She is sexy as all hell, and she has just that right touch of masculinity that even the gay boys get a little stirred up when they see her or hear her perform. She is arguably one of the best rhyming women in out hip hop. She can rap circles around many MCs. She was in Pick Up the Mic, she has released two full length CDs, she has fat beats, and we feel strongly that JenRo is in the top tier of female rappers, one of the most likely to succeed. We hope we see it soon! Here is our exclusive interview with San Francisco's own, JenRo:

You were profiled in the Pick up the Mic documentary movie on homohop, has the movie impacted your career? If so, in what ways?

I was able to meet all the other artists that I never met in person. We were able to tour with the film across the world. It was also great to see the film on LOGO and see it in movie theatres. All the artists in PUTM are great and so is Alex who made the film.

We read you were on a VH1 show called "My Coolest Years". What was that about?

"My coolest years" was about gay celebrities talking about their high school years. I was definitely out in high school, so it was cool to be a part that show.

You have put out two full releases over the last couple of years; tell us about the differences between the 2.

The last 2 recent albums I put out was

Mz. Fontaine is a U.K. Lesbian rapper who was born in South America (Guyana) but came to London at a later date. She has performed at festivals around the UK, as well as being one of two (QBoy was tht other) representatives of the U.K. on 2007's HomoRevolution Tour through the SouthWest. SHe has been on a path of self discovery as of late, which has provided us with a very intriguing Exclusive Interview:

Tell us about this award you won, UK BLGBT Woman of the Year. How did you come to be nominated and how did it feel to win?

The Black Men Advisory Group organizes the BLGBT award, which recognizes the works and contributions of those within the Black LGBT community. The community nominated me, for the Woman of the Year Award; alongside Phill of UK Black Pride. I was so excited and honored to be nominated but convinced myself that I would never win. Even now it still makes me smile and I am so proud. Winning the Woman Of The Year Award was heart pounding, I was shocked; for many years I've been grinding and still there's so much I want to see done. To me the award meant that I was heard, noticed and loved by my community, something I didn't realize before; it brought tears flowing like a river. Honestly it signifies all that I have achieved over the years and I am deeply touched and will continue to strive and move forward making waves of positivity throughout the community. I dedicate it to M.B.Romeo.

Now in some old press we came across references to a "Lady Fontaine". Were you referred to as Lady Fontaine before Mz. Fontaine or as far as Fontaine goes, have you always been Mz. Fontaine?

I really wasn't aware of Lady Fontaine before and I certainly haven't been knighted by the Queen of England to hold such a title. Before Mz Fontaine there was just plain ole Fontaine. Fontaine means fountain or spring in French; I was fluid, frequent, lasting and fresh. The Mz was added after recognizing within myself a truth that I was neither a Miss nor a Mr. - confusing I know, it is where my journeys began. In life I have grown, I've moved forward and now I'm coming out again as a new being. It's like a flower taking it's time to bloom.

Speaking of names, it came to our attention over the last year or so you'd changed your name to Naechané. What prompted that, and will you be using that name or Mz. Fontaine or both?

Well, as I pause taking a deep breath wondering where to start...

Scream Club is one of the most hard working, consistently touring acts in out hip hop. They were inspired by the rawness and realness in hip hop, and were captured in the Pick Up the Mic documentary on "homohop". Cindy Wonderful and Sarah Adorable are two white chicks out of Olympia, Washington, not what you would normally think of when you think of hip hop. Appropriately enough, their appearance in Pick Up the Mic was preceded by the comment of one of the forefathers of homohop, Juba Kalamka saying, "There are lot of  different ways that people do queer hip hop".

Indeed there is. Here is our exclusive interview with SCREAM CLUB:

So are you still in Europe? Is this like your 2nd or 3rd tour of Europe?

We are still in Europe, this is actually our 5th tour over here.  
 
How do European audiences compare to U.S. audiences?

I feel like every city is different, theres not so huge a difference like U.S. vs Europe, I mean playing in Munich Germany is like playing in San Diego, and playing in Kassel may feel like playing in Bellingham , so every city has its own flavor and certin citys have similarities despite geographic locations.
 
Are you independently wealthy? From what we know about you, you are one of the hardest working
and most consistently touring acts in the out hip hop world. How do you do it?

We are not independly wealthy yet,

We've read that you have been making music for a long time. Do you play any instruments? Tell us about your start as far as music.

Yeah I have been influenced by music for as long as I can remember. My dad is a very active musician, as well as my 2 sisters. So music has always been encouraged by my family. My dad bought my first electric guitar at age 8, and I've been playing since then. I can play most instruments by ear. I have been trained in guitar and percussion. I recorded my first 3 albums when I was still in high school. That is where I got to see audio engineers working the old boards, and DAT and ADAT machines. I gained a lot of my audio engineering skills through watching them and asking questions.

When did you think rapping or hip hop might be your thing?

Well I have always had that influence of hip hop from back in that day when my older cousin used to bring out some gangsta rap records when it was just poppin off. And alot of my favorite bands also used the rock/rap techniques like 311, RATM, and others. I always felt closer to the music in the underground scenes regardless of genre. For me I felt that hip hop was a way for me to get a lot off my chest and possibly affect some people with my music.

What made you decide to be a hip hop artist who is out?

I actually quit doing music for a few years because I was afraid of people "outing" me. But

Intro by Humpty, Interview by greenThumb

We are posting this on the day that we normally post Exclusive Interviews with established artists, but using some of the questions we use in our New Artist Spotlight. MC Envy is a new artist, but he is releasing a full length CD of self-produced beats and original lyrics at the end of this month on N.V.P. Records, and he has been performing at Pride events through out the UK...MC Envy is a new artist who has hit the ground running. Time will tell what longevity he has, but for now, he has the spotlight.

How did you come up with your name, MC Envy?
 
I came up with the name Envy for two reasons: The first being from when I was growing up and how I was envious of people succeeding in the industry I wanted to work in. The second is a variation of the first: Was that I knew one day with my determination I would succeed and people would want to be where I was and be envious of me. 
 
How long have you been doing hip-hop?

Easily one of out hip hop's most nastiest performers in terms of sexuality and explicitness, he has more music videos than full length CDs! But all of that begins to change next week (August 19th) with the release of "White Hot", his ground breaking follow up to "Dangerous Liaisons" that has been a long time coming.  Never one to hold back on anything he has an opinion on, this is Johnny Dangerous, complete, and uncut. Enjoy our exclusive interview:  

How is Johnny D? How is life, Chicago, etc?

Life in Chicago is great! I'm just enjoying the summer, prepping for the new album and testing myself creatively for what I can do next. I'm always thinking ahead.

Tell us about your highly anticipated new album. (Title, production, guest appearances, etc)

The new album is called White Hot, and was produced by Tori Fixx (of course,) Aaron-Carl and Juba Kalamka. I also have a remix of "Dirty Is The New Black" produced by the one and only DJ Pain One. I'm just so excited about this record! It's really been a long time in the making, but I feel that people are really going to love it! I also have appearances by JenRo, Richoshade, QBoy, Soce the Elemental Wizard, Nicky Click and Bob Flosse. It's definitely more upbeat and has more of an electronic-edge to it, unlike "Dangerous Liaisons." Tori and I really tried to challenge ourselves creatively; with subject matter, flow and direction. I really wanted to create somewhat of a sexy-party-club record, that any audience can get into, regardless of sexual orientation or gender.

We became acquainted with the transgender beauty Foxxjazell at a HomoRevolution fundraiser in Long Beach last year and then next thing we knew we saw her on the Tyra Banks Show. She had a song that some of us couldn't get out of our mind no matter how hard we tried. She has been non-stop on working on her career, and it's starting to pay off with a video on LOGO's The Click List for a couple of months, and hip hop magazine history by being the first transgender artist to have a article in XXL Magazine.  We are happy to focus on yet another (Shuguh Bair was the first) transgender artist in hip hop doing their thing. Here's our exclusive interview with FOXXJAZELL:

Let's start with the basics. What made you come up with Foxxjazell as your performing name?

Yo I was born with that name. Nah just kidding but Foxxjazell Jackson is my government name. I've always related to foxes because their very independent, beautiful and smart at the same time. Jazell comes from the animal gazelle which is swift, tall and beautiful like me. Together you got Foxxjazell ya feel me?

How long have you been performing?

Since I was 16. I'm 23 now. Young and full of cu..fun. (lol) Yeah, fun.

What made you, as a male to female transgender person; decide to be an out artist?

It came as an accident. I've always wanted to affect the world through the arts. That’s why when I first came to LA..

She is the reigning queen of San Diego's out hip hop music scene. When people think of out artists doing hip hop in San Diego, most people think of MC Flow. She has performed at the famous San Diego Street Scene and created a little stir when she won the 2007 San Diego Music Award for Best Hip Hop act. She's performed at San Francisco's Dyke March this year during Pride and will perform at San Diego's Pride festival this Saturday afternoon. Here is our exclusive interview with the artist known as MC Flow.

You transplanted to San Diego from New York. What made you come out West?

Originally, I moved to San Diego to study acupuncture and Chinese medicine. I left the program after one year, but had already fallen in love with San Diego, so I stayed.

Although we have a few guesses, how did you come up with the name "MC Flow"?

MC Flow seemed like a funny name for an outspoken, feminist MC. I think it was partially inspired by reading Inga Muscio’s book, Cunt, which is one of the most empowering books I’ve ever read.

When did you start rapping? How long have you been performing in San Diego?

I started rapping about 5 years ago, in 2003. At the time, I was performing a lot of spoken-word pieces at open mic nights in San Diego, and I was curious about taking my poetry and putting it to beats and music. At first, Taylor-Tay and I wrote rap songs over guitar, and my friend Lauren DeRose backed us up on a djembe or a small drum kit. That was the first stage of MC Flow, and we played a few shows that way, mostly opening for Lauren and her band. Later, Taylor started writing beats, and we got more serious about what were doing. GG and Rob joined us a little later, in 2004/5 I think, and we have been performing as a crew since then.