

Favorite Disney princess?

I always liked the Little Mermaid, but I'm starting to lean more towards Merida.

First AIM screen name?

Superflychick59 (I was really into Baby Bash at age 10)

Favorite moment on tour with Danny Brown?

There was one night in Boston when my dad and his bae came to watch the show, and they'd never met Danny before and were excited…I brought them into the green room to introduce them and this giant cloud of weed smoke like, engulfed the whole room and everyone started trying not to cough. Danny was all shook, like my dad wouldn't let me hang out with him anymore. It was hilarious.

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First thing you do in the morning?

Check on my Animal Crossing town.

Favorite boy band?

Eiffel 65

Hot Topic or Claires?

Claire's FOR LIFE

First real party?

Ninth grade, William Ziebarth's birthday party. I was too scared to drink any of the liquor everyone snuck from their parents so I pretended I was already drunk but I didn't know what being drunk was like so it was really obvious. Everyone made fun of me.

Favorite bad bitch?

My mom, my grandma, Diana Jenkins.

First time you rapped in front of a crowd?

This kid who lived about an hour away from me heard my songs online and asked me to rap at his birthday party, which was an insane idea to me, but I did it anyway because I thought it would be funny. Here I am!

First kiss?

In the summer after 8th grade, I went to a high school football game and the guy I had a gigantic crush on kissed me to distract me while stealing money out of my back pocket. Fuck you, Ryan Gaylord.

Favorite Kardashian?

North West

Old school or bad boy Bieber?

Bad boy in the streets, old school in the sheets.

Taylor Swift or Katy Perry?

Katy Perry

Favorite Powerpuff Girl?

Bubbles

Bryn Lovitt spent all of her money on hair clips at Claire's. Follow her on Twitter.