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MUFFY

Seamstress, Writer, Twerk Instructor, Blogger, Makeup Artist

I BE: Andrella Maringa Gaynor. My mom named me Muffy when I was born because I had fat cheeks. In high school, I played basketball and my best friend said I can’t stop won’t stop on the court, so he called me Muff Mommy. People also make up names with it, like Mufforama. They also called me Muffy while I was in the music game. I was signed to Warner Brothers South when I lived In Atlanta. I work in the fashion industry in Soho now.

DEAD THAT: People have thought so many weird things about me because of my audacity to say and do what I feel. It’s more common now for people to be expressive, but it wasn’t when I was coming up. People would say I was weird but I’m extremely normal. I have a lot of common sense, so not much gets past me. I have heard people complain that they don’t like the fashion that I post, but I say, this is not Soho, this is Newark, and only a few can afford to rock tremendously expensive items. And even if they could, they would probably get robbed or at least create a lot of jealousy. I do it to show how creative people can be who don’t have access to the most expensive brands or styles and/or don’t have the time. I didn’t come from money so I had to be extra creative to express myself.

LIVE BY: The G Code is important to me. That’s a old gangsta slang for integrity, and integrity is what I live by. I don’t believe in much anymore because I learned people don’t care about integrity much, not even the church. It’s all chaos. I try to surround myself with people who understand G Code — but to be honest, it’s like, no one does.

LOVE: I’ve never been in love but I have been tricked into many love-like situations because of my desire to want true love. I don’t think it exists for everyone. Love is like having a twin — not everyone gets one. I don’t love any one solely but I love every one — and of course, my crazy mom. I would like a big family but I decided recently I don’t want a family because I’m not rich enough. I don’t want my kids to want for any thing or be tricked by rich people or others. Tryna maintain richness. Money affords ableness. I want my children and family to be able. If I’m not in a predicament to facilitate my family being able, I will bury my dream of family with me.

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HYCIDE explores the roles we create for ourselves and those created for us, challenging the status quo while bearing witness to the feared, neglected and misunderstood.

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LEI SKYE

Model, student

I BE: My nickname used to be Sunshine but now I’m just Lei.

Sometimes people call me Skye though. My middle name is Skylar.

DEAD THAT: I’ve been called a bitch by people who don’t know me because I’m light-skinned and have green eyes. Sometimes people think I’m stuck up because that’s the stereotype but I’m not.

A lot of guys think I get approached all the time and I have guy after guy and I really don’t. I’m very selective. People think I just have a whole bunch of guys chillin’, waiting.

LIVE BY: I believe in energy because so many things are unknown. If you surround yourself with positive people and thoughts those things will come to you. Positive in, positive out. Negative in, negative out. I fully believe you can choose to be happy or choose to be miserable. It can always be worse. The universe works around your thoughts, it just has to be real.

LOVE: I love to act. That’s my focus. it comes natural to me. I like being able to become somebody else. I like to make people believe. I can study someone’s characteristics and become that person.

I love kids, too. A lot of people lose their inner child. Whatever kids think, it’s real to them in their imagination and no one can tell them that it’s not. As we get older, reality sets in and people become bitter. But kids have such an open, free-spirit that I love. They don’t even realize how important they are.

DYNASTY & SOULL

I BE: Dynasty aka KeKe Maat, clothing designer (left). Soull, aka ZuZu Void, jewelry designer. Twins. (Flatbush, Brooklyn)

DEAD THAT: Soull: A lot of times people think I'm in a bad mood or upset about something but that"s the just way that my facial expressions are. I automatically have this stern look. People think I'm super aggressive. But I'm laid back and kind of optimistic. Very much into loving everything and hug a tree. I pay attention to plants and children. I'm really into nature.

Dynasty: I come off as standoffish because of the way I look. People are very intimidated and they don't know how to approach me. But when they get to know me they're like "oh, if I would have known how you are I would have come up to you months ago."

LIVE BY: Soull: When you learn to look within, instead of externally for love, what you receive is such a big prize. If you can love in a way that's true to yourself, that's about what you need and want and not what you expect. I've been focusing on giving the love I want in return. If you give in a way that doesn't expect anything, you'll never have any disappointment. I learned this from "Mindful Loving.'' It's a great book. I recommend it to everyone in the whole world.

Dynasty: Being myself and not trying to change to become "better," but knowing that I"m trying to transform into the highest thing I can be. I use my work and my art as a tool for that. I'm not doing art to be rich or influence anyone to buy my stuff, I'm doing it to bring down something from a higher level, the place where we get our ideas and epiphanies and dreams.

LOVE: Soull: Myself. It sounds like ego, but if it's ego you don't love yourself, you love outside of yourself. You know those feelings that you have when its innocent love? The love that I would have for my nephew or someone who didn"t come from me or I'm not attached to--that's how I love myself. I've been celibate for two years. It was necessary for me. I take the time to get to know someone and find ways to make love without having sex. I'm opening my eyes to see other things besides the physical. You can get caught up in the physical. I'm learning to be at peace because happiness can come and go but when you're at peace it never goes.

Dynasty: The love I have for Soull is on a very deep and unconditional level. It's breaking the fear of attaching ourselves to each other. The love is greater than the fear. Twins, especially fraternal twins, can be very concerned with doing their own thing. My sister and I were born five minutes apart. That shows we're on the road together but we're on our own paths. If we're walking to together all the time, we can't tell things to each other. If we're not, we can be together like "oh I did this," "oh I did that," "oh I read that."Oh really?" I like to miss my sister. That is something I find dope. I feel blessed to have a reflection of myself that"s what I love and hate the most about me.

--Interview by Carrie Stetler

GHOST BRIM

I BE: Ghost aka G-Man (Newark by way of Compton)

DEAD THAT: I get a lot of attention. I’m a popular person but I don’t like it. I’m like an unsolved mystery. A lot of people are scared of me. I’m quiet and stay to myself but most females are scared of me, more so than dudes. I make people uncomfortable because they can’t figure me out. They be so scared that they won’t even talk to me. That’s the problem I’ve been living with all my life. That’s how the streets are out here. Once people meet me, then they’re infatuated with me because I’m the sweetest person in the world. If you ask about Ghost, they’ll tell you I’m scary but I’m just living my life.

LIVE BY: I’m Muslim but I’m also a gangbanger. I’m BRIM. They call me Ghost BRIM. I’m easy. As long as you don’t fuck with me, I don’t mess with you.

LOVE: I love somebody but she’s not here…my mother, Jane. She’s on my face. Besides her I love my sisters, but they been with DYFS for years. But I got my little brother, Timothy. That’s my heart.

--Interview by fayemi shakur