WE ARE WORLDWIDE: TAMA GUCCI X WORLDWIDE MAGAZINE
TALENT TAMA GUCCI ★ INTERVIEW BY ANDYOMO ★ PHOTOS BY KE’MON CHAPMAN
AndyOmo: Hi Tama, how are you?
Tama Gucci: Hi, I'm good. How are you?
I'm doing well. I'm so excited to be talking to you.
Same.
Excited about this beautiful- what day is it? Monday?
Monday. I was about to be like Sunday.
Right. Honestly, the life of an artist. Well love, if you could just start by telling us your name, a little bit about you, and what industry you're in.
So I am Tama Gucci. My real name is Kymani, but I go by Tama Gucci as my artist's name. I am a Leo. I feel like it's important to start with that 'cause it makes so much sense, probably everything that's gonna come after that. I'm a musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and DJ also. Then I also have a brand, which is not a brand, it's more artist merch, but it feels like a brand so I'm gonna call it a brand.
Totally. It's a lot of like prints and graphics.
Yeah. That's me. I'm from Miami, Florida, born and raised. I moved to New York maybe about four years ago. The first year would have been completed, right when everything shut down, so it's like 2019. Yeah, 2019. So almost five years now, which is crazy.
Yeah. Time moves out here in New York so fast.
So fast. Especially when nothing is going on. It's like, wait.
And what do you make of your time so far, coming from Florida I'm sure the vibe is so different, not to mention the art.
So different. I feel like coming from Florida, I had to be more on my toes. In Florida, I feel everything is so chill and peaceful almost, even though it's chaotic. Those chaotic tweets that you see, "Crazy Florida man" or "Crazy Florida woman" it's 'true- crazy people there. It's just more easygoing. Most people have their routine there, but in New York, you kind of have to have a routine or you're gonna drown.
Got it, so the pace is a little slower [in Florida].
Yeah, which is crazy.
Diving into this next one, is writing music and producing, something you knew you always wanted to do or is it something you kind of like found along your path?
Definitely. I always was singing, but once I found out how to record myself it just kind of changed everything. Writing was so easy for me. Then I started to produce because when I was writing I couldn't find anything that I could use, commercially. So I was like, "I need to learn how to produce." And once I picked it up, it made my writing skills even more stronger 'cause it goes hand-in-hand.
Right? You're actually making music to compliment itself.
Literally from scratch. Right. Which is awesome.
Where do you get some of your inspiration for your style and sound? I know it's a lot of pop and R&B influences with a lot of electronic, but tell me more.
A lot of my muses and icons that I look up to, music-wise, like Brandy, that's like my number one period. Celine Dion. I feel like every Caribbean person loves Celine Dion.
That's so funny. Is there anybody more recently that's inspired you even if not your sound, but the music that you create is based on the inspiration?
Definitely, there are a lot of new wave artists, especially girl rappers, and femme rappers. The perspective is so cunt and just so fresh. I'm only interested in hearing rap music coming from somebody queer, femme, gay. It is just such a better perspective and a breath of fresh air. I'm also a Barb too, so like I have to mention that. She's one of my biggest influences too. Her versatility, whether she is singing on the track, rapping on the track, [and] the alter egos. It's like you can make yourself moldable.
It's true. Yeah. She very much so is a shapeshifter for sure. I think as queer people too, especially queer, POC, and black people. Like we tend to be shapeshifters.
No, it is true. So it was nice to see somebody do it with a budget behind it. This is all of my wildest dreams, being done for me. You know?
Totally. When did you come up with Tama Gucci? Like did you own a Tamagotchi?
Yes. I have so many Tamagotchis, that I used to collect them. My dad used to buy me one every Thursday.
Every Thursday!
Like I literally would be on the way to school and I know he got paid on Thursdays.
That's so funny.
I'd be like, "I need to get something for school from Walgreens." We would stop and then he would gimme $20 and Tamagotchi's cost $15, so I would buy one every Thursday. Then I would just collect them. Then I was looking for a username one day, and Tamagotchi was taken, so then I took out Gotchi and then I put Gucci, and the rest is history.
Period. No, it's cunt. It's definitely recognizable for sure, as an artist. I think that a challenge that a lot of artists have in the beginning is figuring out that name that sticks and is recognizable for sure. You did a really good job with that. It's very sound cloud too
Yeah, very SoundCloud 'cause that's where I started. So I was like, this is perfect for it. There were times when I felt like I would outgrow it, but then I feel like as my career has evolved, people just call me Tama [but] Tama Gucci is the whole thing.
And that's what you put on your like brand too, a lot of times. Tama is pretty recognizable too.
Exactly. Then it kind of made it stick being just Tama almost because if I'm gonna have a merch and a brand essentially, I can't put Gucci on it. Well I can, but Gucci is already its own thing, a huge empire. So I was like, I'd rather just have Tama be on it.
That makes sense honestly. It's good to brand, but also you gotta protect yourself.
Exactly.
Love that. Next question, what does community mean to you?
Community means to me first holding each other accountable. I feel like you can hold someone you love in your community accountable. Most people I feel are scared of that, but you don't create safe spaces without holding each other accountable and having tough conversations that you don't want to have.
Tea.
I feel like what also makes community, is showing up for your community. It's one thing to do it online, but it's about deeds, not words. You show up and you do it because that's how it exists in the physical realm.
It's true. IRL is not as popular these days. People, like you said, will easily support online.
Exactly. Instead of showing up in person. Those are my two things.
Accountability and showing up. Which in their ways are similar, you know? They are about definitely backing [one another up] and I think that those are great descriptors for the community. Bouncing off that, would you describe the queer and POC communities as playing an essential role in the building and growth of Tama?
Definitely, 'cause the first stages and the first people to give me an opportunity was the queer community. Feeling the love from my community definitely gave me the confidence to go outside of my community and do it and not be scared of anything.
Love that. Next question, what does community mean to you?
Community means to me first holding each other accountable. I feel like you can hold someone you love in your community accountable. Most people I feel are scared of that, but you don't create safe spaces without holding each other accountable and having tough conversations that you don't want to have.
Tea.
I feel like what also makes community, is showing up for your community. It's one thing to do it online, but it's about deeds, not words. You show up and you do it because that's how it exists in the physical realm.
It's true. IRL is not as popular these days. People, like you said, will easily support online.
Exactly. Instead of showing up in person. Those are my two things.
Accountability and showing up. Which in their ways are similar, you know? They are about definitely backing [one another up] and I think that those are great descriptors for the community. Bouncing off that, would you describe the queer and POC communities as playing an essential role in the building and growth of Tama?
Definitely, 'cause the first stages and the first people to give me an opportunity was the queer community. Feeling the love from my community definitely gave me the confidence to go outside of my community and do it and not be scared of anything.
Would you say that the community has been different in terms of support from Miami to New York?
Different in a way. I love Miami and I love my community there, but I feel like my community there, we have a hard time finding the same amount of support as far as venues and budget for the events go. It's like everything there is kind of forced to be underground, versus New York, we have the opportunity to have our community be at the forefront of these places and it doesn't have to be so underground.
We do live in one of the biggest queer central cities in the world.
Which is a privilege, right?
It is a privilege. As you said, there's not necessarily this sense of forced hiding for most queer people. Everybody has different situations and different parts of the community, but for the most part, you can walk into a building and know that it's gay-friendly.
Exactly. And you'll know right away if it's not.
Totally. I can imagine Florida, especially these days being very different in that aspect.
It is so different in the sense that you'll feel like it's gay-friendly. Even if they say it's gay-friendly, it's still kind of conservative. I feel like they're scared.
With Don't Say Gay being such a big thing right now
Exactly. In Florida, their acceptance of gay culture, or LGBT [people], is just drag. There are so many more facets to that, even for drag queens. They don't realize that some drag queens identify as trans. They're not separating the two, you know?
Would you say that a lot of that has to do with [a lack of] access to bigger queer communities? New York City advocates for safer spaces and also creates a lot more room for conversations. Especially politically without diving into politics, but Florida right now is not creating those spaces as much.
It's true. I've seen the conversations try to take place there, but there's so much that comes with it because of the whole Don't Say Gay thing. Honestly, I feel like people are scared again. There was a moment where I felt it was very rebellious and getting louder and bigger and bigger. Now we're just kind of like, "We need to protect what we have," so it's interesting to see.
That's hard too though. I just think about the kids always like, think about little US's. You know?
Yeah, it's true.
And I will say, there's a lot more privilege these days as a queer person because I didn't come out until I was in my mid-teens and that was early compared to the people before me. Now people will be popping out of the womb and they're like, "I'm fucking gay!"
Which I love. I love that they have the support and the mindset to be like, "This is who I am."
The resources are there. The community is there.
The conversations are being had.
Totally. Let's talk a little bit about Tama's Corner for a second. We were kind of briefly talking about it off the mic, but I am obsessed with the phrases on the t-shirts that you make, especially that they're glitter. I'm obsessed with the little logos and the nostalgia. The whole brand. Can you tell me about it?
So, Tama's Corner first started when I first moved to New York, 'cause I needed money. I wasn't working, I just moved here and then I was like, I'm going to make what I can make. I was making like handmade, like jewelry, like bracelets. It started in Miami. I was thrifting a lot so it became like my own little thrift store. Then from there, it turned into being handmade bracelets, and then from the bracelets I was like, okay, now I want to make clothes. Then I was like, how can I do it in a way where this is still like artist merch, and it's still something of my own? It's not just like I'm making a brand that has nothing to do with Tama Gucci as an artist. That way I can share my platform, my normal page, and promote this one and still have it tie in hand in hand.
It's not a separate brand because your name is recognizable throughout.
Totally. Then just seeing the amount of reach that it has had, just by still being merch. It just kind of pushed me to keep going. The glitter thing just happened naturally, and once I made one thing in glitter, I was like, this is it. Everything has to be glitter. And it just became like a staple.
It's so Y2K.
It's so Y2K and I feel like it's very well done. A lot of people try to do worded tee's and it just comes across as kind of corny.
Trust me, it's a fine line. I also do worded tee's myself. Balancing how camp you want it to be versus how corny you want it to be.
Exactly.
I think a part of it is the irony of just reading something on a T-shirt, you know what I mean?
Yeah, no, it's true.
That's where I love Tama's Corner because they're just intrusive thoughts in a way that I truly understand.
Exactly. It's like, I'm gonna say what I want to say, but I don't want to say it out loud. I'd rather you read it on my shirt.
Oh no, totally,
It might be something that I'm too polite to say out my mouth, but reading it on the shirt will be kind of like -
-funny!
It's funny, right? It's funny reading it on a shirt versus coming outta my mouth. It might be like, "Did this bitch just say that?" You know?
Totally. I can fully relate to that. I'm not a designer textile-wise. I am a print and graphics babe, making things up all the time. So when I see your brand, I definitely can like to relate to it a lot. A part of it is letting your clothes do all the talking. We're kind of back in an era where things have gotten a little simpler and we're taking back our styles a little bit. What are a couple of words you would use to describe your style? In fashion and music?
Well, I feel it's clean. I like shapes, I like sparkle-ness, I love glitter. I love silver 'cause I feel like silver goes with everything. I mostly like silver because even if it's not real silver, it'll still look good. Gold can be fake and you can tell 'cause it's more yellow and it's so many variations of the color in it and I'm not a fan of that. I would say like style-wise, I'm more simple. I feel like coming from Miami and growing up and also being Caribbean, my first influences were the dance hall queens, and they loved the fishnets and the gaudiness of everything. They love their accessories, they love the colored hair, they love like the mini skirts and the, the silver and all of that. I feel I've done so much of that, now I'm kind of pulling back a little bit and I would rather it just be clean and tailored and I would rather dress it up with my accessories.
Totally. I love that. I think at the end of the day, it's not about being the loudest bitch in the room anymore, it's about what your art has to say, right?
Yes, exactly. Even like tying it into my music, my music is very melodic, but also simple only. If the beat is chaotic, the lyrics and the melody are simple. My lyrics are straightforward to digest, you never really have to read between the lines. And that's kind of the same with my style, what you see is what you get. You know what I'm giving you when you see it.
Speaking of thrifting just a little bit, what are some of your go-to thrift stores? Both in Miami and over here.
So in New York, it's weird 'cause I don't thrift that much here. It's so different [in Florida] because it's people's livelihood. People wake up in the morning, [and] go thrift to resell. But in Miami, there are thrift stores called Red, white, and Blue. There's one in North Miami and I think they just opened one in Fort Lauderdale, but it's the best. I get all my accessories, like this ring from there.
She's cute. She's really cute.
20 bucks.
Wow. Gorgeous.
I recommend to check it out. Red, white, and blue is the name.
Cute? Do you have any dream collaborations/projects?
Brandy. Love Brandy. Nicki Minaj. I feel like I need a Nicki feature before I die. I feel like some bad apples might have ruined that. She's a lot more selective, especially when she tried to be open and it may have bit her in the butt as it does with a lot of artists, but those two are my fave. Producer-wise, Timberland. There's a certain era of music that he mastered. Those are my top three.
Any for Tama's Corner too?
For Tama's Corner, I definitely want to have it in stores. I'm in the works on that. I want to say it now, but I don't want to spoil the beans. I'm a firm believer that it needs to be finalized before I say it.
I think that's smart.
So that's happening soon. I also see brand collabs in the future too, especially since a big part of it is working with things that other people design also, so.
That's awesome. Talking a little bit about music. I know you have an album coming out this year. 2024. Tell us a little bit about that without telling us too much, you know?
Yes. I'm excited for it. I've been working on it for maybe two years. Some of the songs that I wrote during the Pandemic, tell a story. I've never worked on anything so long, so I've never had two stories being told in one. I came out of a relationship that I was in for three years and then now I'm in a new one that I've been in for two years. So it was kind of like the beginning of that versus where I'm at now. It's romantic, it's sweet, it's honest. Even the hard parts of things that I don't necessarily find easy to talk about, I'm able to talk about easily in the music. I feel like there's something in it that everyone can relate to. And I'm just really excited about it.
We're excited for it too.
It's my debut album, so I'm like, I wanted it to be special and I listened to it on the trip last week when I was in Jamaica in a different scenario and it's perfect.
Do you think you'll drop visuals with that too and everything?
Gonna drop visuals. In this era, I'm very much focused on the visual part of it. I feel most people, know my voice when they hear it, but people are still attaching my voice to the image of me. So I want to make sure I tie that hand in hand. It's important nowadays like everything is visual.
I get that. Well, I'm very excited to see what you have in store for us Tama. I'm going to start wrapping up with something fun. I'm gonna do a series of rocket fire questions and you just tell me which one you'd prefer, okay?
Yeah.
And then we'll get a little serious after that.
Okay.
Gotta start with the sparkles. Sequins or rhinestones. What's your vibe?
Rhinestones. They're bigger.
Period. Baby pink or hot pink. That's a hard one.
Hot pink. It's brighter
I feel that I do. 90s fashion or Y2K?
Nineties fashion. Just because there's more to it. When I see Y2K, a lot of people only tend to go towards one thing versus 90 fashion, which is like a series of things that make it all a whole.
What about nineties fashion versus 2010s? What would you say?
That's a little different. I will say the 2010s just because I personally lived that. When I was like 9, 10, 11 on MySpace, I was dressing up like what I saw so I know how to do that pretty well.
I feel like she's coming back- fashion from the 2010s.
For sure.
We're back in it for sure. Skinny, tailored, or baggy trousers.
Baggy. It gets really hot sometimes. See I didn't realize how hot skinny jeans were until I stopped wearing them and then I put them back on. I'm like, oh my God, I can't.
I feel it. I've been in baggy pants too for a couple of years. Gold or silver, well we know at least for jewelry. Silver.
Silver.
I mean a little white gold, you know?
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I could do a rose gold here and there.
Rihanna or Beyonce, quick.
Rihanna.
Period, because we know it would've been Nicki if I said Nicki.
No, literally that, without a doubt.
Right. Last one, was the dress white and gold, or was it blue and black?
Blue and black.
Oh, period. You heard it here y'all. Okay, getting serious about the last couple of questions. Being a child of Caribbean and black descent, do you feel inherited pressure to succeed to chase after the ideas of the American dream?
Yeah, definitely that. I know my mom's story coming here, it was such a crazy story. So I always feel the pressure of just wanting to give my parents a better life, especially since I started making music they've always supported me. No questions asked.
That's good to hear.
I just always wanna make it worth it for them. So I do feel the pressure, but a healthy pressure. Never anything that would drive me crazy.
And how would you define success for you? What does that look like for you?
For me, success is making something that I'm proud of, something that I'm very comfortable with and that I love.
Are there any big projects in the work besides the album that we should look out for? Are there any new things with Tama's Corner or anything altogether?
Tama's Corner will be in stores soon. I don't wanna say which store yet, but it'll be in store soon. And Tama's Corner is soon to be making grills. You want some grills?
Hell yeah, you better believe I'll be knocking on your door. Alright, last question. How can we create, as POC and black artists, more space and opportunities for others looking to break into our same industries?
I think we just need to be more vocal and willing to make someone comfortable. Coming into spaces and bigger cities, especially younger queer people, growing up and seeing people like us do things. I think we just need to kind of go out of our way to usher them in. I feel like gatekeeping is the worst thing for us, to grow, you know?
It's so true.
Yeah, we just need to usher in the new generation as smoothly as we can. Really show up in that community sense and does not really look at it as like a competitive thing. More so as in like the more the merrier 'cause the more of us team up, the more we can create something beautiful.
Right. When I moved to New York, I was told, you can give someone the same resources, but it's not giving them you.
Exactly. You know people forget that. People forget that we all have our specific points of view on things. And working with other people, we can cover all the bases.
Totally. Well, thank you so much Tama.
Of course.
We got to know so much about you. I'm excited for what's next with Tama's Corner, and excited for the album!
Please, I'm so excited.
Thank you again, we appreciate it.
Of course. Thank you again.
