Artist Interview: In Conversation with RiotGrrrlDarko
Graphic by Essence Enwere
Last week, I had the opportunity to talk with up-and-coming artist Riotgrrrldaarko after seeing her live for the first time at Radio K’s Short Circuit residency, housed in 7th Street Entry. She emerged from the hazy backdrop of the stage in a rhinestone cap sported backwards, heavy platform boots, and an unshakeable swagger—which I later found out was not just stage presence. She is badass through-and-through, from picking up the microphone to picking up the phone for our chat.
Bray’Jana Coleman, publicly known as Riotgrrrldarko, first broke into the scene in 2019 with an unusual start. “It was just joking around!” she laughed, relaying the story of creating some diss tracks with a couple of her friends. Listening back, she realized there was something good on the track—and that she had artistic potential. “I felt like, low-key, I should actually start doing this—I was like, shiiit, I’m actually kind of good!” From there, she decided to start creating music with the help of her then-boyfriend, now fianceé, fellow artist 6RIPS.
Image by Ash Gustafson
Having grown up in a suburb of the Cities and attending school in Minneapolis, Brady recalls being raised in a very balanced manner and was able to recognize her privilege from a very young age. “I got the balance of being in the streets as a kid, being a little dirty, and then coming back home to my suburban-ass neighborhood.” While she allows these experiences to influence her musical style, she made a point to emphasize that she doesn't want her music to come off as a story about struggling as she was growing up, which she recognizes was not the case. She wants people from both urban and suburban areas are able to enjoy her music. Ultimately, her goal is to portray a true and unfiltered version of herself that, hopefully, many can relate to. “My music, I want it to speak to everybody.”
Image by Meg Buckenberg
And speak it does. You can tell by her stage presence that Riotgrrrl does not feel pressured to perform inauthentically to get her message across; her shows are memorable because her music is substantive. “I feel like I’m an awkward person by nature,” she smiled, “so I just get up there, yell at your ass and then it’s time to go, pack it up! I try to let the music speak for itself.” She does not feel the need to chain herself to a particular music style, either. She wishes to separate herself from the majority, not because she doesn’t enjoy it, but because she feels “like a lot of people in rap right now sound the same—and I love that shit! But, at the same time, we don’t all gotta talk about the same shit. Like, sometimes I just wanna rap about making a sandwich or, like, some random everyday shit everybody can relate to. Not everybody can relate to, like, fucking and getting money. So I try to really make my sound relatable—authentic.”
Image by Ash Gustafson
She does it all, from rap to punk-pop. In many ways, she considers herself as still finding her sound, though she’ll give anything a try. Right now, she’s into creating music she defines as grime-core—but that certainly does not mean it’ll be the only thing she does from now on.
Hers is certainly a unique stage name. The underground punk-feminist Riot Grrrl movement in the 90’s came together with her love for rapper Meechy Darko to inspire the name Riotgrrrldarko. When I asked her what Riot Grrrl culture meant to her, she replied, “I can be hard too.” She explained that she internalizes Riot Grrrl culture through being tough and standing out amongst the crowd. Simply put, she’s a woman who can kick your ass.
Image by Meg Buckenberg
Before starting with her own projects, she was not heavily into the music scene, but she did enjoy supporting underground artists such as Flatbush Zombies and Remo Drive (Minnesota rep!). She would also go to shows put on with local artists without necessarily knowing many of their songs, just to get a feel for the scene. Now that she’s the one performing, she is proud of the army of loyal fans she herself has built. “There are times when there are, like, three shows in a row and it’ll be the same people there, and every show they act like it’s brand new to them—that shit’s crazy because it’s like, you were at the last one three weeks ago. I think it’s crazy that people really wanna see little old me doing my set. I really appreciate the love.”
Image by Ash Gustafson
Music is not the only thing she uses her creative talents for. She also creates her own covers, stating that “every cover I have, I need it to tell a story. I don’t like putting out rushed shit and I don’t like my covers to look rushed. It has to match the story of the song.” She looks to fashion, too, as a way to further her music aesthetic. She describes her style as “going through phases” and, much like her music style, her fashion style is also subject to change. “Right now, I’m really into zebra print everything and pink shit.” She never regrets going through these phases, though; when she looks back at these phases, she regards them as reflecting whatever she’s into at the time. “I like shit that’s outlandish!”
As for her creative process, she can go months without making music, too invested in everyday life. On the other hand, she’s able to draw inspiration from everyday life, often coming up with a line or two she likes and proceeding to write a whole song just from that. Always trying to one-up herself, Riotgrrrldarko gives her music her all and works hard to make every song better than the last. Honorable mention on her new tape is a song she’s particularly proud of.
Image by Meg Buckenberg
Outside of her music, Brady is a is a mother of two. She says that this experience has taught her that being a mom does not have to be someone’s whole personality—it's just another facet of a very multi-faceted person. She hopes her kids can look back at her work during this time and feel pride for the things she accomplished while they were growing up. She used her own birthing experience to guide her towards becoming a doula this year: “During my birth, if I had other doulas in the room, not only would it have been more uplifting for me, but the pressure would be taken off of me. It’s like, a community of people in the room serving each other.” She feels that being a doula further connects her with her community—“and I appreciate that, because a lot of fucking things that you get into don’t have that type of community—at all.”
Riotgrrrldarko is definitely someone to watch out for in the Minneapolis music scene. Her music is available on Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music, and YouTube. She is also fully booked out for concerts through the next several months; if you like what you hear, you should check out her 7th Street Entry concert on March 25th.
Image by Meg Buckenberg
Check out her social media:
Instagram & Twitter @riotgrrrldarko
Special thanks to Radio K for having Golden at the Short Circuit residency event! Radio K’s mission is to support up-and-coming artists locally, nationally, and internationally. Find out more info here!