Interview With Lady Twist

The cast of Miss Rap Supreme

AE: Why do think that there hasn't been any mainstream female [hip-hop] artist to come out?
LT: Well here's the thing: I can't call any names, but I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of female MCs that are gay or questioning or whatever you have. America as a whole is pretty much against the whole gay thing, you know, with gay marriage and politics and all that, but at the same time I think gay is like the new hippie, because everywhere it's like "so and so came out of the closet," and I'm like "really."

It's kind of like the cool thing to do amongst females, but at the same time if a male comes out there's going to be hell to pay, so I think that in the end, you know, we feel like we have to play follow the leader. If one person comes out, then everybody else will feel comfortable. It comes down to someone having the balls to say, "This is who I am — love it or shove it." Either you love me or you don't, simple as that.

AE: Who are your hip-hop icons?
LT: So this is really a male-dominated industry. My lyrical icons, I would say of course are Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Ludacris, Eminem, Twista, Do or Die, Crucial Conflict. It's just a matter of people not being scared of what people think

AE: In your song "Uh-Oh," you talk about women being disrespected. How do you feel about female representations in rap music and especially in videos?
LT: No one can make you look bad if you didn't make yourself look bad first. You got the females in the videos in skin-tight clothes, scantily clad, and they're all clapping their booties in booty shorts and all that stuff. If they hadn't done that to begin with, nobody could say anything and complain about it, because it wouldn't have been out there, so I say to each his own. If that's what those women choose to do with their life, then that's where they are.

But at the same time, if you go outside in a bikini and some booty shorts, you can't expect some guys walking down the street not to yell at you and go "uh oh" and all [that] stuff. It's the of aura of what you project to the world.

AE: Did you know about Yo-Yo and MC Serch before the show and about their careers?
LT: I was familiar with Yo-Yo. I knew about her when I was a little younger. I can't recite her songs because I was kind of young when she was hot, probably like 5.

And MC Serch, to be honest with you, I wasn't really familiar with him until I got there and everybody told me he was in 3rd Base. … I'm only 22. … I respect them tremendously as artists now that I'm award of what they were about.

AE: What do you think about Khia's appearance on the show, and do you think it was fair that she was a contestant? Do you think it was a setup? [Khia, who is best known for her 2002 hit "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)," was a contestant on Miss Rap Supreme and was disqualified in Episode 2 for using a pre-written song.]
LT: You know, I don't really have an opinion about that. Personally, I think Khia is a nice person, but a lot of people see her as a bitch. But I really didn't have any problems with Khia. I thought she was a very cool person. She is who she is because she's so bold and feels herself so much because of what she has done.

I respect what she's done in the industry as a solo independent artist, and a lot of people look at a Khia and say, "Oh she's a bitch cause she's cocky," but actually Khia kind of has a right to be cocky because she stepped on the scene and sold 800,000. I mean I'm lucky if I sold a thousand compared to what she sold.

I saw her and I was like, "Oh, you're Khia," and I shook her hand like it was all good — "Nice to meet you, I used to play the s--- out your song ['My Neck, My Back']." Khia did what she had to do. According to her, she did the show for publicity to promote her new album.

AE: How have your interactions been with the rest of the contestants?
LT: I was real cool with everybody. I was like the peacemaker of the show. I tend to avoid drama. So if it doesn't have anything directly to do with me, I don't give a damn what y'all are doing.

There's a lot of stuff going on in the house right now. Everybody is all divided, but if you're paying attention to me, I'm right in the middle. I'm not on your side or your side. I'm just cool with everybody. I love all the girls on the show equally. I talk to everybody, minus Khia, on a regular basis. I'm glad I met them. They're all really talented girls. I was blessed to have that opportunity to share that experience with all of them.

AE: Out of the people in the house — outside of yourself — who do you feel is the best lyricist?
LT: The best lyricist in my opinion would be Rece Steele and Miss Cherry, next to me of course. Those are my top two, but I gotta throw Chiba in there because she was a hell of a performer — bossy as hell when she wanna be, but she was a damn good performer.

Watch Lady Twist perform during this week's elimination challenge: