The Opener: Angel Money has the best bars at the afters

The Opener is The FADER’s short-form profile series of casual conversations with exciting new artists.

For the always-outside of NYC and the always-online of just about anywhere, Angel Money can seem like an urban legend or a club demon. She’d probably agree with those labels, but she’s more of a hedonistic workaholic. After all, when you’re getting paid to party, business and pleasure tend to mix, and on March’s Contractually Blonde, Money is never too far from a new paycheck or powdery line.

Across the 18-minute EP, Money’s brattily pinched bars are totally assured: these tracks are campy and cunty for sure, but she’s clearly taking as many cues from Chicago drill and 2010s trap as she is the sleazy, sugary electropop currently en vogue. Still, an undercurrent of nervous energy runs through the EP, cheekily framed by binding paperwork dictating her appearance down to the follicle.

Songs like “Club Monsta” and “Supervillain” can feel manic or downright possessed, on the verge of a total breakdown. But when Money fully harnesses that excessive energy — as on the stratospheric “All Night,” featuring Angel Emoji of the Frost Children — her nonstop lifestyle starts to feel endearing, not (just) exhausting.

The FADER caught up with Angel Money over email to chat about the best concert she’s ever seen, the recipe for a perfect afternoon, and her favorite (legal) purchase for less than $100.

Explain a lyric of yours that people misunderstand.
People always get confused by "Tr*nnies in Paris" - it starts off with "so naked in the street popo tryna fine me" - because in Paris they actually do try and fine you if they can see your tits or just decide you look too whorish... a bunch of girls I know have been fined and they tried to get me in Paris Airport - thankfully I have Jedi mind powers over law enforcement globally.

What’s a song you’d want to remix and why?
I really want to keep remixing Rasheeda songs - "Tr*nnies in Paris" was inspired by her "Bitches in Paris" remix. I keep playing with the idea of flipping "Pink Pussy" into "Pink Tusi;" DJ Thank You and I just cut "All Of The Lines." I also really want to do a girl's version of “You Said” by Young Thug.

What’s the coolest thing to do in your hometown?
Hit the beach! When I was growing up my hometown was called “Hollywood East” because it was the second biggest american filming destination. The state fucked it up so now Wilmington is just a weird little oasis for celebrities and the elite to buy lowkey homes on one of the private beaches. We used to pile onto any boat we could get our hands on and sneak onto Figure 8 or another of the owner-only beaches and just lay out for days.

What was the first album you bought?
I wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music (pentecostal pastor parents).the first album I bought was Superchick Karaoke Superstar. A really strange christian rock band fronted by this glamorous blonde kind of styled after Gwen Stefani. I always found it so interesting how much of contemporary Christian music is just recreations of secular culture reformulated with vaguely born again content. The first secular album I bought was Lana Del Rey Born To Die, and it immediately gave me multiple personality disorders. Has an album changed the landscape of the music industry quite like that since? What an incredible fucking album.

When you’re not making music, how do you spend your free time?
Bodyhacking, hypnotizing members of elite society, laying on white sand beaches, attempting to infiltrate secret organizations.

What’s the best thing you’ve bought for $100 or less?
Legally I shouldn’t say…. so I’m gonna go with Selank, which is an incredible anxiolytic nootropic I've been using. I can't stop evangelizing about it to everyone I know.

Tell us about your favorite accessory.
My custom steel yen chain that I made like five years ago - I'm currently trying to have it remade in platinum.

Best advice you’ve gotten:
To free associate journal for twenty minutes as soon as you wake up. Also to put a stimulant line or pill on your alarm clock.

Worst advice you’ve gotten:
"You should really consider getting into NFTs"

What was the last movie you watched?
When DJ Thank You and I began the mixtape we’re wrapping up now, we were looking for inspiration, and held a double feature of Sin City and Repo: The Genetic Opera. Both incredible films - heavily stylized which is my taste, personally. Captivatingly perverse - both show theme park versions of some of the darkest sides of the human condition.

What’s a motto you think everyone should live by?
I can’t pick so I’ll give you three of my favorites:
"Find out who you are and do it on purpose" - Dolly Parton
"There's no need to fear or hope, but only to look for new weapons." - Gilles Deleuze
“The only person I'm in competition with is myself. That's to be a better, and bigger me every single day.” - Trina

What’s the ideal level of fame?
I’m a famewhore – I want as much as I can get. I’m the firstborn child of the pastor of a huge spirit-filled church in the south, and there was a prophecy over my birth that I’d become a prophet. Imagine being raised that way – I have a very high tolerance for attention.

Describe your perfect afternoon.
Years ago I actually developed what I called “perfect day protocol” for emergency situations which goes as follows: oxytocin injection, sex, blunt after UV bed for 7 minutes, followed by 30 minute hot stone massage, more sex followed by 1 hour sensory deprivation tank, followed by jewelry shopping, more sex followed by a very bloody steak with my inner circle, followed by DJ set or performance and sex in the greenroom.

What’s something you’re looking forward to?
My upcoming mixtape Queenpin. It’s so different from Contractually Blonde (my first EP) – darker, more manic and confessional. I’m really excited for everyone to hear it.

Describe the best concert you’ve attended.
Gunna at Knockdown Center in 2019 on Thanksgiving Day. My man at the time took me and put me on his shoulders and we had so much fun! Gunna brought out what felt like every rapper in New York, including Chinese Kitty who was maybe the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in person. It was a giant show but felt so intimate and electric in a way I rarely experience.

What’s the last thing you wrote in your notes app?
My most recent note is a stack of peptides and nootropics I designed for a friend going through hell, and the rest of the note is just lyrics from a session this week. I can’t leak it all but the opening line: "polar bear vendors in my phone - Fuck PETA, I rock ivory bone."