Get to know Cakes Da Killa, the rapper mixing energetic wordplay with club culture

Cakes Da Killa realised he could rap while at high school in New Jersey. But as a fan of “more alternative music”, it wasn’t a skill he was keen to use.

He soon moved on from his Alanis Morrissette phase, though, discovering Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott and Lil Kim, alongside the Brooklyn warehouse rave scene in his teens. This intersection of club culture and tongue-twisting, sexually liberated rap is where Cakes Da Killa exists in his purest form.

“Club culture as a form of escapism has always interested me since I was little,” he says down the phone while between stops on a co-headline US tour with Mykki Blanco. “I like to make music that combines that dance vibe with the hip hop, house, and disco I used to hear when I was shaking up parties.”

Being technically proficient is a point of pride for Cakes. “My style developed from going to balls and seeing people there rap,” he explains. “For me a lot of rappers aren’t rapping any more, which is problematic. What I hear is lacking content and technique. My songs might be about blow jobs, but nobody can say I can’t rap.”

A run of mixtapes led to Cakes dropping his first solo album, appropriately titled ‘Hedonism’, in 2016. It’s a great introduction to the music he makes, taking in various strains of club-friendly production with the outrageous lyrics fans have come to adore him for. “With the album I really wanted it to bring the best elements of my mixtapes. My music will always have a club element to it because I spend so much time touring, and I want to see people dance,” he says.

Sitting between the worlds of rap and electronic music means that Cakes Da Killa is never going to be easy to market. He knows this, but remains philosophical about falling between boxes. “People have me in this queer bubble, but I don’t identify with that. My fans are just open. If you put on a good show, people will fuck with you.”

Right now Cakes is prepping a deluxe edition of ‘Hedonism’ featuring “a bunch of connections” he has made on remix and vocal duties. After that, it’s onto making a different-sounding next album. “I’ve solidified myself as a rapper,” he says. “I’ve been showing one side of my brain for so long. I want to move on to something a little different for my own creative sanity. I’m always working. I drop a project and move on to the next. I’m never going to be satisfied until I’m living in a mansion.”

‘Hedonism’ by Cakes Da Killa is out now on Ruffians