“I just redid this ‘X’ and then I had this dollar sign next to my ear,” says rapper Lilliane Diomi. “Then this side says ‘trap’ but instead of ‘A’ it’s a triangle with ‘rabbit’ written on it, then I have a heart here, and then I have a date here, but the date is set back on purpose.”
Ppcocaine’s rise through hip-hop in the age of quarantine was so rapid that she almost had to get her genre’s now-must-have facial tattoo at the same time. With just five insanely vulgar and catchy singles – all recorded before December – ppcocaine (pronounced “pp-cocaine”, although she uses “cocaine” in conversation) has taken to the popular social media platform had a huge impact. Drives most of the Hot 100. She can count over a million TikTok followers and some of the platform’s biggest names, including Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae, as fans.
The ink on ppcocaine’s six new face tattoos was barely dry when she walked into the conference room at Westlake Studios in West Hollywood this week, where Michael Jackson recorded “Thriller.” The 19-year-old biracial L.A. rapper and lesbian TikTok ace provocateur wore a monochrome pink bodysuit with matching hair and sunglasses, with ears and eyes across the New York Times reporter’s brand-new creation.
“I remember when I was a kid, I hated school, but I really wanted to go to school so I didn’t have to be at home,” she said. “Neither did I — do. I know [my fans] are probably locking themselves in their rooms and talking on the phone all day, and it’s frustrating. Like, I want people to know they’re not alone.”
She creates a stylized hyper-femininity in her fashion and trends, paired with lyrics so overly sexy that “WAP” reads like “notebook.” Take “3 Musketeers”, one of her more quotable singles in the family paper, and its hook is “Ayyy, tell lil shorty to come here/I wanna blow her back, it’s been a good year. Funny.” It has over 20 million streams on Spotify.
“It’s like, yeah, I know my music isn’t for everyone, but bitch, hold your own,” she said, stunned by her style.
Ppcocaine is part of a recent wave of dynamic, sexually confident female rappers, including Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Flo Milli, Rico Nasty and City Girls, who have entered into what is often a desperate and often nihilistic The hip-hop scene dominated by young men. Columbia Records just signed her, but she’s still updating her R-rated OnlyFans page from her West Hollywood house, where she hangs out with her producers and friends who take turns on the couch Quarantined, there is little to do other than record tracks in her bedroom, order takeout from her favorite Crab Cook restaurant and stir the pot with her million followers.
