“I was like, Light this bitch up.”
Fetish is recalling shooting the inferno-like video for “FILTHY,” the new SIIICKBRAIN track she’s featured on that's being released today, April 29. In the video, there's a wall of fire so fearsome that I assumed it was VFX when I watched it. But no, the two rapped their titularly nasty verses in front of real pyrotechnics in the Los Angeles river. The video stunt was warranted. The song, a cacophony of engine screeches, chanted one liners and pure bass, is the musical equivalent of a speaker set aflame.
Its riotous energy also reflects the two artists’ relationship, one filled with energy and delightful chaos. North Carolina-born SIIICKBRAIN, who merges the world of rock, rap, and hard-edged pop, is expanding her southern gothic sonic world on the forthcoming album, HOUNDSTOOTH, out June 3. Fetish, who gained global looks as the only feature on Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal, has established her own fast lane as a raunchy purveyor of woozy club rap. The two are also close friends.
“It feels like talking to another version of myself,” SIIICKBRAIN says of hanging out with Fetish, before Fetish adds a caveat: “I guess I'm a little more crazy.”
Watch the video for "FILTHY" above and read a conversation between the two Southern-born artists about their chemistry, Fetish’s childhood audition for America’s Got Talent, and almost burning their wigs during the shoot for “FILTHY.”
Image from SIIICKBRAIN and Fetish's video for "Flithy"
The FADER: Were you friends before working together? How did you link up here?
SIIICKBRAIN: We followed each other. We hadn't hung out.
Fetish: I was living in Atlanta at the time. We started talking and she sent me an open verse and I was like, "Oh, that's really cool." I just did it the same day. Now we both live in LA now, we're really close.
SIIICKBRAIN: My gal. I love how you brought such a different vibe to the song. The style of writing that you have is like so fire and so off the cuff. When I write I'm like a little bit more of an over thinker.
Fetish: You're very poetic. You use a lot of analogies and shit. I’m very straightforward.
What do you both look for in a collaborator, or rather don't look for in a collaborator?
Fetish: I don't look for meN. I guess straight men. I just look for similarities, but not so similar where it makes too much sense, because I do like juxtaposition. [If they’re too similar] I’d just collab with my fucking self.
Do you guys have similar style inspirations?
Fetish: I'm not a fashion girly. I just throw shit on and it happens to look fucking cool. I don't know anything about fashion. But we were talking and [Siiickbrain] was wearing these slippers. I was like, "Oh, I have the same slippers." And she was like, "Oh yeah, I think all the same brands send us shit.”
SIIICKBRAIN: We live in that same alternative aesthetic vibe. We both are covered in tattoos and are artsy.
What were both of your first tattoos?
Fetish: [Mine] is so corny [laughs]. I was literally 18. [Fetish shows a rose tattoo on her forearm]. I got it because my mom pissed me off so bad. I was 18 and when she was asleep, I took her car to get a tattoo. I didn’t even have my license.
SIIICKBRAIN: Mine was a horseshoe on the back of my neck. I had hair at the time and I could cover it up, because my family was very not into tattoos.
Fetish: We both grew up on the farm.
SIIICKBRAIN: We're both from the south also.
Where did you both move after the farm?
Fetish: I went to the closest city to me. I went to Atlanta. I went for cosmetology school and then I went to New York.
SIIICKBRAIN: Did you really? I left North Carolina, moved to New York, and went to makeup school. I feel like I'm learning so much about you.
Did you have similar pathways towards music?
Fetish: I did talent shows my whole life. My mom took me to America's Got Talent, but I sucked!
SIIICKBRAIN: Were you on TV?
Fetish: No, because I sucked! They didn’t want to send me to the next round.
SIIICKBRAIN: Did you rap?
Fetish: No, I was country singing.
SIIICKBRAIN: That's so cute.
Fetish: It was cute, but it wasn't. You know how your mom is always going to believe in you? She couldn't see that I sucked.
SIIICKBRAIN: I always wanted to do music. I had really bad anxiety and agoraphobia, so it seemed really farfetched. Whenever I finally got the courage to tell people I wanted to do music, they would low-key laugh in my face. I didn't even start until 2020 when my best friend overdosed. My best friend died and then I was like, "Holy shit, life is so short. I should just make music."
Can you talk to me a little bit about shooting this crazy video? What was the day like?
SIIICKBRAIN: I had shot "Murky Water," the other music video, and it was literally in the rain, freezing cold. It was a really long day. We shot "FILTHY" right after. So I was like, "Holy f—ing s— this is crazy." We were doing it into the night. And we had to drive through the fucking L.A. River. And it actually had water in it at this time, so that was crazy.
Fetish: She was like, "If they fuck my car up..."
SIIICKBRAIN: I was really scared. The water was really dark. I couldn't see how deep it was. I was just blindly driving through and I was like, Holy shit. We're going to die. Then the day that we were doing the car stuff, it was so fun. I feel like you were just having a fun time.
Fetish: I was standing on my head busting this p*ssy open. I had underwear on. [Laughs.]
Was the fire in the video real?
SIIICKBRAIN: Yes.
Fetish: They poured it in a line. It was cold as fuck so it was nice.
SIIICKBRAIN: I had no idea that that's what was about to happen. The directors were like, "Oh, we have this idea for this fire thing." I was thinking we’d do VFX. but they were like, "We have this idea."
Fetish: I thought they just meant they had a “fire idea,” not a literal fire idea.
SIIICKBRAIN: I'm so used to coming up with every idea for a video. It was refreshing working with these guys because I really trusted them. The L.A. River was literally next to the water on a slant so none of the fire was going to go anywhere. The directors were like, "Okay, just start performing," and I didn't know that they were just going to throw gasoline on the floor and light it on fire. They were like, "Keep performing.” It was a huge wall of fire.
Fetish: I was really scared that my wig was going to burn up. I was like, "Fuck it."
