Meet Pretty Blaq | Hip Hop Artist & Spokenword Poet

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pretty Blaq and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pretty, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I honestly feel I was placed on this earth as a creative being, to heal people with my artistry

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My Name is Pretty Blaq, I am a Spoken Word Poet and Hip Hop recording artist. People tend to interpret my name at the surface level. They think it means Im a Pretty Black woman, which I am, but the name comes from me being pro black. It started as my Poet moniker, because my poetry is pro black and told through the lens and life experiences of a black woman, which carries over into my music, especially my debut album titled “Bantu Knots”.

The road to where Im currently at was not an easy one, and there’s still more of that road to travel to get to where I want to be, success wise. Of course Hip Hop is still a male dominated industry, yes we have an emergence of female rappers dominating the scene, but behind the scene we still have a ways to go.

Also there is a lot of disdain online for female rappers, due to the image and narrative that mainstream media and big labels are pushing, ie: Hypersexuality in regards to music content, as well as image. For women, looks are everything, they listen to us with their eyes before they listen with their ears. If you dont fit that specific image as a female rapper, you’re immediately overlooked.

What sets me apart? I really rap, my content and lyricism speaks for its self. I literally have heterosexual men rapping my shit lyric for lyric LOL, I have an appeal thats not first and foremost based upon aesthetic and any real hip hop head can feel that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oooh lets see, in the IE we definitely would hit up Raquel’s Jazz Lounge in Rialto, CA or ProAbition in Downtown Riverside for some live music and drinks, maybe go to Top Golf in Ontario, head to LA for some food because LA literally has everything and maybe even do a road trip to Vegas, the possibilities are endless.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My main producer, Co-Artist, frequent collaborator and friend Eugene O’neil, as well as everyone else who has ever given me a platform to share my artistry and supported me.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prettyblaqofficial/