Destiny Frasqueri, known to most by her stage name Princess Nokia, has risen from humble internet beginnings to releasing her remastered mixtape, headlining festivals and gaining a cult following within the past seven years.
“1992 Deluxe,” named for her birth year, was released Sept. 8 as a reissue of the original mixtape of the same name. Adding eight more tracks to the already head-turning tracklist, Princess Nokia has definitely left her mark in the music industry with this latest release by showing her promise as a prominent female rapper with unmatched originality.
The first few songs of the album are by far the best out of the 16 songs. The opener, “Bart Simpson,” gives listeners their first glimpse at Nokia’s interesting and inimitable rapping style that you wouldn’t expect from a woman in today’s rap scene, which at times seems to be dominated by filler lyrics and static emotion. Nokia added the ring of school bells to the already subdued beat, underlying her lyrics about her seemingly troublesome schooldays and struggles with foster care and loneliness.
Princess Nokia is open lyrically and in person about many topics others may consider taboo, like abuse and queerness. Nokia’s ability to have serious, real conversations about spirituality and relationships, like at her sit-down with Brown University for starters, and incorporate in her raps a multitude of “woke” subjects makes her even more relatable and cooler than she first appears.
The next song on the album is big hit, “Tomboy.” This song is the perfect anthem for blaring at full volume through an open window. Nokia is making herself known and defiant on this shrill and loud banger, describing how she “manipulates the male gaze” by accepting and flaunting her body despite today’s often marginalized beauty standards. Nokia also makes a point to not shy away from attributing herself with masculine traits, thus making her a “tomboy” in society.
What follows is another brash and fun anthemic chant named after a character in Mortal Kombat, “Kitana.” One of the reasons why I like Princess Nokia so much is that her music is so centric on female empowerment. Nokia lays it down that you should do what you want, regardless of what others may think. She’s a badass in every sense of the word, and she’s not going to apologize for it.
One of the coolest tracks by far is “Brujas,” an intriguing homage to her roots. “Bruja” is witch in Spanish, and with this song Nokia delves deep into the mystic world of Hispanic witchcraft. She shouts out her Afro-Puerto Rican ancestry, and demands respect with every rhyme.
Like any classic New Yorker, Nokia pays respect to her city throughout the album. The rapper takes us on a nice stroll through her own personal New York City on tracks “ABCs of New York” and “Green Line.”
Nokia is not afraid to be weird in any way, as evident on “Goth Kid.” Nokia doesn’t shy away from claiming her self-described awkwardness or branding herself as a loner, and this shows through her lyrics in this song in particular. She sets herself apart from virtually any rapper today by pairing original beats and verses unlike anything you’ve heard before with skill and ease.
Princess Nokia is the more woke, open, relatable, harder mix of Kreayshawn and Nicki Minaj. This image, as well as pride for her heritage, an enviable 90s style and her carefree attitude is exactly what draws in her fans and makes them stay. We need more female rappers like Nokia – women, especially women of color, everywhere should value her representation and her ability to make hits just as well as any man on the scene.
Listen to “1992 Deluxe” below.
