I fell in love with Heidi Barton Stink the very first time I heard her EP “The Familiar Pattern”. Heidi’s rhythms are clever and original, her flow is flawless and she raps about things that are relevant to nearly everyones lives: breaking free from shame, addiction, social justice and love…

Like many queers, I’ve had a long, complicated & tumultuous relationship with hip hop music. Growing up hip hop held a very important place as part of the sound track of my childhood: it was turntables, beat boxing and teenage boys break dancing on cardboard.

It was also where I got some of my very first lessons about sex and the roles of women and men… For a few years after I discovered feminism I didn’t think that hip hop had room for me to exist, until I began to discover “positive hip hop”.

While Too $hort may be one of my guiltiest pleasures, most days I’d much rather listen to Heidi Barton Stink… Heidi was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions for me.