I fucks with Wavy Spice. A lot. And so does London’s hub for everything exciting in ~urban~ music, Rinse FM, apparently, as they cherry-picked her from Harlem and flew her over to the UK to hustle in their studios. In-between the 90s-tastic track “Bitch I’m Posh” and then confusing everyone by releasing the heavily Taino influenced “Yaya”, it seems the Puerto Rican has something about her that’s got 2013 craning it’s neck to see what she comes up with next.
I caught up with Wavy at her hair bobbles and crop-tops replete shoot for VICE magazine, to talk high-fashion titties, New York City’s revived music scene and why Latinas aren’t just about reggaeton and La Cucaracha car horns.
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Noisey: How are you Wavy?
Wavy: I’m wonderful – just ate some pizza, had a little smoke…and I’m in London of all places!
IKR! So did you know this was happening? Or did someone spring it on you?
My trip right now has been planned for the past, like, three months.
Sweet. Now, the first I heard of you was “Bitch I’m Posh” and that was because Freebase from Noisey favs MetroZu produced it. Are you tight with them?
Basically, I met them in New York, pre-Wavy. I just sang to him one time and he’s like “Oh we should make some music sometime!” So we met up, made a song and literally put it on the internet that night.
That was it? Just for the lulz kind of?
But it was so poppin’ in the beginning that someone reported it
Really?!
Well, because it had a picture of a nipple.
Ha!
I think haute-nip is always appropriate, very 2013. High fashion-titty, nipple-couture all the way.
My favourite kind of titty. Now, you also grew up with A$AP mob, right? Is it kind of weird for you now seeing them blow up in such a dramatic way?
I met all of them when I was about 17-years-old when I was, like, a go-go girl. I’ve got pictures of Yams holding me up on his shoulders and I’ve always seen them around. So, when they popped off, I was just so happy for them. To see an underground group, from an underground scene in New York make it big is crazy, it’s like Beatle-mania.
Is it exciting for you that it’s put a global spotlight back on New York City as well?
It’s a little surreal to think I’m part of a hip-hop revival and a new spectrum of artists in the new millennia.
That said, we haven’t even scratched the surface of your more hip-hop cuts yet. “Bitch I’m Posh” was kind of house-y and then you suddenly came out singing with “Yaya” and it was like, ummm?
The song “Yaya” was put out because it’s a beautiful song and I wanted to show people that I had range.
So, it was on purpose?
Completely. It was the only song that I’d made since “Bitch I’m Posh” that I immediately liked and wanted to share with the public. I don’t put out shit work!
The way our generation consumes music is very fast-paced. Aren’t you a bit worried that people are gonna be like, “what the fuck else has she put out?”
A little bit. Some people might see that first video as kinda camp or too internet fad-y, but it’s just me having fun. Now, I want to make it clear that I’m here for longevity. Anything with my name under it isn’t going to be any less than I approve of, even if it takes me a month or a year to produce it. I’m just that bitch!
That’s kind of the opposite thinking to a lot of new artists right now. Do you reckon some people are a bit too thirsty to blow up?
Nah, I mean, that hunger is right for some people. But that kind of thing just was never really me. People don’t take shots at me, I think I carry myself in a different way.
Artists that come up too quickly tend to get eaten up and have nervous breakdowns just as fast.
Right! I wanna keep my sanity! Like, I’m going to be that poppin’, in your face bitch, but I will always retain my innocence and purity. Well, I’m far from pure, but y’know…
What’s so special about you, do you think, that’s made people champion you early on in your career?
I think I have that “je ne sais quoi”. Haha, nah, I think I’m very personable. I have a very small amount of work on the internet, but the reason people support me so much is because I do straight, organic live shows. This girl at my show the other day, she knew all the words, and I was like “Yes! This is what I’m talking about!” I was so shocked.
And you haven’t had anyone throwing shade your way yet?
I get nothing but love. I feel like if anyone has anything against me, it’s because of pre-conceived notions or, like, people just make judgements, but that’s cool…
Pre-conceived notions like?
Stuff like, “she’s just this half-naked girl on the internet” or I’m a hipster or whatever, which is funny to me because I’m hood as fuck. If you don’t have anything nice to say…like, I don’t need any of that negative energy in my life. This is what I’m here to do, it’s my career and I take it very seriously. My parents aren’t the ones flying me out to London, they don’t have any money. I’m doing this so I can have a house in the future – I only just got myself this iPhone! Like, daddy wasn’t BUYING me no iPhone!
People love to stir a bit of internet beef though. What if, later down the line, you got into an Angel Haze versus Azealia Banks situation?
Y’know what I’m gonna do? “No comment”.
Smart. So you’d never indulge…
No, I’m too classy for that. All the shit I’ve been through in my life, things like that are so trivial. I do not entertain internet beef, I’d just come up with the next video and kill you harder, you don’t like it? Then fuck you. In terms of female beef, we live in a very misogynistic world. Girls run this, but boys rule it, so women need to stop beefing on the internet.
Preach. Now, tell me about the Tan Boys movement, you’re like the first lady, right?
I met [Bodega] Bamz, and he heard about me because we’re both from the East Side. We started talking, then I came to the studio and he said, “You’ve got to work hard, but I’m going to hold you down”. He’s been my mentor ever since but he’s always said, “There’s going to be people coming at you, ‘cos you’re a woman and ‘cos you’re Latin. There’s no room for mistakes.”
Why is your heritage so important to you?
I’m passionate about representing Latina women primarily and all women of colour, I’m very much about positive activism and self-empowerment. We’re proud to be of colour, we’re proud to be from the inner city. People didn’t fuck with Latin shit for a long time, it was always too dramatic, too corny or a Latina woman was only good for her ass. In reality, we have a very rich culture to share.
Agreed, there was a kind of caricature of Latin-Americans, but the tan girl thing is big in a different way right now…I know this girl who’s a sixteenth Spanish but she calls herself Lady Latina.
Ha! Everyone wants to be Puerto Rican? I find it very flattering. But I mean, all of New York is a melting pot of cultures; like with A$AP, Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers, Jungle Pussy…this is the new generation. We all know each other, but we’re all different and we’re from different ethnic backgrounds.
Being from that city scene has meant that you’ve really slotted into what’s going on here in London too, I feel. Working with Rinse FM for starters, how did that come about?
London’s held me DOWN. I got played on radio first by Rinse FM, I cried! All knew was that Rinse FM like all types of music, they’re real as shit and they support a lot of amazing, independent local music. But when my girl, Shakira from Rinse, got in touch with me it never even crossed my mind that anyone would be interested in doing any kind of recording with me. They were like, “It’s no pressure, just come out here and chill”. Now, I respect Shakira so much and I’ve been recording demos with them ever since. Let’s just say, Rinse has got my first baby.
Ooooh! Can you give us a little hint of what the future holds then?
The project will be unravelled in 2013, but let’s say I run with those niggas in the street at night, but I go to school during the day. I’m the schoolgirl kingpin.
Chuch! Thanks Wavy.
Watch out for Wavy Spice’s photo shoot in the February edition of VICE magazine.
