(Credit: Andreas Larsson)
So far, Kid Sister (real name: Melisa Young) hasn’t had much trouble letting people know she’s here. Her party-friendly hip-hop—much of it produced by her boyfriend, A-Trak, who is Kanye West’s touring DJ—has caught the attention of Spin magazine, MTV and Downtown Records, who signed Sis earlier this year. Her debut album, “Koko B. Ware,” will be co-released later this year by Downtown—which is also home to Gnarls Barkley—and A-Trak’s label, Fool’s Gold.
After a visit to the dentist, Kid Sister answered our call to talk about her plans for this year’s SXSW, where she’ll be performing alongside fellow Chicagoans Cool Kids and Flosstradamus and promoting her single “Pro Nails” in a way that will make West Siders smile.
How are your teeth?
They’re fine. Sometimes I bang them up and sometimes I stain them, and we took care of all those things today.
Have you been chomping on microphones again?
Yeah, you know—it’s kind of a problem. What are you gonna do? You gotta be careful—I don’t have health insurance. I haven’t had health insurance in four years. I’ve been working s---ty jobs since I graduated from college. So basically I’m just careful.
So no stage diving for you?
Mm-mm. No. Not anymore.
Was last year at SXSW kind of like this year, where you have a whole Chicago/Fool’s Gold posse heading down?
Pretty much. That’s pretty much every show we do—it’s the family. It’s some variation of us: me and A-Trak—that’s my boyfriend—or me and Josh—that’s my brother. Or sometimes it’s me and Josh and Curt—that makes Flosstradamus. And sometimes it’s me and Alain [A-Trak] and Chromeo. And sometimes it’s all of us together.
And sometimes the Cool Kids, too, right?
Yeah, sometimes we see them out. But they don’t really travel with us like that. They started their thing by doing small parties and then started eventually playing at our parties. But the family—my brother is in Flosstradamus, Alain’s brother is in Chromeo, so literally, it’s a family. When we travel together, it’s like, “Let’s all go get dinner together!”
You guys are like the Partridge Family.
Kind of, yeah. Except we’re a lot more ghetto.
Are you doing anything to prepare for SXSW?
Yeah. Last year was a little bit crazy. Last year, I had eight shows, because I was just trying to get out there and get people aware of me. And this year, we’re just gonna be doing some fun stuff. I have two shows, which are both official showcases. You’re only allowed once official showcase, so I have two. [Laughs] I don’t even know why they [allowed] that—I think the people are just like, “She’s nice, she’s from the Midwest.” And aside from that—I think it’s gonna be Friday night or Thursday night—I’m gonna do free, full-set acrylic manicures at Beauty Bar.
Really?
Yeah. If you really want a free manicure and you really want your toes done up and your fingernails matching, you can make that happen and I will show you how.
You personally are gonna be giving manicures? Because I’ve never had a manicure, but I think I might get one if I can say, “Kid Sister personally put these acrylic nails on me.”
[Laughs] No. It’s just Kid Sister approved. I was like, “Can you guys find me the ghettoest Vietnamese nail shop in the city of Austin and please bring the entire staff to Beauty Bar?” And they were like, “We can make that happen!” So that’s basically what it’s going to be: a ghetto nail shop set up inside the Beauty Bar. Fried chicken and egg foo young is appreciated—bring it if you can! [Laughs] My friend has a beauty shop over on the West Side in Chicago and everyone’s always eating Chinese takeout. So I’m just like, we have got to bring that to Beauty Bar. We [have to] create the West Side in Austin.
If you’re heading to Austin for SXSW, you can catch Kid Sister at Emo’s on Friday, March 14 at 12:10 a.m. or at Volume on Saturday, March 15 at 11:20 p.m. Details about her manicure party at Beauty Bar are still pending. Metromix will check in with her again while we’re in Austin.
Add a comment