It’s been a year since Rubi Rose released her empowering single “Big Mouth.” Along her journey since signing to HitCo, she has released a handful of buzzing singles such as “Hit Yo Dance,” “Pretty MF” and more recently, “He In His Feelings.” Nevertheless, “Big Mouth,” which may be her biggest hit to date, is a true-to-life experience of her dealing with big mouth rappers who thought they could bury her confidence and sexual swagger in the sand.
Jokes on them, though. Rubi joined OnlyFans this year and earned $100,000 in one day, quieting everyone who had something to say about the way she moves. Even before then, the rapper was always “having thangs.” As the motto goes, “Why spend mine, when I can spend yours?”
The potent energy that Cardi B‘s soon-to-be No. 1 hit single “WAP” featuring Megan Thee Stallion exudes is likely why the hitmaker wanted Rubi in the music video to begin with. In it, the recent Georgia State graduate is poised, dressed in an all-red PVC outfit paired with thigh-high boots and a long ponytail. Besides her stunning looks, she spits with contralto lyricism and fortitude that would be inspiring to any woman seeking to take control of their own narrative. While some men and women hate this type of spirit in women who they feel should act a certain way, Rubi is breaking all the rules and standing tall on her own.
When I pulled up on Rubi at HitCo, she had just finished participating in an interview with Cardi B, Mulatto, Sukihana for Apple Music discussing women in rap ahead of the Grammy Award-winning rap star releasing “WAP.” During our conversation, Rubi talked about her experience of navigating the music industry as a woman, dealing with men, and how she ran it up on OnlyFans for $100,000.
I know you made a hundred racks on OnlyFans in a day and then you gave your mom 50 racks, right?
For my mom’s birthday. She just turned 50 so I gave her 50 bands.
How did that feel?
Good. Very fulfilling, as a daughter, making my mom proud. And just taking stress off of her because I know, who wouldn’t take the money?
Was that your first time being able to do something like that for her?
Last year, I gave her 10 racks right after I got signed but this is the most I’ve done for my mom. It’s a good feeling to be able to do for my mom, and she knows now that I wasn’t just a hoe on Instagram. I was really working towards something.
Did she think that?
Of course. My mom’s African and people would always go back to her and tell her, “Your daughter is on the internet…” Just doing whatever. But now she gets it. She supports the OnlyFans, she understands what I’m doing, how I’m not putting pussy on it. She knows what I’m doing, so she’s in full support of my career.
So, in the beginning it was probably a little difficult. But you were still in school, so did that help?
We were cool, but my mom and I… I don’t know how to say this. Our relationship got better after I got signed. I don’t want to say it was the money, but just the validation of me being signed to a label and the bigger picture. She loved me of course, because I was in school, but we just bumped heads up until the day I got signed.
Are you still in school or have you graduated?
I just graduated, this May.
Congratulations.
Thanks, girl.
How was that during COVID, how did that process go?
It was cool, but not as special because there was no ceremony. We got our gowns and caps. I still haven’t done a shoot yet, but it’s cool. It’s not as big. My whole family from Africa was going to come out. There might’ve been some type of virtual ceremony, but they did mail out the thing with everybody’s names on it though.
You’re from Kentucky, right?
Yeah, Lexington.
Then you moved to the South and you still live there. You still live in Atlanta?
I do currently, yeah.
But you spend some time in LA. So, there’s a big difference between people in the South and L.A. So, how has that adjustment been for you?
I adjust and adapt to the types of people that I’m around. I used to live in Lexington, predominantly Caucasian, Atlanta, predominantly Black, then coming to LA. It’s just, it’s very bougie, exclusive, people are haughty, but it’s cool. L.A. is a whole different vibe and brings something different than Atlanta, but it wasn’t too hard to adjust because I hang around the same people, really.
Did you always want to rap?
Yes, girl. I don’t know, not necessarily rap, just something in music. I thought I could sing, I can’t. I just wanted to do something in the entertainment industry.
For you as a woman, and you’re very beautiful so I know you probably have hella dudes in your DMs, how does dating work for you or the experience for women in the music industry as a whole?
The same way it works for men in rap, but it’s obviously sometimes a struggle. Well not a struggle, because I’m not focused on finding a man, because actually I have man.
Is it DDG?
Yeah but there’s always just this stigma you have being a sexy girl on the internet, so there’ll be the n****s who are insecure and can’t handle that, then there’s the n****s that love it. But just to be careful because they can still post you, that’s something I have to be careful of, is this exclusive.
People using you for clout, basically.
It is crazy because with guys because you wouldn’t expect it from them. They still be on that weird shit.
They date around and date whoever. People make jokes about some rappers having all these kids and it’s celebrated, but if a girl does that…
Girl is a whore, slut-shamed, all that.
Besides that, just in your career, what kind of struggles have you encountered as a woman?
Just wanting to be taken serious and guys telling you they want to work with you, and then really just are on a whole bait and switch. You’d be on a whole different time. Just being confident in yourself as a woman, just doing what you want to do. It’s just the normal struggles.
I do want to talk more about the OnlyFans. So, just tell me about the day where you were just like, “Fuck it. I’m going to make an OnlyFans.”
So, listen girl. DDG made one first. Right?
Okay.
My n**** made bank off this. He’s big on YouTube, so he teaches people how to monetize on YouTube and make money off of it. He just was telling me, “Just make one. Just see. Just make one.” And he was like, “So what if everybody calls you a ho? You’re already getting called a ho.” And I just, I made one. I put literally a picture I posted on Instagram and my shit just… Honestly, people call me a ho regardless, and I only post shit I’d post on Instagram, literally.
Yeah. I saw one picture where it looked like somebody took a screenshot…
I photoshopped it.
Finessed.
I photoshopped it. Honestly, it’s marketing. I never said I was going to get butt naked on it, so if y’all are paying, if y’all want to subscribe. Some of it is exclusive. They’re not pictures that I’d post on Instagram, but it’s nothing nude. I think girls should be able to do whatever they want to do. I think guys are just mad because they can’t do it and run it up like that.
Yeah, they can’t. Also, I want to talk about you getting the 100,000 dollars. Beyonce said, “The best revenge is your paper” and people were clowning you at one point because of the flight situation. Do you feel like you really shut people up with that?
I think it did something for me. For the record, I did have money before, this was just icing on the cake, but it was cool that the public got to see that I got this much money, because really if you get money, n****s respect you. So many n****s in the industry called me congratulating me and thought that it was just so cool. Honestly getting money is your best revenge, definitely.
Take me back to the day when you had your first conversation with L.A. Reid, before you signed.
I dropped “Big Mouth” on DistroKid. Then literally two days later, I got a call and I came to LA. Then I was sat in that room over there and they replayed “Big Mouth” 30 times and I performed it 30 times. He just said he loved me, and that just made me feel so happy and good about myself, that somebody with that type of record fucks with me that hard, and when he said he believes in me like that.
He’s a legend. So wait, you put the song on and then two days later you got a call?
Literally sis, my life changed in a matter of days.
I do want to talk about your voice because you’re really small, but your rap voice is very-
Deep?
Yeah. So was that like natural for you, or was somebody in the studio coaching you a little bit?
Well, really with “Big Mouth,” it’s just natural, but now I’ve realized people like when I do a deeper tone, so I try to give the people what they want.
What are you working on now?
I’m about to put out an album, hopefully by the end of the next month. I’m just trying to finish all the… I want to put out videos for all of them. But, and then… Sorry. I’ll be releasing a video for my song “He In His Feelings” that I just dropped. Music video’s going to drop next week, so I’m excited [Editor’s Note: The video for “He In His Feelings” releases Wednesday, August 12]. I got a whole project and I’m just happy to start putting out music consistently.
How far along are you in finishing the project?
The project is done. The songs are done. The track list is done. It’s just visuals. Because I think as big as I am with my sound and my voice, I know that my visuals bring a lot and bring the songs to life, so I try to incorporate that with my music.
