[This article was published in the Vice Fashion Issue 2010; photos by my boy Tommy Thoms]
After just one album, KillaQueenz are already a rarity in Aussie hip hop. They don’t suck. In fact, Kween G (aka. Gladys) and Belizian Bombshell (aka. Desiree) offer a fresh mix of old-school rhymes and dance-hall infused beats that kick the shit out of most music currently out there. Plus, their live shows are renowned for unleashing the energy of an epileptic fit on stage whilst dressed in clothing louder than you’d see staring at Elton John, directly after ingesting a Peyote Cactus.
We hung out with them on a muggy Monday in Sydney, and in between sweating profusely, drinking a weird array of organic juice and chuckling at Newtown crackhead banter, KillaQueenz took us shopping. It was kind of like going shopping with your girlfriend, except we didn’t get dragged around shops that specialise in handbags made out of some near-extinct species of Amazonian tree frog which cost more than your soul. Even better, we could yell things in crowded areas like “Hey Belizian Bombshell I think that this flourescent pair of space-age sneakers would look rad next time you support Lady Gaga!!” And Belizian Bombshell and Kween G would laugh because they can shop and retain their great sense of humour. Take that girlfriends. We took some photos and chatted about fashion.
Vice: Hi, so where are you taking us shopping today?
Kween G: First we’ll go to Lopez Records on Oxford Street. It hasn’t been there for that long but it’s the best place in Sydney for hip hop records, in-store appearences and hip hop clothing. Then we’ll head up the road to espionage. They have an amazing range of sneakers and hi-tops. Lastly, we’ll head over to Newtown and pop into my favourite place to get clothes, a shop called Funky Femme on King Street.
Sounds lovely. Do you like shopping in Sydney?
Belizian Bombshell: Its difficult, ‘cos I find that Australia doesn’t have one particular shop that I can go to for women’s clothing that fits into my style. You gotta go to Glue, you gotta go to G-Star, then a few different stores on top of that. So yeah we have to go to a whole load of different stores to get our look. But the stores we’re taking you today are good.
KG: In Sydney I like Newtown, Pitt Street and Oxford Street. In Newtown I’ll always find something. There’s the vintage shops and then there’s also that place where we’re taking you guys, Funky Femme. It avoids the one thing that I can’t stand, when something comes out in fashion and every girl on the street is wearing it, like those big stillettos and those pumps…
BB: Hellllooo! I got some of them, ok? You know, I like some of the stuff that’s “in”. I like to look girly at times. Sometimes you wanna look like a woman, you gotta have a man around you, and you want to look feminine. But you’ve still gotta have that twist up. When I’m on stage I like to have my boots and my sneakers, and then when I’m off stage I like to look pretty. It’s good to flip the script.
So how would you describe the style of clothing that you wear?
BB: Funky…sexy but trendy.
You wear some pretty dazzling outfits at your live shows, is this something that crosses over into your ordinary daywear?
KG: Yeah we both love bright colours. But on an ordinary day it depends on what the occasion is. You know, if the sun’s out, you want to wear something bright and bring out the complexion a bit.
BB: Yeah it’s good to wear bright colours. But it depends if you suit it, how you wear it, and the key is whether you feel comfortable in it.
KG: Well, when it comes to our shows, we just like to mix things up. We’ll wear something you would normally wear with heels and wear it with sneakers, stuff like that. Like Belizian Bombshell said—flip the script a bit, you know.
BB: As an actual fashion idol, I would have to mention Mary J. Blige. It’s amazing that even at her age she still rocks some looks that I would struggle to pull off. Then of course there’s Beyonce.
KG: Missy Elliot is another. She started that sneaker trend.
BB: M.I.A. is cool too. I look at the stuff she wears and just think what the fuck?
Yeah she had some interesting pregnant woman fashion decisions.
BB: But she gets away with it, and that’s what we like. People who step out of the box and can pull it off.
Do you find that the music you listen to and the music you create influences the kind of clothing that you like to wear?
KG: Yeah well I’m a bit of a hip hop fiend. You know, when we went shopping in New York, I was just wishing that we had that in Australia. I wish that we had the opportunity in Australia to dress in our genre.
BB: Ohhh, they got some mad shopping in the States. Even Macy’s and the department stores in general are better.
KG: Most of the hip hop brands we get in Australia are just fakes. And then the real stuff is three times the price. So you can’t win. Hopefully one day it’ll change, but Australia is just so far away from the rest of the world.
BB: And there isn’t that amount of fuss over what you wear here. There are exceptions, but it would be nice to see some competition with some girls looking hot and sexy, some guys looking not too baggy, but just looking nice and fresh.
Do you think that will ever happen?
KG: Yeah eventually. It already has to some extent, you just have to look at what music does to us. Not so much fashion but what people are wearing. If hip hop was bigger here then there would be more hip hop brands.
BB: Rock music is huge all around Australia and most people gravitate towards that. You know, people try to look the part, with the hair and the holes in their tight ass pants which they can’t even breathe in. If hip hop was as big it would be different, but at the moment Rock music dominates the country.
KG: It’s not a bad thing, it’s just the way it is. It would be good for more people to start supporting local MCs, and for Aussie hip hop to become bigger, and then we would see a change.
Thanks go to:
Lopez Records, 70 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
Funky Femme Clothing, 261 King Street, Newtown
espionage, 80 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
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