Dazed: Tierra Whack, Philly rap sensation
There can't be many rappers who namecheck children's books and TV shows among their most important influences, but Tierra Whack reels them off as if they were hip hop canon: the grinning lunacy of No, David! by David Shannon; the playful, bright and diverse life of Sesame Street; and the psychedelically strange worlds of Dr. Seuss. "I wish I was a kid," Whack says. "I never wanted to grow up. It really is a trap." The surrealist humour and childlike energy of these early influences shine through Whack's music videos, from the nail art puppetry of "Bugs Life", to a banquet of diamonds and pearls, eaten with chopsticks, in "Hungry Hippos".
Read "From homelessness to Philly rap sensation, Tierra Whack is the real deal" on Dazed.