Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Krystina Alphonso. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Krystina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I started writing poetry to cope with my first serious (& toxic) relationship. I was in high school, in 10th grade and I had never felt so deeply about a person before, or attached. Things started to go left in a lot of ways and I didn’t have the experience with relationships or security in myself to know that the relationship wasn’t healthy and that I should probably leave. But yeah – the relationship wasn’t healthy and I didn’t leave. It was 2008ish so being queer and black wasn’t something really to broadcast, at least not in my world. I grew up in Brooklyn, heavily influenced by Hip Hop Culture and Hip Hop was so homophobic. I mean I had told people on MySpace that I was Bi and that was a whole thing. Most of my friends were cool with it. But no one really knew I was in a relationship, or who the relationship was with. This meant that I had no one to talk to about what I was experiencing. After several big fights, and staying home on weekends crying in my room (which I hated doing but the person hated when I would go out) I turned to journaling about what I was going through in order to have a place to release. The thing is, because I had listened to and studied so much from a young age – my journals would go from lines of thoughts to rhymes of experiences and figurative language. I wasnt even trying to rhyme it would just kind of… happen. The older I got the more powerful the rhymes and language became, I started to share them with two of my friends later in high school and early college and they thought I was really good. Later in college like senior year i auditioned to be in the premier poetry troupe and my poem made everyone laugh but I wasn’t chosen. I was kinda sad but it was all good. I thought about why I wasn’t chosen. Maybe that poem was just for me and not to share. Maybe that wasn’t a good audition piece. Maybe I need to establish that poetry is something I care about by writing about things I care about. About a year later, after I had graduated college, I was in Americorps and they were organizing an artist showcase among the corps members and I signed up for spoken word. This time – I killed. I had crowd participation i had jokes, i had serious ideas about love people could consider – I was on my way. I was always writing so I kept getting better. Thinking about the things that plagued me and people like me, kept my pen flowing. When I left americorps in NYC, I moved to Boston for graduate school. The majority of my classes took place in Roxbury – one of the old stomping grounds of Malcolm X. This, along with just finishing up his autobiography the month I moved there, plus the state of America in 2015 began to politically charge my work. I was performing at open mics in Boston and completely shutting it down. When I would hear from other poets however, I would realize that my poems had rhymes and cadences like rap songs. I remember watching young MA’s videos on YouTube, super happy that a queer black artist was gaining popularity, then she dropped the video to “Ooou” and I knew the song was going to be bigger than the lgbt community. It was inspiring. I was still only calling myself a poet until about 2018. I was called up at a jam session. I had written so much beat but knew none of it at the jam session and was like “omg i look so wack right now because i dont know my work! If I did I would be killing it right now!” This led to make taking rap more serious. I figured because my poems sounded like raps, it would be easy to transition, however, that wasn’t the case at all. I was trash at first – which really surprised me. It took time to get good at putting my rhymes over beats. I had to realize that there weren’t many rules to poetry, but there were a lot of rules if I was going to be a rapper. I’ve been taking it seriously ever since.
Krystina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Krystina , aka Krys X.
I am a rapper, poet, and activist from East New York, Brooklyn. In my work, I explore the themes of black love, racial equity, true liberation, transformation, and what all those mean together as they exist in my everyday life. I also explore sexuality and the freedom to express that as a black queer woman. I have made it my mission to be a voice for the voiceless. I celebrate my Caribbean heritage, and encourage my listeners to have confidence in themselves, live healthy lives, and follow their creative passions.
What sets me apart is my unique vantage point as a black queer Caribbean woman.
I make music, document dope shit around nyc through videos and photos. And create clothing and products with my company GourmetGummy that respond to injustices black people and people of color have experienced.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative being able to touch or inspire someone else with your work. Seeing people trying new things and putting theirselves out there because they saw me doing it is incredible. We all have these special gifts from god and we honor god when we sharpen them and use them.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
To best support artists society needs to have more instruction around it in schools. Schools are often focused on tests and how well students do on those tests but dont always think about how
Supplemental creative arts could be.
Contact Info:
- Website: Gourmetgummy,net
- Instagram: @krys.karats @gourmetgummy
- Youtube: Krys Karats
