Inside the Pink Palace: An Exclusive Chat with Rising Pop Star Precious on Queer Identity, Style, and Musical Inspirations

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Hiiii  Precious, I am SO excited to have you on Pop Palace! How has your week been?

My week has been pretty hectic TBH! I am a pop artist and producer, but I am also a grad student, an intern, and part of a band, so there’s just a lot going on at once. These are all things I love doing though, but it gets overwhelming sometimes. I’m excited about answering these questions, however!

Okay, as a pink girlie myself I am literally obsessed with all your pink looks on Instagram. Have you always loved pink or has your style evolved?

Thank you! My love for pink came along when I started moving into making pop music, just because I felt like it matched my music and artist vibe perfectly. I had also started realizing how gorgeous of a color it is, aesthetically. My favorite color is red, which is the color I have been dyeing my hair for almost a decade now. Before wearing more pink, I was somewhat known for wearing a lot of black, and even still do that often now when I’m not in my pop artist looks.

Queer representation is what Pop Palace is all about, does being queer affect your artistry in a particular way?

I think that being queer shows up in my artistry greatly! I am very intentional about decentering men musically. When it comes to how I present myself visually as an artist, that is not something I’m ever really wanting to do in a way that “sells” to men. I always think about the sapphic girlies, and whether or not they would love the visuals and themes as much as I love them. I like the idea that the people who enjoy my music and content are just having fun supporting a queer black girl.

I’d love to hear about your experience with the Sephora Music Collective. How did being part of such a unique collaboration impact your music and creativity, and what was it like working with a brand that’s known for empowering self-expression?

I am still partnered with Sephora Music! It has been a really great experience, and it has brought a lot of new people to my music! What’s really important to me is how it centers underappreciated artists of color, because there are a lot of us that are overlooked in the kind of music we are doing. Having such a big platform to back us up and share our music to a large and wide audience is amazing. It is a great feeling to see my music featured in their videos where they are empowering their women and queer audiences, encouraging their self-empowerment and confidence.

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Growing up did you have any idols Famous or not? Did you see yourself represented in media as a child?

My mother was my biggest idol and inspiration growing up, and she still is now! More than anyone, she showed me what a resilient and amazing woman is supposed to look like, so I will always look up to her. Growing up, of course, I was obsessed with Beyonce, and still hold her as one of my greatest inspirations today. Impactful pop stars like Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Little Mix meant so much to me too, because they showed me what I could be doing as an artist when I grew up. I definitely wouldn’t say I saw myself represented very much in the media as a child, which is why when I would find any black artist in the mainstream that “felt” like me, I would latch on very greatly! This made me very into artists like Fefe Dobson, Childish Gambino, and SZA.

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What is a long-term and a short-term goal you are working towards?

A short-term goal I’m working on right now is an album. I’m definitely putting one out in the top half of next year, and am working on producing it and putting together collabs right now! A long-term goal I’m working towards is trying to build an artist team. It is something I feel I will have much more time to dedicate to once I graduate with my master’s next year and have more time to focus on all the different aspects of my artistry. I would like to be able to make being an artist/producer/creative into a full time career for me, since it is the thing that I truly love doing most! I’m at a great point with making some amazing connections and tapping in as not only an artist, but a legitimate producer and songwriter for other artists.

Finally, here at Pop Palace, we all have our own little 'Royal Court' of artists who inspire us and keep us going. So, if you could build your own musical palace, who would be sitting on your throne, and who would be in your royal court of all-time favorite artists?

Beyonce would obviously have the throne. Some other artists who would have a definite place in the palace are SZA, Ariana Grande, Tyler, the Creator, BTS, Childish Gambino, Tame Impala, Lady Gaga, Little Mix, Kendrick Lamar, FKA Twigs, Bruno Mars, One Direction, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Victoria Monet, Marina, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder—and honestly, there would probably still bemanyothers, just because I love a lot of music.