CupcakKe
Red Bull Music Festival Chicago
Thalia Hall
Chicago, IL
On “CPR,” CupcakKe calls herself “the most explicit.” This is not hyperbole. The 21-year-old Chicago native has dozens of songs and videos so hilarious and freaky that they make tracks from ghetto-house pioneer DJ Funk sound tame. Over beats that run the gamut from grim drill to bouncy hip-house, she exuberantly delivers one unabashedly vulgar lyric after another. In addition to penning sex-positive rhymes for heterosexual women, CupcakKe is a vocal ally for the LGBTQ community and often moves beyond the carnal in her music, addressing police brutality, the import of black femininity and body positivity. In a special performance at Thalia Hall, the landmark venue originally designed as an opera house, CupcakKe will showcase her catalog of sexually liberated and socially conscious bangers.