The North Philly rapper and singer's new project is a collaboration with Philly visual artist Alex Da Corte. “I poured my all into it,” she says.
. The latter dabbled in country with “Dolly.” , which was largely recorded in Philadelphia, deft rhymes often spell out dark concerns. “Keep my guard up, so you never get to know me,” she raps on “Mood Swings.” “Can’t trust a soul, so I stay lonely.” Now, Keys is one of her best friends. And while that “is like a dream come true,” she says it’s also led to “imposter syndrome. And so much self doubt.”
She’s now working on “being a better friend, sister, aunt, daughter, cousin. Person. Artist. All around. So many people when they go through something, they just sulk in it. And that’s what I was doing. I was depressed.”John Janick, head of Whack’s label Interscope, is a Da Corte fan and connected the two. They clicked.“Alex is my twin,” says Whack. “I love him so much.” When she visited Da Corte’s studio in the Juniata section of Philadelphia, “I felt like a kid in Candyland.