Princess Nokia

Biography

Destiny Nicole Frasqueri (born June 14, 1992), known professionally as Princess Nokia, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, Metallic Butterfly×Metallic Butterfly12 May 2014 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Dimensia1:032Hands Up1:363Seraphims2:324Young Girls2:595Biohazard Butterfly3:466Cybiko2:417Dragons4:268Felicity Island3:349Nokia3:2310Bikini Weather / Corazon en Afrika4:3211Yaya2:02, in 2014, followed by the 2015 mixtape Honeysuckle×Honeysuckle12 September 2015 · Studio album · Mixtape/StreetSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Intro2:012Soul Train4:133Orange Blossom3:034Jetsetter2:415Apple Pie2:586Mermaid Girl (Intrlude)1:307Cherry Cola3:248Summer Time2:489Buttercup1:0110Sugarplum4:0711Wide Brim Hat2:5212God Inside of Me (interlude)1:1713Brown Girl Blues2:35. As Princess Nokia, she rose to prominence for her 2017 studio album 1992 Deluxe×1992 Deluxe8 September 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Bart Simpson3:342Tomboy3:373Kitana3:174Brujas3:005Mine3:266Excellent2:447Saggy Denim3:138Green Line3:509ABCs of New York3:2010Goth Kid3:5411Receipts3:2412G.O.A.T.2:4413Brick City2:3914Flava2:0515Different2:3816Chinese Slippers2:24. She released another mixtape, titled A Girl Cried Red×A Girl Cried Red13 April 2018 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Flowers and Rope2:152Your Eyes Are Bleeding2:413For the Night3:224Look Up Kid3:055Interlude1:126Morphine1:547At the Top2:358Little Angel3:12, in 2018, followed by the release of two studio albums, Everything Sucks×Everything Sucks26 February 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Harley Quinn2:242Crazy House3:033Welcome to the Circus1:564Gross2:525Fee fi Foe1:566I Like Him2:127Practice2:078Balenciaga2:309Woes2:2210Just a Kid3:21 and Everything Is Beautiful×Everything is Beautiful26 February 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Green Eggs & Ham1:462Happy Place2:193Wash & Sets2:254Gemini3:045Wavy2:466Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.)2:287Soul Food y Adobo2:228Sunday Best3:479Blessings3:0910Heart1:1911I Am Free2:5712The Conclusion2:45, in 2020. In 2023, she released the EP I Love You but this is Goodbye×i love you but this is goodbye14 March 2023 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1closure2:222complicated2:123the fool1:184lo siento3:125angels & demons2:376thank you3:007happy3:20. Her new album GIRLS×GIRLS10 October 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Girl FM #10:442Blue Velvet4:073Medusa3:024Period Blood3:075Matcha Cherry3:106Drop Dead Gorgeous3:087Gossip Girl2:518Beach Babe3:139Pink Bronco4:0110Girl FM #21:2011Phoebe Philo2:4412ArtStar2:47 was released via Artist House on October 10, 2025

Early life

Frasqueri identifies as Afro-Indigenous and is of Puerto Rican descent. When Frasqueri was two, she lost her mother to AIDS. Between the ages of nine and sixteen, she was in foster care, during which her foster mother was physically abusive. After Frasqueri left foster care, she went to live with her grandmother. She subsequently started writing rhymes. Frasqueri lived around East Harlem and the Lower East Side of New York City at the time.

2010–2018: Early career and career beginnings

In 2010, Frasqueri recorded and released her first song, titled "Destiny", under the stage name Wavy Spice on her SoundCloud page, and later released the song on her YouTube channel in mid-2012. Subsequently, she released her second song, titled "Bitch I'm Posh×Bitch I'm Posh2012 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Bitch I'm Posh2:36". She next released "YAYA", a song that chronicles her Taíno ancestry. She later released the singles "Vicki Gotti" and "Versace Hottie×Versace Hottie16 October 2013 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Versace Hottie3:13". Following the singles, Frasqueri changed her stage name to Princess Nokia, which she claimed was an alter ego, and introduced the character with the song "Nokia". The name was inspired by the brand of the Obama phone she was eligible for as a low-income earner under the Lifeline Program. On May 12, 2014, Frasqueri released her debut studio album, titled Metallic Butterfly×Metallic Butterfly12 May 2014 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Dimensia1:032Hands Up1:363Seraphims2:324Young Girls2:595Biohazard Butterfly3:466Cybiko2:417Dragons4:268Felicity Island3:349Nokia3:2310Bikini Weather / Corazon en Afrika4:3211Yaya2:02, which debuted on Vice and SoundCloud. On September 8, 2017, she released her second studio album, 1992 Deluxe×1992 Deluxe8 September 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1Bart Simpson3:342Tomboy3:373Kitana3:174Brujas3:005Mine3:266Excellent2:447Saggy Denim3:138Green Line3:509ABCs of New York3:2010Goth Kid3:5411Receipts3:2412G.O.A.T.2:4413Brick City2:3914Flava2:0515Different2:3816Chinese Slippers2:24, an expanded version of her 2016 mixtape, 1992. It peaked at number 25 on the US Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart. NME listed it as the 32nd best album of 2017.
Nokia debuted a radio show on Apple's Beats 1 Radio on February 18, 2018. Episodes aired every other Sunday and allowed listeners to get acquainted with the inner workings of Nokia's mind. The show has a total of six episodes labeled "The Voices in My Head with Princess Nokia." In September 2018, she was chosen as one of the six ambassadors by Maison Margiela to promote their new fragrance, Mutiny. In December 2018, Nokia released a "remastered and expanded version" of the album Metallic Butterfly, which includes three new bonus tracks. That same year, she released a mixtape titled A Girl Cried Red×A Girl Cried Red13 April 2018 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Flowers and Rope2:152Your Eyes Are Bleeding2:413For the Night3:224Look Up Kid3:055Interlude1:126Morphine1:547At the Top2:358Little Angel3:12. Stefanie Fernández of NPR deemed it an expression of Frasqueri's artistic and emotional versatility and praised how she "transcends them."

2019-2022: Everything Sucks And Everything is Beautiful

In 2019, Nokia had her debut performance as an actress in the independent film Angelfish. In September 2019, she released a song titled "Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.)×Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.)16 September 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.)2:28". It was described as "a bouncy, empowering bop built around dismissive lyrics about Nokia's enemies." In February 2020, Nokia released two albums: Everything Sucks×Everything Sucks26 February 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Harley Quinn2:242Crazy House3:033Welcome to the Circus1:564Gross2:525Fee fi Foe1:566I Like Him2:127Practice2:078Balenciaga2:309Woes2:2210Just a Kid3:21 and Everything Is Beautiful×Everything is Beautiful26 February 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Green Eggs & Ham1:462Happy Place2:193Wash & Sets2:254Gemini3:045Wavy2:466Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.)2:287Soul Food y Adobo2:228Sunday Best3:479Blessings3:0910Heart1:1911I Am Free2:5712The Conclusion2:45. Pitchfork described Everything Sucks as "locust swarm of angst, restless and frantic" and regarded Everything Is Beautiful as "warm and expansive" in comparison to the former. In March 2021, Nokia released a music video for the song, titled "It's Not My Fault". The single was released through Arista Records and marked the first one Nokia released through a major label.
In 2022, she voiced LaBrea, LaCienega's cousin in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

2025-Present: GIRLS

In 2025, Princess Nokia signed a label and management deal with independent NYC-based label Artist House. She released her single "Drop Dead Gorgeous×Drop Dead Gorgeous27 June 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Drop Dead Gorgeous3:08" on June 27, 2025 and was included on the New Music Fix Playlist on BBC Music R6. Her second single "Blue Velvet×Blue Velvet2 September 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Blue Velvet4:072Drop Dead Gorgeous3:08" was released on September 2, 2025 and featured on BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show with Jack Saunders.
On 12 October 2025 Princess Nokia made her first UK TV appearance on Later... with Jools Holland performing a medley of the Blue Velvet and Medusa tracks.
Her album "GIRLS×GIRLS10 October 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Girl FM #10:442Blue Velvet4:073Medusa3:024Period Blood3:075Matcha Cherry3:106Drop Dead Gorgeous3:087Gossip Girl2:518Beach Babe3:139Pink Bronco4:0110Girl FM #21:2011Phoebe Philo2:4412ArtStar2:47" was released on October 10, 2025.

Artistry

Nokia's musical style has been described as "experimental" and "eagerly floating between genres such as rap, soul, rock and house." She lists rappers MC Lyte and Queen Latifah, girl group TLC, singer Shakira, as well as nu metal bands Korn and Slipknot as musical influences. Nokia also cites hardcore, punk, and rave cultures as influences for her performances.

Personal life

Frasqueri identifies as bisexual and has stated such in a past interview and has also talked about how growing up near the queer community of New York City was an important part of her life. The early stages of Princess Nokia's musical career began through performing at gay clubs, as she gained popularity among the gay nightlife scene. She also identifies as a gender non-conforming person and uses both they/them and she/her pronouns. She has also referenced being on the autism spectrum in multiple songs, including her song "Period Blood".
Frasqueri is a strong supporter of intersectional feminism, founding the Smart Girl Club with Milah Libin, a podcast where she discusses healthy living and urban feminism. She is a practitioner of Santería, and has shared her own experience with clairvoyance and spirituality that she infuses her music with.
In 2017, Frasqueri punched a male concertgoer at the University of Cambridge, whom she accused of mouthing "dirty obscenities" at her. She later told the crowd that "that's what you do when a white boy disrespects you". Later that year, a video of a woman throwing hot soup in a man's face who was calling "a group of teenage boys" a racial slur whilst on a subway journey to Brooklyn surfaced. Frasqueri took responsibility for the incident, saying that "everybody on the train backed [her] up".
In 2023, Frasqueri's former backup dancer and friend, Tommy Playboy, died after being hit by a train in New York City.

Mixtapes

Honeysuckle (2015, as Destiny)
1992 (2016)
A Girl Cried Red (2018)