Graphic via Evan Solano
Staley Sharples‘ Letterboxd page will receive its own documentary one day.
In Los Angeles, knowing your astrological Big 3 is more important than knowing your own blood type. Case in point, within the first 10 minutes of meeting at a local botanical garden, Bbyafricka and I have already exchanged ours. My placements aspect positively to her Virgo rising and Cancer sun, which she notes as something that makes her feel more maternal and nurturing. Radiating warmth, Bbyafricka balances being soft-spoken with a cutting wit and easy smile that puts me at ease as we dive into her latest project, Above Average, and its upcoming deluxe release.
A portrait of the modern-day renaissance woman, Bbyafricka is the do-it-all rapper, singer, creative director, and visionary behind hits like the Saweetie-featuring “Baby Mama Coochie” and “Downtown & Cigarettes,” which currently holds two million Spotify streams and counting. Above Average is her sixth full-length project, a total love letter to 2000s MySpace rap and candy-colored synth pop. The project is made for the club nostalgists who grew up watching Disney Channel and huffing Jessica Simpson’s Fancy. Opener “High as Fuck” is best blasted during the rolling of pre-party blunts while making increasingly desperate and futile attempts to symmetrically apply eyeliner.
Much like the water signs in her chart, Bbyafricka finds an ebb and flow among the endless demands of being a successful independent artist and parenting her young son, a water sign baby just like her. “It’s definitely giving, like, Hannah Montana,” she jokes. “I don’t know how I do it sometimes. Some days are harder than others. But I love being a mom. You have to remind yourself that you’re also learning too. You have to have an idea of the kind of mother figure, or adult figure that you want to be, and things you don’t want to reoccur, and cycles you want to break.” She reflects that in her family, strength is shown through stoicism, but she’s challenging that by putting words to her emotions and speaking her truth in her passion for her music.
Using her voice, literally, is a major element of Bbyafricka’s personal healing journey following a life-threatening experience with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and a two-month hospital stay. While unconscious during the incident, she was intubated, which she says still affects her speech and vocal tone. Bbyafricka emphasized that upon her release from the hospital, all she wanted to do was get back to the studio and make up for the time that was taken from her.
Though still a somewhat tender subject, she hasn’t let the health scare slow her down musically. Pouring her feelings into her writing has empowered her to process and reconnect to what energizes her. As for rest, she’s prioritizing that too: “I enjoy my free time. I’m gonna watch my shows, I’m gonna smoke my weed, I’m gonna eat my snacks, and I’mma cook. That makes me happy.” Real Housewives of Atlanta is a TV staple for her, but Potomac has also earned her praises (“I don’t support the behavior, but I’m tuned in.”)
The time taken to recharge has led to her newest single, “BBYCODED,” dropping on her birthday. Bbyafricka has just knocked out shows in Portland, San Diego, and her home city of L.A. Through it all, Bbyafricka is moving like water, flowing in the direction of life and refusing to settle for a single identity: “It’s like the perfect world. Hannah Montana. Me and my wig.”