Mykki Blanco

Blanco was born in Orange County, California. As a child, he lived in San Mateo County, California, near his paternal grandparents, before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina. He attended Enloe High School. At the age of 15, Blanco won an Indies Spirit Award for the performance collective he founded, Paint In Consciousness Experimental Theater, in Raleigh. At the age of 16, Blanco ran away from home before moving to New York City. He then spent time in California, before winning a full scholarship to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but dropped out of college after two semesters in 2006. He also briefly attended Parsons School of Design in New York City. ==Career==

Blanco's book of poetry, From the Silence of Duchamp to the Noise of Boys, was published on OHWOW's imprint on June 17, 2011. In 2018, he served as a guest editor for Dazed magazine. In 2012, Blanco made his musical debut with an EP, Mykki Blanco & the Mutant Angels. In November 2012, Blanco released the mixtape Cosmic Angel: The Illuminati Prince/ss. The mixtape was produced by Brenmar, Flosstradamus, Gobby, Le1f, Boody, Matrixxman, and Sinden. He makes an appearance in the album Junto by Basement Jaxx. In 2013, Blanco released his second EP Betty Rubble: The Initiation. followed by his second mixtape Gay Dog Food in October. Gay Dog Food features a spoken word track with Kathleen Hanna, and contributions from Cities Aviv, Cakes Da Killa, and more. Blanco's ad-libs appeared on Teyana Taylor's song "WTP", from her June 2018 album K.T.S.E.; he also has writing and production credits on the track. In 2018, Blanco collaborated with Kanye West on the track "Bye Bye Baby" for West's scrapped album Yandhi; the track was later leaked. Blanco released Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep through Transgressive Records in June 2021. ==Artistry==

, 2014 The persona Mykki Blanco began as a teenage girl character for a YouTube video in 2010, but evolved into a musical and performance art piece. Blanco's name is inspired by Lil' Kim's alter ego Kimmy Blanco. His influences include Lil' Kim, GG Allin, Jean Cocteau, Kathleen Hanna, Lauryn Hill, Rihanna, Marilyn Manson, and Anaïs Nin. He is also inspired by the riot grrrl movement and queercore, namely the director Bruce LaBruce and the drag queen Vaginal Davis. Blanco has been called one of hip hop's queer pioneers; although he struggled to identify with the label of "gay rap" or "queer rap", he has begrudgingly "accepted it". Blanco also disagrees with those who portray him as a drag artist, saying "You can't tag me as the rapping transvestite. I never vogued in my life. I'm from a punk and Riot Grrrl background." Blanco, along with Rosie O'Donnell and Anderson Cooper, presented Madonna with the GLAAD Advocate for Change award on May 5, 2019, in Manhattan. Blanco has also tried to bring his "persona" closer and closer to his non-artist self, having to repeatedly say through interviews and alike that he is indeed transfeminine, and that the aesthetic evolution of the Mykki Blanco persona over the years is the aesthetic evolution of his entire self, rather than just a "drag performance". ==Personal life==

In June 2015, Blanco revealed via his Facebook page that he has been HIV positive since 2011. Blanco initially worried that being HIV positive would be detrimental to his career, saying of the decision to make finally that information public, "I did it for myself. At a certain point, my real life has to be more important than this career". Blanco is transgender. Blanco has used different gender pronouns throughout his career. As of 2026, Blanco uses he/him pronouns. ==Discography==

Studio albums Extended plays Mixtapes Singles As lead artist As a featured artist Music videos == Bibliography ==