Billyracxx is a musician, visual artist and creative director from Orlando, Florida by way if Houston, Texas. Since the release of his debut album Religion in 2019, he has built a body of work defined by bold aesthetics, genre refusal, and a deep commitment to world-building. His projects move fluidly between sound, image, fashion, and performance, unfolding less like traditional releases and more like environments that invite people in.
Music is only one of the entry points.Visuals, clothes, performance, attitude all carry the same weight.
We met in Paris during fashion week and bonded immediately. What should have been a quick meeting stretched into hours of spiralling conversations. Ideas kept unfolding. Future projects, collaborations, worlds still forming. At the time, Billy was deep in the process of shaping his next album, and everything felt raw, open, in motion.
At the center of this universe is Minzly, creative partner, garment designer, stylist, and image maker. She does not simply dress Billyracxx. She helps give physical form to the ideas, characters, and energy behind the work. Through costume, performance, and instinct, Minzly plays a crucial role in shaping a presence that moves between stage, street, and image.
Out of those Paris conversations came this interview. A way to slow things down and look more closely at what Billy and Minzly are building together, how their worlds overlap, and what comes next.
Billyracxx
Billy, you’ve made your mark in the music world with your edgy tracks and bold visuals. You write, direct, and oversee the creative vision for all your projects. Your first album, Religion, came out in 2019. Can you take us back and tell us how it all started for you?
Wow, that super crazy that you decided to start there. At that point in my life, I was trying to prove everything to myself. I had just linked up with this budding producer named Chasethemoney, who is now multi-platinum. And I wanted to unapologetically kick through some doors with this crazy sound. Things were sort of clicking at that time, but I was still dealing with a lot of normal life setbacks. This was before I had evolved into the cult leader that I am today. I kept trying to remind myself that I had something that was generational. So I recreated a whole new approach to building influence and climbing the ranks in this industry. That would be through violently and rigorously building a character that's so gigantic, that every artist, except, curator, creative, influencer, tastemaker, or fan in the music industry would have to see at some point through one of the many mediums out there in the world. I wouldn’t rely on politics, or a middle man to grow my name. I would just go bigger and bigger with my creative projects. “Religion” was truly when I truly figured out how to go about bringing something totally new to this world. I packaged chaos in a beautiful way on the album. I created a new language and religion for free thinkers from all walks of life.
You seem to move effortlessly between music, art, and fashion. How have these different spaces influenced your work and shaped your creative approach?
I don’t really separate them in my head. Music, art, fashion, it’s all the same language to me, just spoken in different ways. Fashion taught me how to build a silhouette and tell a story before I even say a word. Art helped me trust my instincts and lean into chaos instead of over-explaining everything. And music is where it all collides: it's the emotion, the attitude, the message. Moving between those spaces keeps me from getting boxed in. If I get stuck sonically, I’ll think visually. If I’m designing or styling, I’m thinking about rhythm and energy. Everything feeds everything else. My approach is really about creating a world, not just a song or a look, and letting people step into it however they find me.
Collaboration seems central to your practice. Who have you been vibing with lately, and what’s that energy like in the studio or on set?
Collaboration is everything to me. I’m big on energy first if the vibe’s off, nothing really clicks. Lately I’ve been locking in with people who aren’t afraid to experiment, people who bring their own world into the room instead of trying to fit into mine. On January 29–February 1, during Grammy Week in Los Angeles, I will be hosting some of the dopest creatives in the world right now to take in my project, be inspired, and hopefully, in return, be inspired to pour whatever love and ideas they can back into my music and rollout, making it an even more brilliant project.
We met in Paris while you were preparing your latest album. What can fans expect from this new release?
The name of my upcoming album is called “Alien In My City”. I've been running around the world in the streets with the people from London to New York City, to Paris , to Tokyo on this mission to promote freedom of expression and how it can save your life, guide your life, or just give you purpose. And now I see that my ultimate cult level rise to success will trigger a sort of chaos that will ultimately impact the world in a positive way. Don’t be scared.
You recently released MADDOG. How did that come together, and what does it represent in your current body of work?
Teezo Touchdown and I made Maddog back in 2020, during a moment when we’d both just tapped into a new level of freedom within ourselves and in our access to the world. It felt like we had discovered something before anyone else noticed, and we were trying to translate that feeling into sound. Somehow, we executed it perfectly without even realizing it at the time. Years later, Madonna randomly invited both of us to dinner, and seeing each other again in that setting was surreal. Sitting there, surrounded by legacy and history, we knew Maddog had to come out. That song represents so much for both of us two young, alien, out-of-the-box, free-thinking Black kids earning the respect of generational pop icons. Maddog is a major milestone for me. It speaks to that little alien inside of me that’s trying to shift not just my life, but my entire family’s future.
Your presence on stage is unforgettable, but it’s striking how you carry that character off stage too. Can you talk about this Alien presence you embody? Where does it come from, and is there a political or social dimension to it?
Everyday I’m fighting trauma from shit I never could have controlled. This is my form of battle. The Alien presence isn’t a character I put on, it's just me amplified. I’ve always felt a little out of place, like I was seeing the world from a different frequency. Growing up, that difference wasn’t always comfortable, but over time I realized it was power. The Alien comes from being Black, being creative, being sensitive, being loud, being free in a world that tries to shrink you. There is a social and political layer to that, whether I’m naming it or not. Existing openly, unapologetically, outside of the box is already a statement. On stage I let it fully take over, but off stage it never really leaves. It’s how I move, how I think, how I protect my spirit. The Alien is about permission giving myself and other people permission to be as expansive and unexplainable as they want to be.
There’s a strong cult-like energy in your work, it’s a recurring thread. Can you tell us more about that? What does the Cult element mean to you?
When people say “cult,” I don’t hear control or darkness I hear belonging. I hear people choosing each other. A lot of us grow up feeling isolated, misunderstood, or too different for the spaces we’re put in, so we end up building our own worlds. The Cult is really about community and shared belief. It’s about finding people who see you clearly and move with you without needing explanations. There’s power in that especially for kids who’ve always felt like outsiders. This way of thinking helped me make sense of my creative passion, and why I was willing to fail over and over just to stay on this path of calling myself an artist. Once I realized I needed to make music and create in order to breathe, and feel purposeful here on earth, I sat out to show people how to do it, without sacrificing themselves or doing stereotypical shit. My work keeps circling back to that idea because I’m always trying to create a space where being strange, emotional, loud, or free isn’t just accepted, it’s celebrated. If that feels cult-like, it’s because it’s intentional connection, not surface-level fandom. It’s family.
In 2022, you launched Creatures, an NFT collection. Can you tell us more about that project and what drew you to it?
Creatures came from the same place; everything else I do comes from world-building. I wasn’t interested in NFTs as a trend, I was interested in ownership, identity, and community. Creatures were like digital extensions of the Alien energy. I've always been pushing each one different, each one valid, each one part of the same universe. What pulled me in was the idea that people could really belong to something, not just consume it. Creatures weren't about flipping or flexing, it was about access and connection letting people tap into a world and feel seen inside it. For me it was another way to experiment with freedom. Music, fashion, art, tech all have the same mission. I’m just trying to build spaces where outsiders, misfits, and creatives can exist without asking for permission.
Minzly
Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your approach to costumes, and what drew you to costume design over working with more traditional fashion brands?
I’m Minzly, born and raised in Philadelphia but currently based in Los Angeles, California. My passions as a Garment Designer, Stylist, and Image Consultant. My approach to costume design is rooted in storytelling and theatrical performance wear. Every piece I create is intentional and shaped around the individual’s identity and the visual language they want to communicate. Through collaboration, talent is empowered to always take it there, turning even the wildest ideas into reality. At its core, KMEWORLD is grounded in world-building and the art of curating unforgettable moments.
What is your role in creating Billyracxx’s persona?
My role is more about instinct than rules. I help Billyracxx unlock what already exists and push it all the way out. The persona isn’t something we manufacture, it’s something we amplify. Through wardrobe, silhouettes, and visual choices, I help give his ideas a physical form so they can be felt before they’re even understood. It’s less about “looking styled” and more about creating a presence that feels undeniable. The goal is always for him to walk into a room or onto a stage and people feel like the world shifts slightly.
Billyracxx’s visuals hit just as hard as the music. How do you approach the visual side of your projects? Do they come first, or do they evolve alongside the music?
The visuals and the music grow together. Sometimes the music sparks the image, sometimes an idea or feeling shows up visually first and the sound catches up later. There’s no fixed order, it’s very fluid. We let the energy lead. I approach the visual side by listening closely to what the music feels like rather than what it sounds like, then translating that into texture, shape, and movement. The goal is never to overpower the music, but to create a visual world that lives in the same frequency, so when people experience it, everything feels connected and intentional.
Joel Valabrega
Joel Valabrega is a curator based in Porto and Milan. In 2024, she curated the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 60th International Venice Biennale and the Present Future section of Artissima Art Fair (Nov 2024 and Nov 2025). From 2020 to 2024, she was Curator of Performance and Moving Image at Mudam—Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg, and in 2025, she became Head of Programme / Curator at Galeria Municipal do Porto.
Recent projects include the performance festival Fogo Fátuo(2025), the experimental exhibition Workers in Song by Billy Bultheel & James Richards (2024), the performative group exhibition After Laughter Comes Tears (2023), and the performance festival The Illusion of the End (2022). From 2016 to 2022, Valabrega co-ran the project space MEGA in Milan and has held curatorial roles at institutions such as V-A-C Foundation in Moscow and Venice (2018–19) and Triennale Milano (2020).
Her curatorial work—spanning exhibitions, performance programs, and commissions—has involved collaborations with artists including Tarek Atoui, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Cecilia Bengolea, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Pauline Boudry & Renate Lorenz, Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust, Lara Favaretto, Trajal Harrell, Ligia Lewis, Eliane Radigue, and Nora Turato, among others.
She edited After Laughter Comes Tears (Lenz Press, 2023), Tarek Atoui: Waters’ Witness #02 (Mudam/Les presses du réel, 2022), and the artist book form is void void is color (2020), and contributes regularly to exhibition catalogues and magazines.
@joelvalabrega