The culture has been primed for a gender nonconforming rapper, if only in fits and starts. Lil Uzi Vert beginning to identify as nonbinary circa 2022 pushed hip-hop blogs to learn about they/them pronouns, if only inconsistently. Even with these forebears, skaiwater has broached previously unprecedented territory for mainstream hip-hop. On their 2024 album #gigi, skai actively toys with gender expression, labeling themselves a “platinum bitch” on “rain” and keening, “Play with my / pussy not my emotions,” on “real feel.” They paint their nails and wear women’s clothing occasionally, though their style still generally adheres to the black clothing and exaggerated silhouettes of Playboi Carti’s OPIUM aesthetic.
To skaiwater, these displays are an unglamorous documentation of their life not an attempt to push an agenda with their music, though they agree that all art is political. Still, choosing to depict their real, gender-nonconforming life is inevitably charged, particularly now. “I was tryna be a boy for you,” they rap on “one battle after another,” a line that speaks not only to gendered expectations in their personal life but the pressure from the industry to present a certain image as a rapper, they say. It’s this candor that’s garnered them a fervent fanbase, legions of teens and 20-somethings who flood the comments of their finsta and show up to shows with trinkets for skaiwater to sign, or even just keep. And despite the predictably close-minded commenters calling them zesty on YouTube, skaiwater remains unphased.
“It’s not my business how people feel about me,” they say. “I’ve been here from the jump. I came in this bitch, knowing what the fuck I wanted to do — so it doesn’t matter how they feel.”
