Miss Eaves on feminist rap and artists fleeing Brooklyn

Miss Eaves has made a name for herself on music blogs for her unique brand of pop-y bops with relatable topics ranging from chub rub to ditching fuckboys. Although her work has been seen as political, she’s says she’s just sharing her daily experiences in the hopes of starting body-positive, progressive conversations. Eaves is dropping summer jam after summer jam this season, with “Thunder Thighs” recently debuting on Jezebel and more singles, videos and a full album coming out soon.

Earlier this month, we shared our new favorite protest track of 2017, “404 Not Found” by Ratchet by Nature and Miss Eaves. Now, we’re chatting with the latter of the two about everything from Brooklyn rents to feminist tunes.

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Hey Miss Eaves, thanks for chatting with us! What’re you up to right now?

I’m in Montreal for awhile. I just come here sometimes; it’s so much cheaper than New York. I can have my own apartment. I’m also learning French. It’s a nice place to hide! I’ll be here till August. I pay $800 for my own apartment, utilities, everything. It’s my own apartment in the nicest part of the city.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you got to make “404 Not Found”?

We wanted to make something we both care about. We both are following politics and we’re both very progressive.

I’ll tell you the whole story, actually: I was trying to show [Ratchet By Nature’s] Sam a picture of this swimsuit I got that has like intestines all over it. But I sent him the wrong link and it directed him to a 404 not found page. He thought I was saying that that should be the hook to the song. So he wrote “Shut it down, shut it down, 404 not found.” It was totally a mistake! From there we decided to make a protest rap. We’re obviously really opposed to the Trump administration so from there we wrote our verses and got in the studio and laid it down.

I did the video! I taught myself editing that night. I was like, “Honey, we need to make this video. We need to make shit pop off.”

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What’s the Brooklyn rap scene like right now?

[All of my collaborators on this project] met cause we’re all weirdos in Brooklyn. Chris Carr runs Brooklyn Wildlife. He’s a Brooklyn artist and organizer. And I know Ratchet By Nature from that scene.

When I first moved here I didn’t know any rappers at all. I wanted to get involved and play shows and the first people I met was Handjob Academy and through them I met Sam and Paco, who is in a group called Duck Duck Goose. He mixed the track. It’s a bunch of rappers on the nerdy spectrum or super politically aware. It’s really genuine.

I moved to Brooklyn four years ago. I had been living in North Carolina basically my whole life. I had just gotten laid off from my job and I was going on tour with this DJ I was working with in Europe. I was so fucking over North Carolina and I had a connecting flight in New York so I had decided when I left Europe to just get off on my connecting flight and move. I found a place when I was in Europe, via Skype.

Have you noticed any changes in Brooklyn in the few years you’ve been here?

I lived in two completely different parts of Brooklyn. When I moved to Sunset Park it was very neighborhood-y. I love that neighborhood but it was far away from where a lot of the music stuff was happening. I’ve been in Bed-Stuy for three years now. That’s definitely changed. You can see that it’s totally been gentrified. It bums me out a lot. It’s cool that I can get health food now, I guess, but it’s a bummer because I see a lot of my neighbors getting pushed out or just moving away. It’s really changed.

I’m torn because I love Brooklyn so much and the connections in the art scenes and rap scenes are so great. Canada is such a nice place, especially Montreal.You have more time to work on art because you are not constantly hustling to make shit pop off, you know? But I’m not sure if I could ever fully give up on New York.

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What were some of the political issues you specifically wanted to address on “404”?

My biggest issue has been the environment and corporate greed. They’re so fucking greedy! They only are about making money and they are very short-sighted. We’re completely destroying the planet for human life.

It’s such a bummer to see the people in power using racism, sexism, and xenophobia to divide people who should be working together to fight them. That’s what my verse was about. I didn’t want to just be like, “Fuck Trump.” Like, yes, of course, fuck Trump. But he’s part of a larger problem.

Do you see your other music as political?

My other music is very much feminist – I don’t always see it as political because it’s me talking about life as I experience it. Obviously, being a black woman existing in this world I’m going to experience discrimination. I use humor to come to terms with things on a daily basis as a black woman. I’m embracing things that have been stigmatized. Like, in the song “Hump Day” – of course everyone likes to jerk off! It feels good as hell! Why is it so taboo to talk about it? I’m talking about things that should be talked about, that shouldn’t be stigmatized; people shouldn’t be embarrassed.

I have a song called “Thunder Thighs” – a lot of times women look in the mirror and think, “Oh my body isn’t fit – it’s not the idea of what people are telling me what it should be.” It’s about me embracing that. Like, yeah I wear mom jeans! I have a little bit of a gut and it looks more flattering. I just want to find the humor in those types of things. Sure, it’s a political act, but it’s also just honest.

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When’s your next big release?
Feminasty drops August 4th. I’ve got two singles coming out before the album drops: “Thunder Thighs” and “Fuckboy Salute” – the album is me just exploring my feminist feels and my sexuality. There’s a song about being in the friend zone and fucking someone – people’s fear of commitment in the age of Tinder. Men telling me to smile – that’s another topic. I’ve got a song called “Boyfriend Material” about me making the perfect boyfriend but I’m Dr. Frankenstein hacking up different pieces of the men who broke my heart and sewing them back together to make a better person.

How do you feel about what’s happening in the female rap world right now?

I’m really happy there are so many women rapping, for sure. I don’t know if feminist rap is a genre – I’m just glad women are out there sharing their voices. I think if women are rapping and are being honest, it’s just going to be at least somewhat feminist. You’re going to be talking about the shit you have to deal with every day.

As far as women rapping in Brooklyn goes, I have so many friends rapping in Brooklyn. I’ve met so many in the Brooklyn Wildlife scene.

I think there’s a bit of crossover between the queer rap world and the female rap world but a lot of the times they are very separate.

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