It’s not every day you catch the attention of Australian pop star Iggy Azalea.
Luckily for Stini, the model turned singer swooned Iggy within their first meeting. Not only was Stini featured on her highly-anticipated album In My Defense, but she’s also the first artist to sign to her Bad Dreams imprint (with EMPIRE).
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In regards to her own artistry, the Denmark-born, Indiana-raised singer-songwriter has plenty of records in the vault. While the waiting game ain’t no joke, she’s excited as hell to release her debut single “Live Forever.”
AllHipHop: Did you always want to be a singer?
Stini: I always had a feeling for some reason I was gonna be an artist. My sister and I would always joke about it before I ever really did music, because I was in choir and played a lot of instruments growing up. I never thought it would be an option for me to be an artist, then I just did it one day and it made sense.
AllHipHop: Talk about linking with Iggy Azalea on “Big Bag.”
Stini: I signed with EMPIRE and Iggy in December, and she’s just been a big help to me. She’s really cool to talk to, she gives me good advice. I actually recorded that song and sent it to her. She’s like “oh yeah this is fire, I want this on my album.”
Then she sent me back a version with her verse on it, her on the hook then me on the second verse. I’m like “this is fire, let’s just do it.” And she did it. It was such a good move for me, I was so excited for that.
AllHipHop: How did you guys link initially?
Stini: I met her in the studio with the producer I used to work with. I played her some songs and she really liked them. I was so intimidated at first because she was staring straight ahead, I’m like “what the f##k, she doesn’t f##k with me.” [chuckles] I just kept playing the music and she told the producer later on she wanted to jump on one of the songs.
She did but the song never came out because I don’t work with that producer anymore. That’s how I met her, then we kept in contact. Ended up linking later on.
Stini: Makes me feel like I’m actually making moves because I’ve been doing it for 3 years now. Now I’m like “alright, it’s for real.” It makes me feel I’m getting recognized for what I want to be recognized for.
She’s such a good role model in the industry because she’s a woman who just hasn’t given up. She’s still out there making her money. That’s fire she supports me and wants to help me out, she’s super dope to talk to for real.
AllHipHop: Talk about Kamaiyah & Swae Lee being your favorite artists.
Stini: I’ve f##ked with Kamaiyah since 2016. I’ve never really liked female rappers, I’ve just always listened to guys.
She was the first girl that made me think “oh this s##t’s fire.” Just the way she is on the track, she’s just so laidback and chill. She’s kind of boy-ish but not too boy-ish, she’s fire.
Swae Lee, his melodies are just fire. At this point on every time I go into the studio, I’m like “is this something Swae Lee would do? Would he think of this s##t?” Because I just love his melodies. Definitely inspired by them both.
AllHipHop: What’s a normal day in the life? Walk us through.
Stini: Wake up, do some push-ups.
AllHipHop: I tried doing that, it’s hard!
Stini: It’s so hard. I literally couldn’t do any in the beginning but I kept doing it, and now I can do it. I mean, try to go to the gym. I usually work on some lyrics. I’ve been going through my mixes a lot lately trying to fix little things, take care of emails, this that. I’ve been chilling a lot lately really, playing video games, going to castings. I usually always cook dinner, always cook food at home.
AllHipHop: What are you cooking?
Stini: Everything. I make everything for real: tacos, lasagna, everything.
Moriah (A&R): “Stini surprise“ because even she doesn’t know what it’s going to taste like, she just knows it’s gonna be bomb.
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Stini: Everything is fire. I don’t even follow recipes, I just know. [laughs]
AllHipHop: Talk about the interim between waiting to drop new music.
Stini: Sheesh. [chuckles] It’s been hard. It’s been a lot of tests for me mentally because I just sit with my music for so long. I don’t like playing it for a lot of people, I play for people I trust and people who are close to me. I play it for more people now, but I sit with it mostly myself and my close friends. Then I might start to doubt myself, all that s##t. But you just gotta be like “I f##k with it, so other people gotta f##k with it.