TheBabeGabe’s HONEYPOP Era: A Black Girl Weirdo Anthem

Formerly a member of alternative Kansas City trio BLACKSTARKIDS, rapper-singer TheBabeGabe reemerges on her debut solo mixtape HONEYPOP. Released on March 5, the 12-track project is a detour from the original Gabe, born Gabrielle Kearney, that BLACKSTARKIDS loyalists met in 2019. Just five months separated from the group’s final release, Heaven on Earth, Gabe’s fearlessness shows in her delivery and vision, no longer being hindered as a lone female voice.

Over spaced-out beats by BLACKSTARKIDS alum TyFazion, one-half of production duo TheHuman, Gabe’s deeply reflective on HONEYPOP, whether she’s intensely expressing the burdens she carries (“Soul Food”) or seamlessly fitting herself in the current drum and bass wave (“Futuristic Lovers”). Gabe’s individuality knows no bounds, and on HONEYPOP, she gets to know explorative versions of herself.

Gabe and Ty met in high school, where they first planned to collaborate on a project together, but it was following the disbanding of BLACKSTARKIDS, including former member Deiondre, that the artist sat with herself to rediscover her musical perspective.

“When I was working on this project, there was so much going on in my personal life and then we’d just disbanded the group, so I was just kind of lost on what’s next,” Gabe tells AFROPUNK. “I just had doubts about going as a solo artist. It’s not always easy for people who are in bands to make that transition, so just worried about that and then coming out of a label situation that didn’t go as well. So, I feel like this project in a way really healed me and Ty specifically because we got to regroup together and figure out what’s next.”

As part of BLACKSTARKIDS, Gabe rocked out as an opening act for well-known bands like The 1975 and Glass Animals, but in the aftermath of BLACKSTARKIDS’ breakup, she and Ty reconnected. But HONEYPOP couldn’t be without the artists and longtime friends going back to their roots, capturing a carefree ethos that the two shared as high schoolers.

“We were both going through the band breakup. It was kind of hard for us and so we really took that time to come back together and figure out what’s going to be next. I’ve known Ty for so long and I feel like it just makes sense that me and him really locked in on this project,” Gabe shares.

The collaborators are kismet throughout HONEYPOP, traversing different eras of alt-rap and pop while keeping focus on Gabe as the lodestar. The crisp, vintage handheld radio sound of “1999” brings out Gabe’s soulfulness and round-the-way authenticity–you can almost feel the sizzle when she raps about searing hot combs and sweating out her laid edges in the summertime. “PSA” presents Gabe’s spunkier side, where she keeps a frenetic pace as the production switches gears. On “Pep Rally,” Gabe reintroduces herself plainly: “New age icon, number one on yo list/ Pop star, rockstar and kill the rap shit.”

“I feel like a lot of the songs on ‘HONEYPOP,’ they would not make sense to do in BLACKSTARKIDS, but those are the songs I’ve been wanting to make for so long,” Gabe says. “After ‘Saturn Dayz,’ we were going to take a break initially and just say, ‘Yeah, let’s do the solo run,’ so we were already prepared to do the solo albums.”

HONEYPOP also gave Gabe a chance to broaden her style palette with unexpected looks, like mod ‘60s-inspired wigs, as seen in the “Pep Rally” video, and spiky hair in the black and white visual for “PSA.”

“With ‘PSA,’ I’ve always wanted to spike my hair. When I was in middle school, my mom was like, ‘Yeah, you’re not doing that,’” she jokes. “So it was really fun to just kind of dive into everything that I’m into. I had a very deep Hot Topic era when I was in middle school.”

With her sights on one day winning a Grammy for Album of the Year, Gabe has found inspiration in fellow rap anomaly, Doechii, who won the nod for Best Rap Album in February.

“I think it’s really inspiring and amazing and her speech was beautiful. Looking at that, it just makes me feel like we can do it, too,” Gabe gushes. “I know a lot of artists are like, ‘Don’t let this make or break you [or] make you feel like you’re doing great or not,’ but I’ve grown up watching all the award shows.”

She continues, “For people who look like me or Doechii, it’s never going to be an easy journey, but when we do get those wins and those opportunities, it’s so important and it just makes it easier for the next person.”

But while eccentric women rappers like Doechii, Doja Cat and Rico Nasty have been normalized in recent years, Gabe recalls people considering her an oddball for being an early Tyler, the Creator supporter, years before he became a two-time Grammy winner.

“Everybody thought I was the weirdest girl ever ‘cause I love Tyler, the Creator. And it’s so crazy now because like the kids absolutely love him, but [initially] they were like, ‘Girl, he’s kind of different. What’s the appeal here?’”

As for her top Tyler album, Gabe opts for his fourth studio album, which marked a turn in the rapper’s signature rebelliousness into a jazz-oriented nature.

“‘Cherry Bomb’ is so underrated because it was the introduction into everything he’s doing now. I would love to work with him one day on anything. He’s just a big inspiration to me because he was one of the first concerts I got to see where I was like, ‘I want to see this artist.’”

With HONEYPOP centering Gabe in a transitional phase, the artist seeks to be the next Black femme artist that other nonconformists can relate to. If her first mixtape is any proof, Gabe’s well on her way to being an underground rap exemplar.

“I definitely feel like growing up, I wasn’t as welcome in certain communities just because I liked things that might not have been [accepted in] my culture. I really want those girls who feel like, ‘I like this and I like that’ to feel welcomed into what I’m doing because I know what it feels like to feel outcasted, in a way.’”