Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with up-and-coming NYC-based rapper and self-proclaimed "boss" Stunna Dior. She told me about her story and upcoming releases.
"Stunna was a nickname given to me by my friends in high school because of my style, aesthetics, and stuff and, you know, my personality. I was rapping back then, so it became my artist name, so I added Dior, and I was always just like Stunna Dior." Stunna tells me that even though she was born and raised in Detroit, and it's influenced her musically (She went to the same school as Aaliyah!), New York is where she came into her own.
The venue's size and the crowd don't really affect how good the show is going to be. According to Stunna, it's all about the energy, "...Sometimes the energy is just there; it's not really about how big the crowd is"
Stunna has had some rough moments on tour as well. She told me this insane story about one of her first shows: "I had this show in Atlanta. It was my first show performing my first song, Twirl It . It was a packed show at a bikers club. The people from my team had to run out to do an errand. I was there with some of the other artists, and I was the only girl there; there was a lot of masculine energy. I perform, and everyone's like, hold up this girl fire. Next thing you know, I'm sitting, and this crazy-ass fight breaks out. The guy, he performs. One motorcycle guy puts up a white motorcycle jacket, and then one of the guys goes uh-uh and dents him in the face. It was SO loud. I was sitting in the front row area, and I knew that no one would take a punch like that, and it would go lightly, especially there. One of the guys with me just grabbed me, and suddenly, I saw all of these tables start flying. I hop over a table, and one of the artists gets cut from it. I went out the back door kitchen because it seemed safe. As I'm going out the back, I look to the entry, and there's like a guy with a big machine gun, and I was like out the backdoor by myself. I see everybody else's lives flash before me, not mine 'cause I went through the back door, but everybody elses' and as soon as I get to the parking lot, my phone rings, and one of my homegirls from New York's like Stunna where you at!? And I'm like, huh, I'm at this party, and she's like I'm at the parking lot! I don't know; she literally had just got there at the time, and she was like, hop in. So yeah, I was like, wow. On my very first show. Later, I told the boys....they were like Stunna, we were looking for you, and I was like don't look for me. I'm smart. I was out of there." she tells me as she giggles.
So what's next for Stunna Dior?
She's booked and busy! Stunna is dropping a short film very soon that is a conjunction with the Big Dog video with K Goddess. "I'm constantly creating and doing things."
Even though Stunna considers herself a goofy person, she's also deeply spiritual and moves through life feeling the energy. She's very excited for all that's to come in her journey with the music industry and all the potential with collaboration with other artists. She tells me there are a lot of dope videos and collaborations coming this summer, and I personally can't wait to see what Stunna stunts next.
You can follow Stunna on ig as @therealstunnadior, @TooPaid2Care on Twitter, and find her music on Spotify.
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