Destiny Nicole Frasqueri (born June 14, 1992), known professionally as Princess Nokia, is an American rapper and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, ''Metallic Butterfly'', in 2014, followed by the 2015 mixtape ''Honeysuckle''. As Princess Nokia, she rose to prominence for her 2017 studio album '' 1992 Deluxe''. She released another mixtape, titled ''A Girl Cried Red'', in 2018, followed by the release of two studio albums, ''Everything Sucks'' and ''

Everything Is Beautiful "Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens's albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The children ...

'', in 2020.

Early life

Frasqueri identifies as Afro-Indigenous, and is of Puerto Rican descent. When Frasqueri was ten, she lost her mother to

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. Between the ages of nine and sixteen, she was in foster care, during which her foster mother was physically abusive. After Frasqueri left foster care, she went to live with her grandmother. She subsequently started writing rhymes. Frasqueri lived around

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

and the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at the time.

Career

2010–2018: Early career and career beginnings

In 2010, Frasqueri recorded and released her first song, titled "Destiny", under the stage name Wavy Spice on her

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

page, and later released the song on her YouTube channel in mid-2012. Subsequently, she released her second song, titled "Bitch I'm Posh". She next released "YAYA", a song that chronicles her

Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...

ancestry. She later released the singles "Vicki Gotti" and "Versace Hottie". Following the singles, Frasqueri changed her stage name to Princess Nokia, which she claimed was an

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

, and introduced the character with the song "Nokia". On May 12, 2014, Frasqueri released her debut studio album, titled ''Metallic Butterfly'', which debuted on ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

'' and SoundCloud. On September 8, 2017, she released her second studio album, '' 1992 Deluxe'', an expanded version of her 2016 mixtape, ''1992''. It peaked at number 25 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' listed it as the 32nd best album of 2017. Nokia debuted a radio show on Apple's Beats 1 Radio on February 18, 2018. Episodes aired every other Sunday and allowed listeners to get acquainted with the inner workings of Nokia's mind. The show has a total of six episodes labeled "The Voices in My Head with Princess Nokia." In September 2018, she was chosen as one of the six ambassadors by

Maison Margiela Maison Margiela, formerly ''Maison Martin Margiela'', is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela andJenny Meirensin 1988 and headquartered in Paris. The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal collec ...

to promote their new fragrance, Mutiny. In December 2018, Nokia released a "remastered and expanded version" of the album ''Metallic Butterfly'', which includes three new bonus tracks. That same year, she released a mixtape titled ''A Girl Cried Red''. Stefanie Fernández of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

deemed it an expression of Frasqueri's artistic and emotional versatility and praised how she "transcends them."

2019–present: ''Everything Sucks'' and ''Everything is Beautiful''

In 2019, Nokia had her debut performance as an actress in the independent film ''Angelfish''. In September 2019, she released a song titled "Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.)". It was described as "a bouncy, empowering bop built around dismissive lyrics about Nokia's enemies." In February 2020, Nokia released two albums: ''Everything Sucks'' and ''

Everything is Beautiful "Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens's albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The children ...

''. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' described ''Everything Sucks'' as "locust swarm of angst, restless and frantic" and regarded ''Everything is Beautiful'' as "warm and expansive" in comparison to the former. In March 2021, Nokia released a music video for the song, titled "It's Not My Fault". The single was released through

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

and marked the first one Nokia released through a major label. In 2022, she voiced LaBrea, LaCienga's cousin in '' The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder''.

Artistry

Nokia's musical style has been described as "experimental" and "eagerly floating between genres such as

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

." She lists rappers

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first ...

and

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

, girl group

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

, as well as

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

bands

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

and Slipknot as musical influences. Nokia also cites

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, and

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

cultures as influences for her performances.

Personal life

Frasqueri identifies as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and has stated such in a past interview and has also talked about how growing up near the

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

community of New York City was an important part of her life. The early stages of Princess Nokia's musical career began through performing at gay clubs, as she gained popularity among the gay nightlife scene. She also identifies as a

gender non-conforming Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

person and uses both

they/them Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'' and ''themselves'' (or ''themself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified antecedent, in sentence ...

and

she/her In Modern English, ''she'' is a singular, feminine, third-person pronoun. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''she'' has four shapes representing five distinct word forms: * ''she'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''her'': the a ...

pronouns. Frasqueri is a strong supporter of intersectional

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, founding the ''Smart Girl Club'' with Milah Libin, a podcast where she discusses healthy living and urban feminism. She is a practictioner of

Santería Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the tradit ...

, and has shared her own experience with clairvoyance and spirituality that she infuses her music with. In 2017, Frasqueri punched a male concertgoer at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

who she said had been mouthing "dirty obscenities" at her. She later told the crowd that "that's what you do when a white boy disrespects you". Later that year, a video of a woman throwing hot soup in a man's face who was calling "a group of teenage boys" a racial slur whilst on a subway journey to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

surfaced. Frasqueri took responsibility for the incident, saying that "everybody on the train backed erup".

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Mixtapes

* ''Honeysuckle'' (2015, as Destiny)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other certified songs

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nokia, Princess 1992 births Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American singers American feminists American female hip hop singers American Santeríans Bisexual feminists Bisexual musicians East Coast hip hop musicians Feminist rappers Feminist musicians Indie rappers American LGBT musicians LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT rappers People of Afro–Puerto Rican descent People from East Harlem People from the Lower East Side Puerto Rican rappers Rappers from Manhattan Trip hop musicians Underground rappers Non-binary musicians 21st-century American women African-American women musicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians Hispanic and Latino American rappers Puerto Rican women rappers Bisexual non-binary people 21st-century women rappers