So how long did you work on Telefone?

2013 is when I started hashtagging it. Then I didn’t put anything out for like, a shit ton of years. I made “All I Need” this past winter, and that was the first record that ended up being the start of Telefone. So, maybe nine months? But there’s a lot of life and mental shit that happened within those three years that also was a part of the work, in a way.

That makes sense, because the things you’re talking about are very personal life developments. What does “Telefone” mean, in terms of this project and how it relates to you?

When I initially created it, I wanted it to feel like a conversation with someone who you have a crush on for the first time. Your first time talking on the phone with someone you really like. I wanted it to have all of that awkwardness and laughter and the moments of silence where it’s like, “Ugh, this is really awkward and I don’t know what to say right now.” But you’re excited to tell them new things about yourself. That’s what it started off as. Now, it’s kind of just like, my life is my phone. All of the joy that my friends and family bring me: A phone call, a text message, a meme, laughter, all of that shit exists within my phone. It’s my only access to the world around me, aside from a physical one-on-one interaction, because I don’t have a computer. I’m on my manager’s computer right now.

Do you mind if I ask why you don’t have a computer?

I’m just broke — but I’m gonna get a computer! Now that Telefone is out, more money is starting to come in, slowly. I’m not signed, I’m an independent artist. So whatever money comes in, it goes back into the brand, into making music, paying for Ubers to the studio, all of that shit adds up. So, definitely not out here flossing. Very, very living within my means right now. But I’m planning to get one soon. I’m gonna get one.

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It’s just like a big phone, same thing. So, I guess I’ll ask about “Casket Pretty.” It’s probably my favorite song on the album. Is there a specific story behind that song, or is it a culmination of everything you see around you?

It’s definitely a culmination. This past summer especially has been very brutal to people of color around the world. But specifically in terms of police brutality, we’ve seen just an array of violence everywhere in the United States. I think seeing so much of that prompted the song, seeing how those things affect not only myself, but people around me who I love. It’s interesting because there’s a baby sample in the beat; it sounds so happy. I don’t know what made me write that to that beat. For whatever reason, I tend to find melancholy in instrumentals that people think are innately happy.

When Telefone dropped, that was the song that I saw people independently tweeting out — that’s the song for a lot of people. How did you feel when you finished it?

That song was actually the last one that made it on the project. I wrote it like two days before the tape dropped on some purge shit. Like, I need to just get this off my spirit. We were done recording. It was time to just get it mixed and mastered, and I was like, “Yo ... I think this shit is hot, I think this shit is important. I have to put this on the tape.” So I recorded it, and Cam [O’bi] pointed out that the melody that I was using was off-key. Also the way I rapped it, the hook is very in time, but also not in time. I fought for it, and we kept it exactly the same. It’s not supposed to sound pretty, it’s not supposed to be in key. It’s supposed to be harsh to listen to.

That makes me appreciate it even more. Is that your favorite song on the project then, or does another one have your heart?

I think “Bye Bye Baby” is my favorite. I haven’t done any interviews post the tape dropping, so a lot of the write-ups I’ve seen, people think I’m talking about my own personal experience. That’s not what that song is. It’s a personification of a mother who has had an abortion, and the baby. What I tried to do is make a love song for them. I feel like whenever I hear people talking about abortion, they typically take the love out of it, as if it can never be a loving act — as if it’s only done out of hate or desperation. I know women who have gone through that experience. And there hasn’t been like, a song for them, or a moment of catharsis and healing for them in music. There probably is — there’s so much music — but I haven’t heard it, especially not in hip-hop. I want them to be able to have this because there’s been songs that have been healing for me in other ways. That shit was just important to me as a woman, as someone who cares about these women.