BLVQ IRIS: An Intersectional Account of a Hun in the South African Music Industry
By Drew Haller
Queen of Wildflowers
Black Irises, often called the queen of wildflowers, are a rare species of flower known for their enigmatic qualities. Their purple and black hues mesmerise as the sunlight seeps into their petals, and they stand tall in harsh conditions like the Arabian desert or Jordan. In Greek mythology, the goddess Iris was a messenger for the gods. BLVQ IRIS has been delivering the good word through her music since she was 12. Her blvqness reflects an additional layer of diversity and flavour in her delivery. She is a singer, songwriter, rapper, producer, entrepreneur and law student.
A Stan Turned Trap Star
BLVQ IRIS told me that she started simple. She began with a pen on paper, studying Eminem and reciting his raps to her cousin. Although his influence contributed to a distinctively assertive and honest lyrical style, it was obvious that imitation wasn’t sufficient for her art. Eventually, she began writing her thoughts down, seeking clarity of mind and archiving memory into music. Sound production became a channel to reconcile her lived experience with her analytical understanding of the world.
“I’m a person who overanalyzes everything. So when I write, I write from that perspective. When I write sad songs, it’s like I’m asking myself questions. I’m saying, ‘How did this happen? Which part of this entire experience did I have a hand in?’. When I reflect and look back, I’m just like, ‘Damn, bruh, you came a very long way. That was a terrible experience, and now you’re here’.”
Inspired by Travis Scott, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Drake, Sade and Michael Jackson, BLVQ IRIS appreciates how her favourite icons manipulate sound to portray different attitudes and dispositions. In her eyes, Kanye West and Michael Jackson executed perfect transfigurations of themselves and their styles on each new release. Like shepherds with sheep, they too had felt a need to direct trends and challenge artistic standards, inducing cultural metamorphoses on demand. Energized by their leadership, BLVQ IRIS also puts great effort into the development of her sound, which has advanced exponentially over the last few years.
An entry-level trap star at age 14, today BLVQ IRIS is 22 years old with 4 singles and 1 EP released under her belt. Her sound is characterized by dark, gloomy trap beats, rolling verses and a surprising integration of samples.
In The Company You Keep, the prelude overlays a moving speech about accountability and community with pensive piano melodies. Her lyrics — which combine Cape Town coloured slang, English and isiXhosa — are narrative and highly personal, offering a deep disclosure of sentiments from the past and present. In Lucid Walk, the artist preaches to the audience an intoxicating verse, which reminds them of their sins while still offering options for penance. The artist spits fire when she says, “Pay me some homage or pay me respect”.
Surviving a Male-Dominated Industry
“N****s will overlook me because I’m a hun. When you say you’re a female rapper, they automatically put you in a box. They think that you’re going to rap about sex or you’re going to rap about money.”
Black women in South Africa are subject to some of the highest unemployment rates and the worst gender-based violence statistics in the world. The women resisting these tragic conditions generally have to face misogyny and racism in the workplace too. The music industry is no different. If anything, this is a space where sexism has been closely linked to clout. The trap game is historically male-dominated and known for perpetuating harmful language about sex, money and violence. Moreover, payment gaps are still evident and women aren’t regarded as legitimate professionals.
It’s unusual to see the woman with the mic and the man shaking his ass. Turn on Trace Urban and you’ll see that for yourself. Only after the popular influence of female artists like Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B did the public start normalizing the multiplicity of black, female artists. Prior to that, it was seen as inappropriate for these people to express their sexuality, own their wealth, take agency over their bodies, and create music all at the same time. (Read The Politics of Thotdom & Heauxism for more information on this paradigm).
Being a hun in the male-dominated arena, BLVQ IRIS has spent a lot of emotional energy keeping her peers in check. This means consistently executing exceptionalism while educating others, while still working on achieving her own goals independently. This unpaid labour can be draining, but she sees it as an unavoidable obstacle to establishing herself as a household name. Countering the stereotypes and stigma against women requires a lot of patience, but BLVQ IRIS redirects misplaced energy towards excellence and introspection. Other than that, she tries to remove herself from competitive hierarchies.
“All of my colleagues in terms of music are male. My producers are male. My rapper friends are male. Whenever I put them on a song with me, it’s like I’m challenging myself. You have to remember that you are now competing against three different spectrums; you compete against yourself, you compete against other female rappers, and you compete against men. But you can’t always be in a competitive state, because then it could mess up the song. You have to remember that this is also art that you’re creating. You can’t always try to outbar or outmanoeuvre the next person.”
Extortion, Exposure and Education
In Cape Town especially, female artists are often forced to barter talent for exposure. The social culture can be highly exclusionary, classist and sexist. Countless bookings gone unpaid, broken contracts and reports of exploitation reflect the problematic dynamics in Cape Town’s social scene. But these experiences at least made BLVQ IRIS more steadfast in her beliefs. Although, it does become incredibly frustrating when men need to step in just to attain an agreed-upon wage — something which has unfortunately happened often to BLVQ IRIS.
“Cape Town artists and Cape Town promoters don’t respect each other. Like, they want to pay people in promotion. But sometimes that’s not enough. You have f*****g groceries to buy or rent to pay. Sometimes you need to do more than just give someone a promotion or even free alcohol. It’s really sad.”
BLVQ IRIS remains cool and collected about the company she keeps, the battles she picks, the investments she makes and the glass ceilings she breaks. Whatever other rage, disappointment or fury she has, she saves it for her verse. Born in Khayelitsha, and having grown up in Kuils River with a house full of males, BLVQ IRIS oozes patience. According to her mother, patience was the best shield against ignorance. For those of us who aren’t well-versed in identity politics and social ‘wokeness’, it can be difficult to dismantle or comprehend the emergent language and lenses that we use to unpack the patriarchy.
Many young men are removed from this reality because they simply don’t find themselves in danger of harassment, intimidation or any other condescension which might require defensive tactics and verbalized boundaries. This is why it’s so important for an artist like BLVQ IRIS to remind her audience, and her male counterparts, of the standards which she expects to be upheld. Although educating your peers can be exhausting, this vulnerable communication can be one of the most humanely empathetic remedies to a lack of accountability in the culture.
“I’ve also learned from my guy friends, from the way that they think and the way that they understand things, that all they really need from women is patience. And we don’t have that because we’ve been having patience, and we’re tired. But something has to give. Something has to be compromised. And that’s one of them, you know?”.
Women Against Women?
Apart from using her blatantly honest lyrics to unlock rigid mindsets, she also keeps her community small. BLVQ IRIS is careful about warding off bad energies that might disrupt her peace and her principles. Posers, particularly feminist posers, aren’t welcome. The problem with falling at the intersection of multiple oppressions, as all females of colour in the creative industry do, is that you are faced with competition and domination from multiple levels. One of the ways we could understand this intersectional feminist struggle is through this lens that BLVQ IRIS framed for us: the three-tier hierarchy of success.
Black, female musicians are forced to compete against their male counterparts AND their female counterparts, particularly their white female counterparts. Feminist rhetoric has not always been considerate of this additional burden. In fact, the first two waves of feminism were identified as being particularly exclusionary of black women and the LGBTQ community.
“I wish people would put their egos aside. Everyone acts like they’re better than everyone. Female artists, we’re supposed to band together but then there’s always some weird energy. We have so much talent here but we’re busy fighting amongst each other over stupid shit.
We have to protect ourselves and each other. You need to know when it’s time to be a b***h, and when it’s time to not be a b***h. People are feminists when it works for them, and not for the greater community or the greater good. That’s something I don’t like.”
Solidarity Against GBV
A vital incentive to band together is the fight against gender-based violence. BLVQ IRIS is passionate about the need for the South African presidency and the government to take these issues more seriously. Campus-led movements happen constantly but high-ranking stakeholders have failed to participate in meaningful ways.
Fortunately, the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation — which funds BLVQ IRIS’ studies — has helped another one of its members to develop the Asikhulumeni Initiative. Run by Sizo (an Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Member), Karabo and Alex, the NPO has taken the proactive steps of empowering women by teaching young men about equality from as early as high school. While most women have attained the language to comprehend these social ills, many young men would not be forced to come to terms with these issues because they simply aren’t personally affected by them. Without education, they might fail to see why their behaviour is problematic. BLVQ IRIS notes that if there’s one charity she’d like her fans to support, it’s this one. Asikhulumeni accepts donations here.
Litigation Strategies
The Allan Gray Orbis Foundation has also been a significant help in preparing BLVQ IRIS for her vision of the future. While the creative economy is highly dependent on trends and social restrictions, a law degree is a safety blanket that would give BLVQ IRIS more agency over her finances. But by no means has she felt pressured to choose between the left and right sides of her brain. BLVQ IRIS believes that she can attain the best of both by using her law degree to acquire financial support for her creative pursuits. The ultimate goal is to gain legal rights and ownership over her music licenses and beats, using her understanding of contract law and commerce to help her establish her business and brand. Thinking in the long-term, this plan has manifested into the potential establishment of her own record label.
“Allan Gray supports entrepreneurship. They’ve literally catered perfectly to me. I’ll work for them and then I’ll use the salary to fund my music. Before the end of this year, I’m trying to register and start up my record label, so that by next year, once everything is in full swing, there’s no admin holding me back. The label is mostly just for me to have ownership of my work, and not be tied to any contractual problems in future. That’s my law student side coming out.”
EnTRAPreneur
To add to her overflowing portfolio, BLVQ IRIS is also a successful event organizer. BLVQ IRIS’ events company, A.R.T.S Entertainment, hosted the Nexus Fest in 2020. She considers this urban cultural music festival in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, to be one of her best achievements yet. Amongst all of the chaos, sleepless nights, and money constraints, the Nexus Fest sold out and they even turned a profit.
BLVQ IRIS provided the vibes and then she headlined for the show too. Always doing the most, she also launched her merchandise and clothing brand BLVQ Apparel. Seeing people wearing her drip, fangirling over her performance and pulling through for her passion project was a life-altering moment.
“That was the first time I’d actually performed my own songs to such a large crowd, and it went off for hours. I was caught between feeling overwhelmed and excited at the same time. I don’t know if that was just nerves, but it was such a thrill to watch people in front of you go crazy over you. People actually knew the words to my songs. They were rapping the lyrics back to me. That was a trip for me. That event has my heart. When I look back at the footage I smile, because I’m like, ‘Shit, we did that.’”
Propagating love
BLVQ IRIS hopes to collaborate with artists like Kanye West, producers like Hit-Boy and South African Hip Hop stars like Tweezy and Zoocci Coke Dope. She has big plans, and I couldn’t help but feel hyped to hear them all. She speaks with an attractively aspirational tone that makes the unattainable seem reachable. Although she’s had to face looming final-year deadlines at University, mental health challenges from a crippling pandemic and many creative compromises in her art, she tells me that there’s a lot to come and she remains optimistic.
“I know a lot of people have been wondering why I’ve been quiet this year. Aside from school, I’m also really just dealing with my own sh** and my mental health. But we’re coming, we’re coming. I’ve got some work coming out pretty soon within the next two months, and next year is going to be quite a year.”
Her sound is graduating, with more acoustic instrumentals and vocals being incorporated into the production. And as if this hun wasn’t busy enough, she’s also determined to start producing more of her own beats, hoping to surprise herself with technical metamorphosis. As she strays away from the toxic streets and the cool-kid clout, she’s also grown fonder of the gratifying tenderness of love-songs. Despite common assumptions that she’s a player, fans can expect BLVQ IRIS’ sensitive side to reveal itself soon. With so much developing in her life, music has been a great vessel in which to store her sweetest memories. She alludes to a future EP filled with soul, b-sides and raw recordings from love lost and found.
“It’s interesting to even see that side of myself. It’s so emotional and so deep just to dive into my head and think about how much I cared for that particular person, and how that person made me feel… One big advantage that I have right now is being able to write and create everything that I feel and put it into a composition. I remember Drake saying that upcoming artists should enjoy their come-ups because when you’re a big artist, you’re not only making music for yourself anymore. It’s your job. You have to think about what the fans want, what the radio wants, what the label wants. Whereas right now, it’s all about what I want to create, and surprising myself every day. You might never get that back when you’re a big star.”
