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If you’ve had the pleasure of being around LightSkinKeisha, it’s hard not to like her. Not only does she make endless bops, but her out-of-this-world personality is contagious. As one of the many stars to come out of Atlanta; the rapper, influencer, and reality star calls herself the “Queen of ATL.”
With three albums under her belt, Keisha stays in the studio perfecting her craft. During quarantine alone, she’s released video after video, pairing her already high energy records with cinematic visuals as she steps into character each time. Most recently, she released “Get In Dea,” “Pop Dat,” and “B.R.A.T.” featuring Blac Youngsta — all bangers from her recent Clones EP.
REVOLT caught up with Keisha to discuss her upbringing in the A, working with Youngsta, her new project, Black Lives Matter and more. Read below!
Being from Atlanta, what was the household like growing up?
I got a big ole family, my mama had eight kids. Five girls, three boys. I was born and raised here, I never lived nowhere else. It’s crazy because even when I meet people here, they ask “Oh so you’re really born in Georgia?” I guess that’s rare because so many people not from Georgia are here.
What part of the A are you from?
I was born in Decatur, Georgia. 6lack had the tape, East Atlanta Love Letter. Atlanta is full of talent, period. We’re the wave. We create the waves, too.
What sets you a part from other female rappers?
I’m me. At the end of the day, my personality is everything. People fall in love with me first, then they fall in love with the music. If we’re in person right now, it’d be a whole different vibe. My energy is infectious, I’m the life of the party.
At what point did you realize this music thing was for real?
When I dropped “WEATHER.” I’m like, “Oh okay, I could really do this.” “WEATHER” was my first song I dropped on a serious note. I didn’t know what I was doing, I was just dropping the song. Next thing you know, people started fucking with it. People started streaming it crazy — got a million streams within a couple of weeks. It was crazy. I like hearing myself in my ear, my voice is very unique. My voice carries especially when it’s on the mic. I love being in the studio creating new shit.
Looking at all your visuals, you’ve been putting in work.
Baby, that’s all we do is work. I’ve been putting in a lot of work. We’re not done yet, we’re just getting started.
“Ride Good” with B. Smyth has over 26 million views on YouTube. Did you foresee it blowing up like this?
You know what’s crazy? When I first recorded “Ride Good,” I didn’t like that song. That was my least favorite song. I’m rapping, so me singing and all that, I don’t know. That ended up being Top 5, what the fuck? It’s always the songs artists don’t fuck with the most that really be [the ones]. I always say I’m a rapper, but my biggest song to date is an R&B song. The more I continue to listen to it and see people’s reactions, the more I’m like, “Okay, this actually do fly.”
Are we going to get more R&B from you?
Yes, you will. We’re working on the next project already. The project’s pretty much done. We’re playing with different sounds here and there. We’re going to put some slow shit on there, some slow jams. Make it real sexy, real nice.
Speaking of, you just released your EP Clones.
I dropped that on Sept. 2. We’ve been going crazy. I wanted it to be as creative as possible with that rollout, the goal was to put out a whole bunch of content. That’s why a lot of people when they listen to it and see the visuals, they’re like, “Damn, you got video after video after video.” We were not playing. During quarantine, we weren’t being lazy. Fuck it, going to work with our mask on. Still getting the work, we had to do it.
Did quarantine slow you down at all?
Never. Nothing can slow me down. When we get out of this pandemic and quarantine situation, God-willing, it’s going to prove who’s really working and who’s sitting around. I’ve been getting up, I’ve been working out. I do 10 laps every morning, I’m staying active. I don’t play, I get to it. Crunches, dumbbells, we working out on these hoes. I’ve been in the studio recording like crazy, so much new shit that’s finna come out. On top of that, I was shooting visuals. I never let anything stop me. Can’t nobody stop me but God.
I loved the video for “Get In Dea.” The boot camp aesthetic.
A lot of the stuff with the Clones project, I manifested. I didn’t think it’s going to be possible. I wanted to get a tank in the video, some big shit. Next thing we know, we’re out there with a tank. I was really out there with a Louis Vuitton mask on, I said that. “Coronavirus got a Louis mask!”
Why did you name your EP Clones?
I wanted to play off of like having an evil twin, my alter ego. Trying to think outside of the box. I didn’t want to do the norm that people probably think I’d do because I really do have a twin.
The “Queen Kong” visual is out now. How were them snakes, girl?
I do have a wild side to me too. I actually like shit like that. I love fucking with snakes and wild animals.
How was linking with Blac Youngsta on “B.R.A.T.”?
That shit was lit, I’ve manifested that, too. He’s a funny guy. He’s crazy but that shit was lit. Hearing the track, we thinking, “We gotta get a feature on here.” Okay, the only person I can hear right now is Blac Youngsta. People had already been saying we’re fire, we need a song together. Reached out, he liked the song. He did the verse, came to the video. Boom, magic happened. I came up with BRAT: boujie, ratchet, and thick.
Blac is hilarious!
He’s hilarious. He’s funny funny. That really was one of my favorite shoots honestly. What’s crazy, we shot “Pop Dat” and the “B.R.A.T.” video the same day. Time to wake them up because I don’t play. Two videos in one day. It was a long day, I had to start my day at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning, but we did it. I’m glad we got it done.
What do you like to do to decompress?
I shoot Youtube. I like to cook, I love cooking. I like to do fun shit. I like to go outside and race everybody because can’t nobody beat me.
What do you like to cook?
Everything. The other day I cooked chicken sausage and ground turkey spaghetti. My food will change your life. Once I made this pineapple bowl. I put rice, curry chicken, teriyaki shrimp in that bitch. Stop playing, that shit was crazy.
Do you cook for your mans Coca Vango?
I always cook for him. He always loves when I cook. He’d rather me cook than go out because he always says my food be better than the restaurants.
As someone with a platform, how can you continue to push the narrative for Black Lives Matter?
I’ma always be fighting for my people regardless, period. During quarantine, there were a lot of protests going on. Me and Coca put ourselves out there on the frontline, protested right with them. At the end of the day, the injustice is insane. We’ll continue to always fight for injustice and Black Lives Matter, I don’t give a damn who doesn’t agree. We’ll always big up that movement and do what we can. We donated to different organizations. We’ll continue to fight for justice amongst all the people. We need justice.
A lot of situations happening in today’s society really makes me sick to my stomach. Sometimes, I get emotional behind it. I don’t even want to look at my phone, that shit pisses me off. I can talk about that all day. I’ve cried tears behind this shit. I’ma always use my platform to make sure I’m out there giving knowledge to people. Also gaining knowledge, putting myself on the frontline regardless. I’m gon’ always fight for black people, period. That’s on that. Black Lives Matter.
How was it seeing yourself on “Power”?
Oh man, that shit was crazy. I was sitting on that for about a year. First hearing about it last year, I thought it was a joke. No way. Usually when I go out of town, I always travel with my two security guards and my agent. My agent said, “Nah, can’t nobody go with you.” I’m like, “What the fuck, somebody tryna kidnap me?” It was unreal, I couldn’t believe it. I got to the production studio, I saw everything. Crazy honestly. I already knew Micheal Rainey Jr. who plays Tariq. Amazing person.
Top five artists in rotation?
Hmmm, Teyana Taylor. She definitely is in my top five, I’ve been listening to her a lot. Love Don Toliver, Young Thug. Love Summer Walker. Fifth person, shit me. I’m always listening to my shit, and Coca.