A few years ago, Cakes Da Killa felt trapped. The Atlanta-via-NYC rapper and producer had released a few acclaimed mixtapes, each showcasing his blooming talent as a lyricist and stylist. But, no matter how dexterous, technical or transgressive his music, people always seemed to come back to one thing: “I was getting pigeonholed to just being known as a gay rapper,” he says, speaking via video from Montreal. “I felt my own image was overshadowing the actual music.”
His solution was simple – let them say what they want, and keep making some of the most underrated and outright fun underground rap going. “I decided that if this was how it’s going to be, I should just make music that I love completely,” he says. “Not just me trying to be marketable, because at the end of the day, I would always be known as ‘the gay rapper’.”
