Rapper Mykki Blanco challenges gender stereotypes in hip-hop

Mykki Blanco likes to “f— with people.” His words. “I remember telling my publicist, let’s f— with people. Let’s send them pictures of me as a boy and still make them say ‘She.’”

A couple weeks ago, on Facebook, he did it again. He posted a picture of himself, dark tattoos sown across his chest, a thin chain around his neck, and right in his mouth, all stark white, a bottle of HIV medication. He wrote a caption, too: “be a good boy and take your pill once a day :)”

“It’s another way to f— with people because, guess what,” Blanco says, “I’m super healthy.”

None of this comes across as cavalier when you talk to him.