Image: Milah Libin
Princess Nokia just re-released a remastered and expanded version of her 2014 debut full-length Metallic Butterfly via Rough Trade Records, featuring three bonus tracks from the era. Before the rapper/actor/model/intersectional feminist became the icon she is today, Destiny Frasqueri was a young trip-hop and Bjork-obsessed NYC raver kid. The album showcases all sides of what we’ve now come to know as the definitive multi-faceted artist Princess Nokia: music lover, philosopher, activist and anime nerd. The music was composed entirely with hip-hop producer OWWWLS, who also worked closely with her on 1992 Deluxe and has been her current live DJ.
When the album was originally released, Vice called it “one of the most exciting and ambitious independently released albums to come out of the New York underground in a long time” and Complex adds, “we’re treated to her raw, but emotionally-rich talent as a vocalist on Butterfly… It’s clear this girl’s talents are vast.”
Metallic Butterfly (Remastered & Expanded) features some of the enduring hits that are part of her live show, such as the pumped-up, drum-n-bass love song ‘Dragons,’ the Afro-Latina pride anthem ‘Corazon En Afrika,’ and the empowering mantra ‘Young Girls.’ These fan favourites and more are finally available on streaming services for the first time.
The shape-shifting emcee has been releasing music via YouTube and Soundcloud since she was in high school and catapulted herself to the next level with 1992 Deluxe—selling out venues across the globe and steadily gaining tens of millions of streams. Earlier this year, she released A Girl Cried Red–her mixtape showcasing another fully formed side of Destiny that still taps into the uncompromising feminist ideology of Princess Nokia.
Additionally, below is a handwritten letter that Destiny wrote on the day of the record’s original release.
