In conversation with Fetish

Move, bitch, get the fuck out of her way!

Fetish, better known as Kunt Fetish in the vernacular of those whose TikTok and Instagram screentimes exceed well past a healthy frame, is the kind of online presence that will undoubtedly leave a mark on you, want it or not. Impeccable style, brazen humour and an attitude evoking a blissful triviality to life – these are some of the sprinkles that contour the artist’s image, who amassed a following by being unapologetic and unrestrained on the www. Holding an impressive repertoire of tracks and features (some honorary mentions being Doja Cat and Chase Icon), the artist collaborated  with Doechii on GTFO – the one and only feature on Alligator Bites Never Heal, which last night won the Grammy for Best Rap Album of The Year. Less than a week ago, her remix on London Tipton with Chi dropped, bearing with it a clubby nostalgia, defrosting our verve amidst this freezing month. In less than a month from now, the deluxe version of her tape will be released, marking the completion of a trifecta at the very outset of the year. In the face of all this excitement, we managed to dig deep back into the very basics: we caught up on how she found herself artistically, on collaboration as a process, the mythology of her name – and most notably, on fetishes.

Hi Fetish, how are you?

Heyy! I’m good,I’m in New York right now.

It’s freezing and I’m kind of tired. I’ve been really busy, but I’m good.

Glad to hear! To begin our interview, I’m curious about your life – Can you tell me about your childhood, your passions growing up, the timeline of becoming Fetish?

As I grew up on a farm, I discovered early on I wasn’t a very outside girl. I just felt trapped and bored, but I did find outlets when I could. When I think about my childhood now I think it makes sense that I do music because I would always do the talent shows and I would always sing. I submitted myself to America’s Got Talent and I went and I sang and they didn’t put me through, but honestly I wasn’t a good singer. I was just delusional [laughs]. Then, when I was like 16, 17, I could finally drive and Instagram was very much alive and well. I met people online that lived in Atlanta, which was the closest major city to me. And I was like “oh, I’m about to go meet these strangers and we’re going to hang out and we’re gonna have a great time.” Then when I finally was 18 and graduated college, I moved to Atlanta and I found my people (for the time). I started stripping because I just needed money – I stripped for a long time, up until I was like 23. Then I started dating this girl and she made music as a career. She showed me that you could go to recording studios and stuff, because I didn’t know anything about that. And so I did and I made a song for fun and I posted it on Instagram. And then some music people hit me up; I wasn’t trying to take it seriously at first, but then they started taking me seriously.

So I complied. I realised I don’t have to strip, I can actually take something that I was inspired by in my childhood and make a living out of it.

I always love hearing of how people are starting to take their passions seriously. So that’s really fun, congrats! Was it a linear process to define your artistry by making music or did you explore other areas prior?

I feel like I didn’t ever explore any area with the intention of taking it seriously.

Maybe writing – that was always my favorite subject, I always would try to write songs. I also modelled for a while, but then they dropped me because I got a bunch of tattoos.

Yeah, sadly, that’s how it goes… Also, I hate to say it, but I think Instagram shadowbanned searching up your name! They’re scared of too much power. That made me think, what is the mythology of your name and also the username KUNTFETISH?

I don’t know why they did that to me! I really mind my business on there… As for the name, it’s a double entendre, connected to queer internet culture. You can look at it as it comes off – literally Kunt Fetish – or from the perspective of the colloquial definition of Kunt, like “oh, that’s cunt”. Most people that interview me don’t know that other meaning of Kunt. And they’re just like “oh, you’re nasty”.

If you know, you know… Anyhow, we almost got distracted from the elephant in the room: your Grammy award! Tell us more!

It was really funny because Doechii reached out on Instagram like “Hey, I love your music. I’m in New York. I have a studio in New York tomorrow if you want to pull up and we can try to work on something, I have the album dropping.”

She wasn’t really blowing up the way she is now. She is blowing up because of that tape. I did know of her because I previously had worked with Doja Cat in her Agora Hills music video. Doja invited me to her show in Atlanta and Doechii opened for her at that show. And obviously, I’ve heard some of her TikTok songs, so I said “I am not in New York, I’m in Atlanta, but I will be in New York tomorrow”. So I went and we made a few songs.

I love the instant connection moment!

Yeah, we actually didn’t make our song then, but we had scheduled a few other sessions like in LA and things like that. I didn’t know I was going to be the only feature on the project. She just kind of surprised me when it got released and I was like “Damn, I’m the only piece on this project, slay.”

Slay indeed. And getting to know Doechii through Doja is very substantial to the Kunt lore. You also have other well-known collabs, like Chase Icon. What goes into uniting forces with another artist?

You have to be very, very conscious of who you collaborate with. At the end of the day, artists are people and people have motives. I am someone who likes to protect their artistry and I feel like every artist should be that way. I’ve tried to work with people remotely if I liked them online, but I soon came to realising that collaboratively, I like to go meet with a person. For example, Chase Icon’s in LA, I’m in Atlanta. I go to LA a lot though, so I said “hey, whenever I get to LA, let’s link in the studio”. I like to really feel someone out before I bring them into my creative process.

In relation to that, what are your thoughts on the music industry? What is it that you hope to bring to it?

I think it’s exciting. For the most part, people do have good intentions, especially artists. But it gets a little tricky whenever they have a team, because you can never really tell if you are going to get an answer straight from them, and it’s hard to gauge if it was a response from their management or label or whatever. But I understand it, so I try not to take it too personally. 

In terms of hopes, with queerness being such a big part of my life (and of everybody around me as well), I want to bring awareness to underground queer elements. Because, obviously, we do have a lot of queer and trans artists, but I do certainly feel like bringing more underground elements of the queer community into the spotlight. I think there’s just so much of a world that people are missing out on that is just so cool and important to highlight.

How do you feel like that is going to progress with the current political landscape in the U.S.?

I guess I haven’t thought about how it feels now that Trump is in office. Personally, I feel like I wouldn’t want to think about that too hard, just because it might derail me from my purpose. It doesn’t mean I am insensitive, I just acknowledge that it’s going to take a toll on my creative process.

It might worry me, to be honest, but what needs to be said about those things is going to be said and I won’t let whatever’s happening around me determine whether I get my point out or not.

Do you have a list of ins and outs or any fixed expectations for this upcoming year?

I actually started to make an ins and outs and then I was like, this is fucking stupid. [laughs] First of all, my vape is not out, bitch, even though it should be. And for expectations… I don’t have those. I feel like they contradict everything about me, that I should just do my best and hope for the best, because that’s what’s gotten me here to this point.

If there was one texture, smell or taste that would encapsulate your essence, what would it be?

Let me think… ​​Okay. “Afternoon swim” by Louis Vuitton. It’s very androgynous.

You’re like “Is that a girl? Is that a boy?”

Biggest fears?

I guess like everyone else, failure. But I am trying not to give it too much power.

Favourite fetish? Least favourite?

My personal fetish is moms… I have mommy issues, so I look for maternal women.

My least favorite fetish is foot fetish! I don’t even want to wear heels in a music video, because I don’t want people to be doing unsaid things to my feet. Yeah, no. I literally will tell people who style me “please, no open toes”, because God forbid a girl posts her toes on the internet for free!

Anything exciting coming up that we’re allowed to know about?

This Friday, on the 24th, I have a remix for my song London Tipton off of Club Fetish – my tape, coming out with Chi – and I’m excited about that, because she’s a really great artist I’ve been keeping my eye on. She is London-based, so it was fun to bring somebody from London on that song, she just fits the vibes. And then, on February 18th, I have the deluxe version of my tape coming out! Otherwise I have a few shows coming up, which I’m excited about, and a few collaborations, but I can’t talk about those right now. 😉

Images courtesy of the artist

Words by Luna Sferdianu