So! I drove down to Austin with my best buddy Kavan The Kid and more couldn’t have gone wrong. It cost me literally thousands of dollars in speeding tickets and car purchases and cancelled hotel rooms and gas and weed that I had to throw out the window before we got to Texas border patrol…..

but fuck it because yolo right? don’t stress shit you can’t change, the only thing you can control in life is how you react. So laugh it off. Or drink. Drinking works.

I got so drunk that I made my friend come in the Portapotty with me while i screamed my face off and tried not to step in any bodily fluids. I started fights with bike cabs. I got pooped on by a bird. I accidentally hit on G Eazy….. I had a blast.

I’m sorry we didn’t film me wasted. I’m not a cool drunk anyways. I’m an obnoxious over the top you can’t tell what i’m saying but i sorta get my point accross drunk.

NOVA ROCKAFELLER + SXSW = FOREVER.

Who’s you’re favorite female emcee?
Roxanne Shante. Lauren Hill. Kitty Pryde.

What is your drink of choice?
“Barkeep, one of your cheapest beers!” is something i say often in a million horrendous accents. Usually it’s PBR. When I was in Seattle we got this black irish death beer that had me throwing up until like 4am so i guess that stuff was pretty good.

Do you think the music industry is really in decline?
I don’t know shit about the music industry.

Would u accept a featuring with Nikki Minaj?
Only if we can talk about ass. But yeah – i think she’s dope. People just hate because they think it’s cool to hate mainstream music. Some of her verses are garbage – but most of them are dope.

why doesnt anyone but me get rainbow stacks?
It’s canadian money. Because we got that multicolored cash.

So did you hear , They’re planning on making a mall bigger then West Ed. in SK?
Everyone from Canada should just move to LA because it never gets cold here.

If u get rich and famous, what will u buy first?
Are you saying I’m broke? ‘Insufficient Funds’ was made many moons ago young grasshopper. I got a little bit of money now. The first things I bought with my advance were some studio monitors and a keyboard. I mostly buy weed and alcohol and food. It’s cool being able to afford all 3. I made a lot of poor decisions trying to decide between eating or smoking for a week.
I buy ALL of my clothes from thrift stores or ebay and then modify them. I’m not a spend money kind of person. My financial goal is to get a house as soon as i can and move all my broke homies to LA. It will be a house full of guys I made out with at least once. Nice.

Are you high right now?
No. It’s 11am and I have studio in 2 hours. I don’t smoke in studio anymore – i turn retarded and nobody wants to be around me – but i light up the second that I leave.

Do you ever get nervous?
I am nervous 24/7. I get nervous going to the cash register in the grocery store. I feel like an imposter when i’m out in the real world. I’m not nervous EVER when it comes to rap though.

Are you single?
Never. If i’m single today i just start dating one of my homies tomorrow. I have a million cool guy friends.

I heard you fucked your girl, is it true?
Depends which girl.

if your life could like a movie, which one would it be?
How High. Because i’m dated like that.

Do you have any regrets?
Not really. Everything brought me here. Sometimes I cross the line talking shit and hurting people with my words (which I’m insanely good at – obviously) – and i talk before i think. I act before I think. I regret not thinking more?

what msg would you put out there to all the young people who dream of becoming involved with the music industry.
It’s a lot of work. It took me 8 years of making mistakes to finally make something of myself. Don’t listen to your peers because they are competing with you. Focus on the business side of things just as much as you focus on improving as a musician. Don’t put out music that isn’t great. Get opinions from people you respect and not your friends because friends will ride your dick. Deal with your obstacles properly and don’t let them stop you. Most importantly – know when to shut the fuck up. But mostly – FIGHT BACK.

I like movies like metropolis, the seventh seal, cemetery man, and possession. These are huge metaphorical movies that deal with death, religion, society, self. I can’t even begin to write a movie because I don’t know where to start. First I’d have to know something that other people don’t know – and then find a way to show it to them – in a way that they don’t even know what exactly they’re being shown. Not eraserhead. Eraserhead was pushing it. That shit doesn’t make sense to anybody. Lynch just got real stoned on the sour D that week and wanted to fuck with people.

Back to ‘Champagne in the Throne Room’.
You get what life gives you. And in our video – it’s champagne.
And the Throne Room is death, or dying, or dead.

Toys on Chains was featured in NYLON MAGAZINE – FEB 2013.

Back in December i had to make the hard decision to spend my last $80 overnighting all my jewelry to NYLON Magazine. Thankfully – being a rapper has made me used to these hard decisions. Pressing CDs instead of paying rent. Buying props for music videos instead of buying groceries. Printing T-Shirts for your tour knowing the budget is only going to cover gas to the first city. It’s all part of the struggle. You spend a couple weeks broke as fuck in order to advance your career. To go further. To get SOMEWHERE. Even thought that somewhere almost always turns out to be NOWHERE.

I look at life as a list of things that I’ve accomplished. Here’s another. My jewelry line was featured in a REAL LIFE FASHION MAGAZINE. On a real supermodel. With a real photographer. And if nothing else – it’s all starting to feel more real.

I’m a kid with big dreams – and the amount of effort I’ve put towards them has broken my heart over and over again. So things like this put a smile on my face. It’s the world giving back.

Here are the pictures:

[Show as slideshow]

VISIT THE STORE
VISIT THE STORE
VISIT THE STORE

A couple weeks ago i found myself in a studio in an extremely heated argument over THIS POSTER:

This “hip hop DJ” rolled in with SERATO to lay some scratches down on one of my friends tracks. Our fun game is trying to name all the rappers on this poster – because it’s an impossible hash of horribly drawn rappers from the 80s + 90s + Eminem. Anyways. The guy around the bottom right corner in the black hat is NOT FUCKING BUSTA RHYMES. When I explained that it was definitely NOT busta this guy started shooting off “facts” at me in some attempt to make me feel stupid (which is fine – i make people feel stupid all the time) – untill he asked “Do you even know where Busta comes from?” he then tried to inform me that Busta’s first track was Scenario and he used to rock it with Tribe.

SO LEADERS OF THE NEW SCHOOL NEVER HAPPENED!

I kept bringing up the song “Just another case of the PTA” and he looked through me – dead face – while still running his mouth about Scenario.

The last thing he said to me was “I love how INTENSE you are about Hip Hop.” – I laughed in his face extremely hard at this and then let him go back to his serato.

He was so wrong. And such an idiot. And so ignorant that he didn’t want to even be EDUCATED. Poor guy.

THIS is why i don’t talk about Hip Hop – there’s too many know it alls who don’t really know shit who could catch a fist in the face if they try to name all the members of Wu.
I CAN’T EVEN NAME ALL THE MEMBERS OF WU THERE ARE LIKE 10,000 PEOPLE IN WU TANG IT’S OKAY TO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING.

So please – if you see me at a show – can we just shotgun beers together?

ALSO : IF YOU CAN NAME ALL THE GUYS ON THE POSTER I’LL SEND YOU NAKED PICTURES.

This is produced by Justin Warfield of She Wants Revenge, video by Kavan the Kid.

You know when you meet people that has that infectious energy that just rubs off? That’s L.A. based rapper/musician Nova Rockafeller to us. A bit unconventional, a whole lot of open-mindedness and seemingly a girl who doesn’t care about other people’s pre-conceived ideas or rules – Nova is the girl you’d like to party with and to have as a supportive friend. We sent her an email to hear more from the girl herself and what she likes.

JULIA: What have you been up to?
NOVA: I’ve been in the studio with Justin Warfield working on my EP. It’s alternative rock meets the best rapper ever.

What’s your story?
My story is long as fuck. Basically. I’m this cute little white girl who grew up a little in Jamaica. Then I grew up a little in group homes in Canada. Then I thought “Fuck growing up” because it’s stupid and started just showing up on peoples couches for months. I threw mad shows. Orga- nized solid street teams. Toured Europe, Canada, U.S. Put out my own al- bums. And basically busted my ass as an underground rapper for 8 years. I slept in bathtubs. Made out with a bajillion boys. Threw up a lot. Then my manager Jensen got me a record deal and now I chill by the pool.

Labels,.. how does a young artist choose which label to sign to?
It’s all very abstract to those not in the industry – the stories about seductive vs controlling labels are widespread!
I was meeting with labels for fun. I didn’t care for a second. I would mostly just tune out what they were saying and just try to find the coolest thing to steal. Or take pictures. Or drink chocolate sauce out of the fridge. I leave any important decision up to someone else. I’m usually too high to think about that shit.

What’s the music scene like in LA? The Odd Future elocution opened people’s eyes to the whole Fairfax movement and it really started a ́global trend that allowed some more raucous crowds and audienc- es to come to life again. How would you explain the LA music scene right now?
I try to stay out of loops. I did buy a Fairfax Legends high school sweat- shirt from a thrift shop though. Does that count?

We got to know you through Dom Deluca, aka Brooklyn Dom of Brooklyn Projects on Melrose – how do you know Dom?
He babysits me sometimes.

In terms of spreading music what do you prefer in terms of digital and social media channels? Are we pretty much done with Facebook? MySpace?
I love Facebook – it gives me the chance to interact with my fans every
day and really know who they are. I put up phone numbers for them to prank call (I have an epic assortment of rappers’ phone numbers I can’t wait to get out there), and they have MY phone number. We’re tight. I photoblog on tumblr. I talk shit on twitter. I like it all. What’s myspace?

Your songs are fucking dope – and you have the best energy we’ve seen in a long time. What do you write about?
My entire last album is about getting real stoned. Since then I’ve branched out. Now I talk more about mushrooms. I talk about my stupid ex boyfriends (There’s so many) and I talk about math, and my shitty hometown, video games, boxing. But there’s math in every song. I really like math. I try to apply math and numbers to most of my life.

If we want to get to know you better, where should we go/where to look?
Just call me.

Your song “Call me (bat man)” – what’s that one about? Talk us through it. One of our favorite quotes by the way is: The most impor- tant thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.”
Batman is my song that says “Fuck it i’m ready”. It’s also just me. Being me. Talking shit. With ADHD. Rapping is so easy when you have ADHD. Sometimes I wear the mask from the video at home.

A perfect day in the life of Nova is…
I have maybe 3 friends and they’re scattered all over the world. If we could all just get together that would be cool. Eat some drugs. Hit a waterpark. Or the floor. Whatever. U kno.

Songs tend to be about things the musician is involved/interested in. So here’s two questions in one: What’s your favorite topic to write about? And what would you never, ever, write about?
As much as i joke and don’t give a fuck about things – shitty things hap- pen in my life. It’s almost comical. Composition books have always been my outlet. I have to write about situations to deal with them. A lot of the time I don’t even know how I feel about something until the song is done. Alternatively – sometimes I won’t write for a week because I’m not ready to deal with whatever is going on. So it’s not about “favorite” it’s more just me documenting myself. Organizing my thoughts. Figuring out who I am.
What will I NEVER write about though? Vaporizers. *
—
accidentallygangster.com / twitter.com/novarockafeller