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Stories about female musicians and the music they make.
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00:08We don't think about being women, doing stuff differently, we just do it because we've done
00:13this our entire lives. Sometimes people will say, so who produced that track? That guy? And it's,
00:20no, we did that. They may think someone else had to pay for us to be in this city and
00:26record. No,
00:26we paid for that ourselves with our savings. Our music is not like, we are girls and we are
00:35powerful, yeah. It's like, okay, these are black women doing something cool. I'm inspired by it.
01:02My name is Charlie. My name is Margo. And together we are Chargo. Spirit fingers.
01:19The way that Charlie and I met, I was working in Boston. I just graduated from school. I have the
01:24typical office job that they tell you to get me and graduate. And I see this girl on the corner
01:32with a blonde mohawk and like red cowboy boots and she's playing classical music.
01:38And I say, I played the viola. Do you want to play together sometime? And she's like, hey girl.
01:44The next day we went and played on the same street corner. Automatically people stopped. A crowd formed.
01:51People are coming up to us like, hey, are you a band? And that's how we knew, let's just do
01:57it.
02:04One of the best experiences we've had in the subway. This woman, she's like, I'm getting ready
02:09to have brain surgery. I want to put your CD in before I go under because your music was so
02:15inspiring.
02:18And I want that to be potentially, I'm sorry. Potentially the last thing that I hear
02:27before I go into the surgery, if I don't make it out. She was like, I was so inspired by
02:30your music
02:31and so inspired by your energy that that's the sound I want to hear.
02:39Those are the moments where you're like, okay, you know what? That inspiration that you can give
02:43people where they're really that touch is worth it. So some of the artists we've collaborated with
02:52are really cool. First was Kendrick Lamar before any lyrics were written to just don't kill my vibe.
02:58And then that led to writing all over Schoolboy Q's album. And then that led to writing on J. Cole's
03:05album.
03:05We get to play at lots of museums, like the Brooklyn Museum, the MoMA.
03:10We can blend what we do classically with some of the new and with some of the fun stuff that's
03:14happening
03:15right now. This is the first pass. This is the first pass.
03:18Drum roll, please.
03:33I met Chargo at South by Southwest and we met on this rooftop. They were dancing and being Chargo,
03:39you know? They have enough confidence in themselves to do whatever they want to do.
03:45They instill that same confidence in everyone around them.
03:55That is dope. That is going to go so hard on the project.
04:08I understand that by being brown women and doing what we do, it's beautiful because I know that just
04:15visually that creates something for people.
04:27And I used to kind of like shy away from it because I'm just like, hey, just listen to my
04:31music.
04:31It's not about all this political stuff. But I understand that it's powerful and I appreciate
04:36that and I embrace it. And it just makes me want to keep doing what I'm doing so that people
04:40can like,
04:41A, enjoy the music. I enjoy making the music, but also so that I can continue to inspire.
04:47You make me want to throw my paper out the window. Call Sally Mae, let the hell know.
04:55That I ain't never gonna pay my college loans. Throw my paper out the window. Call Sally Mae, let the
05:02hell know.
05:05I ain't never gonna pay my college loans.
05:07Call Sally Mae, let the hell know. Call Sally Mae, let the hell know.
05:26We started the band just because of music, but suddenly it was an issue that we were girls.
05:35Like the first meeting we had with our manager, we want to like pretend we're boys and the way we're
05:39going to dress and the way we're going to talk. Like seriously, like for one year we were like kind
05:43of lying, like pretending like that was a subject we could avoid. Like now we feel feminist.
05:52In the way to the music, you gotta fight and we totally feel like fighters.
05:57This medic is gonna show you how to fight for more.
06:17Let's go!
06:26Yes, so we are Heinz. We come from Madrid.
06:42The most secrets about secrets, Heinz.
06:47Juan, Spanish people, chocolates.
06:50Super secret, no one knows that.
06:52We fell in love with the sensation of playing.
06:58We've been learning exactly by playing. I think that's also like a cool thing that makes like
07:03our music a little bit weird. We don't know any scales, so it was like bing, bong, bong, bing, bing.
07:09Oh, that sounds good.
07:13We're friends. We're like, I don't think you can do that. You have like four different
07:18tempos in this song. And like, that's so weird. And we're like, it's not your song, dude. It's my
07:23song. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it this way. And I, I really like it.
07:39Everyone liking it. That was like the incredibly weird and amazing part for us.
07:44And then we started having these huge tours like Australia, America, Europe.
07:57Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:04We never have one but each. This is gonna feel like this is seriously the first time in this
08:09tour we don't share beliefs. I think I must finish. I think.
08:14This is my cool pyjama and I've actually worn it on stage a couple of times.
08:18Have you ever kissed a girl?
08:20I don't think that's mine.
08:21I don't know.
08:22I don't know.
08:23Twin life gives you this feeling of tonight is your last time in the city ever.
08:29Oh, how it's life.
08:31I'm so tired, but it's 11.30, so we stay and then it's for you.
08:49Here you go.
08:49I thought you guys were so good.
08:51Thanks so much.
08:51I love your screen.
08:52Yeah.
08:57In Spain, in music, being a girl is still like, oh, you are the girlfriend of this musician
09:04or you are cute. Like they always like search for our vision that we are where we are because
09:11of a man.
09:12We've cried so many times because of comments. We're not pretending to be the queens of the
09:17world and to do music that everyone loves. We're just doing what we like.
09:21We have comments like, never girls this ugly has gone so far.
09:28Leave us alone. Why do you care? Why do you care? And why do you have to be mean
09:33and to try and hurt us?
09:35It took like one year of playing until someone, Carlota, were as girly because we were girls
09:40and we didn't want to be too girly on stage and give this example to other girls and the men
09:45seeing us because of the legs. Like, you know what I mean? So much overthinking. I just like,
09:49she wears skirts. She feels good on it. That's it.
09:52We still record every single writing day or moment.
09:58I want you to call me by my name when I'm lying on your bed.
10:17Music is just a beautiful thing that makes you feel things for free.
10:22It's amazing. This job is amazing.
10:28We just got to keep on working to get to another level.
10:49I kind of just always knew that I'd fall into music and I'd fall into the New York scene.
10:54I just always try to keep the gutter alive in me. I don't think I've ever been assimilated in my
10:59life.
10:59I'm a very eloquent, well-spoken, educated woman. I never changed my voice for nobody
11:05because I never wanted to, because I knew that my culture was special.
11:21My name is Destiny Nicole and I'm from New York City. But some people may know me as Princess Nokia.
11:39I'm a strong woman of color. I think underneath every strong woman of color is a feminist.
11:45Whether they identify with that or not, they are feminists, they are strong women.
11:52I'm from the heart of New York City, East Harlem and the Lower East Side.
11:57And I've lived in and out of the Bronx all of my life.
12:04Growing up in New York City is like a movie.
12:08I'm really talking about a city that lives and breathes art and culture. I've never quite experienced
12:15anywhere else. So my true New York experience is quite authentic because from the age of five
12:22years old, I've just been ripping and running the city.
12:26No, actually, that didn't even...
12:30Oh, it's a party over there. She's like, it's a party for twin invited.
12:33Arafa's my best friend. She takes care of me. She's the glue that holds me together, really.
12:44And Robot is my other best friend. I've known him since I was 17 years old.
12:51He is my voice of reason. He reminds me of why I do this in the first place.
12:57Destiny could have easily been an airhead and been like, you know, like, brown girl,
13:02I'm beautiful. Get into my music. But she doesn't. She's aware.
13:05Don't never let a man belittle you or tell you you're nothing, because you are everything.
13:17You know, one day I feel real tomboy, very New York, very raver, you know, very teenager,
13:22very low maintenance. One day I'll feel very rustic and native, and I'll put my hair in braids,
13:29and I'll put feathers in my hair. I'm black and native. I like really incorporating those cultures
13:33into my style because they're beautiful cultures. They're beautiful styles. When I look at myself,
13:39I don't see myself as just a pretty girl. I don't see myself as just a brown girl. I see,
13:45I see, like,
13:47the blood literally splitting into all these different lines of people and heritage.
13:58But it's good!
14:05That was great.
14:06Feeling it?
14:06Yeah, that was amazing.
14:08Want to write something to that?
14:09Yeah, I would love to.
14:14I like this too.
14:16She's a really talented writer. She's focused. She has an appeal. I mean, she's, you know,
14:20she definitely, like, walks into a room. People notice her. You know, she radiates.
14:24I just make music to fight being an outcast. I always felt like an outcast. Even in music now,
14:31I still feel like an outcast.
14:39I never came into this looking for a deal or looking to be someone popular. I came into this
14:46because people like me, they're not appreciated. I mean, people don't love you unless you're cool.
14:52So I just wanted to be the epitome of not cool and make that cool.
14:57With my loo, he's in my fat belly. My loo, he's in my fat belly. My loo, he's in my
15:01fat belly.
15:03I really hope that what girls convey from my music or from my message or from my speech
15:10or even from my actions is that it is okay to be unapologetic as long as you do it with
15:16dignity.
15:16Who that? Who that? Who that? Princess Nokia, baby fat. I be where the ladies at. Who know how to
15:23shake it fast.
15:24We gon' spit that brazy trap. You know that I'll take it back. I'm spittin' the endless mess.
15:28Yeah, ho!