As the frontwoman of Paulus Music, an independent Dominican record label that houses trap, música urbana and dembow artists, rapper Tokischa is taking the reins on sex-positive music and women empowerment.

Once known for stoner-friendly music, especially on 2018 breakout track “Que Viva”, Tokischa recently eschewed weed and recreational drugs for a more holistic approach. Refraining from the use of hallucinations, the liveliness of Tokischa’s music hasn’t changed as she’s gained a cult-following on OnlyFans for her party girl antics and NSFW appeal.

As fans anticipate her long-awaited debut album, Tokischa has dropped surprise singles like the playful “Tukuntazo” alongside Haraca Kiko and El Cherry Scom and sultry girl power anthem “Yo No Me Voy Acostar” with Yailin la Mas and La Perversa. Praised by Bad Bunny, Ozuna and Anuel AA, Tokischa’s music hasn’t come without public backlash for its sexual nature and the rawness of drug use. “I’m a real person, I talk truth. Truth has been a bad thing since Jesus,” Tokischa tells us.

I don’t label myself, I’m just human.

Crediting her style to a punk-rock influence, Tokischa stands unashamed in her candor with a fearlessness made clear in her persona and music. Continuing to push the gritty energy of #trapterretre, Tokischa spoke with Remezcla about her response to critics, not labeling herself, her decision to stop smoking and more.

This interview has been lightly edited & condensed for clarity purposes.

There’s a lot of debate about your lyrics. Has that affected your songwriting process?

Not really—actually, what’s stopped me from writing a bit [are] the shows. I’ve been getting a lot of shows and that’s the only thing that’s holding my creativity a bit. No commentary from an outsider is going to make me want to change my lyrics, my expression.

How are you able to balance shows with self-care?

I was starving last night. Sometimes I don’t bring food for the road, so that’s the only thing that makes me sick. It’s a little frustrating that we have to be driving for so long; I get hungry every two hours. [laughs] Besides that, I have a healthy life. I don’t drink sodas, I just drink juices. Everything [is] home-cooked and I drink a lot of tea.

More artists are using OnlyFans, including yourself. How has the platform benefitted you?

I started to do OnlyFans in 2019 and it was a really hard time for me because music was not making any money yet. I just opened the OnlyFans to post stuff—my Instagram was always getting taken down because I always like to post hot stuff. I figured that I could make money with that and some people came and helped me [with OnlyFans]. It helped me a lot because it helped me invest in music. I’m still making money with OnlyFans and I like to make hot content because I’m a hot girl. I can express that other side of me with no restrictions and that’s exciting. I’m getting paid for it, too? That’s great.

As you’ve explored more of your sexuality, what have you learned about yourself?

I’ve always been a very sexual girl and I knew that I liked girls since I was little. My first kiss was with a girl and I was seven or eight years old. I love men, too and I prefer men. I like to play a lot—I love sex. It’s very funny and a natural thing. Making love is deep and the feelings are different, the things with girls are hot shit. [laughs] I don’t label myself, I’m just human.

I like to make hot content because I’m a hot girl.

As someone from the Dominican Republic, what are your thoughts on demands for Santo Domingo to end the abortion ban?

I have a voice and I can use my platform to support this, but at the same time, [it’s] not the exact moment to do it—something holds me back. I really don’t understand why, because women should be free to do whatever they want with their body. If you don’t want to have a baby, you should be allowed [not] to do it.

I’ve had friends who have careers and they can’t stop their career just to have a baby, although it sounds really harsh. Women like to prepare themselves for stuff. Having a baby is a big responsibility and if you don’t have what it takes, you should not be forced to do it.

When did you know you found your purpose as an artist?

I’ve been awakened about what I wanted since I was a little girl, I knew I was going to be an artist. At the time, I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I was just like, ‘I’m going to prepare myself for modeling, acting, dancing.’ I never thought that I would be a singer, because I didn’t know I had that voice. I was always looking for art in my life, [whether it was] writing or drawings.

When I decided to work and be independent, I started to meet people. The first thing I did was [model] for photographers and that’s how I met Raymi. He was doing a short film and then a friend was like ‘This girl has good performance [skills], you should hook her up.’ That’s when [Raymi] told me, ‘You should sing, I could support you. Let’s just go to a studio, make a song and see how it goes.’ Since then, we haven’t stopped. That art that I always knew that I had took form.

Weed used to be a part of your creative process. Why did you decide to stop smoking?

I started smoking when I was 16 and then I started to do other drugs–it was a process. I had a lot of fun, I’m not going to say that it was bad. Then, I got to a point where I was high all the time. On my last trip, I thought, ‘Man, smoking every day is not healthy.’ Getting high, your mind gets to see things from a different perspective that you could not [experience] sober.

I used to do a lot of LSD and even though I learned a lot about nature–you get to see life from a different vision–but at the end of the day, it’s a drug. It’s doing something on your brain and it’s doing something on your body and you’re getting used to it. When I started smoking, I never stopped until the day that I said ‘Okay, I want to be sober.’

I had a lot of fun smoking… but [they’re] just memories now.

I’ve been a year sober now—I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t do anything else. I just figured that it’s more healthy for my body, for my mind, for my spirit to be sober. [I’m] just using what is natural, like fruits, food, meat, juices, tea—I’m really thankful [for] that. I had a lot of fun smoking, I had a lot of lyrics from it, I love the experiences from all of that, but [they’re] just memories now.

What advice do you have for women who lack self-confidence?

We’re all so beautiful. The body, the face, the hair, you can fix it. You have the freedom to do anything you want, you just have to get creative and find what things make you feel beautiful. It’s just a way of thinking, it’s just a way of seeing yourself. When you see the beauty in life, then you’re like ‘Man, I’m beautiful!’ It’s just a decision, like ‘I deserve to love myself, I’m the owner of my body, I’m the owner of my life. I’m the one who makes my life better for myself.’

What’s the vision for your upcoming album?

I have a vision for my album, but not quite yet, because we have a lot of work to do before that, but it’s going to be amazing. I’m going to put all of my old songs that have not been released, because they’re a part of me that has been saved for later. The Tokischa that people are seeing now is very different from two years ago, and all these new [fans] don’t know that part of me. When I drop an album, I want to bring all that from the past because she’s got a lot to say.