Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Bao.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When the pandemic began, I had a really humble small following of about 45k on TikTok – I was in grad school at the time and when we were all on lockdown, TikTok was kind of a coping mechanism. I made videos about my experience moonlighting as a dancer, talking about my coming to terms with my sexuality and identity, and doing makeup and costume looks. The latter felt like a game of adult dress-up, honestly – and it feels a bit silly, but I believe that this period of aesthetic exploration was really important in my exploration of who I really was and what I wanted that person to be.
I became an independent recording artist, finding catharsis through my online persona and music. I wanted to bring my audience into this fantastical world of Lilbadkatt – a name that, funnily, started with my dancer name “Katt” and was a play on how every rapper in 2020 was a “lil” or “bad” something or other. I finally felt like I had a way to allow Katt, who had previously only existed in the night as a shameful corner of my identity, to exist in sunlight. Katt rapped how she wanted and wore what she wanted. I realized that whatever I wanted my hair, my outfit, my nails to look like was entirely up to me – and that’s how Badkatt Beauty became a natural extension of that person. I wanted full control over Katt, right down to the fingernail. When I started making my own press-on nails, there was some interest in buying them, and I realized this was a new way outside of my music for me to share this fantasy world with other people!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest struggle – which I’m sure a lot of people can relate to – was time and expectations.
In the daytime, I was getting my degree, competing in martial arts, and pursuing a career in a field that was ultimately making me miserable. In the night, I was a bastard child to my parents – dancing, making and performing cathartic alt scream-rap, and creating content to supplement the meager income from my awful 9-5. My parents didn’t love what I’d chosen to do with my life (what of it they knew), and other artists didn’t respect that I hadn’t given it all up to “the hustle.”
All I know is that as the noise got louder and louder, I lived more and more of every day for myself until I ultimately found MY rhythm for the first time in my life. Dispassionately, I quit my healthcare job and found something in an entirely new field that allowed me to work from home. I wasted less of my little free time around people that always had something to say about my music or my work or my life. I decidedly put my music on hold as I had created a catalogue and some music videos I was very proud of but was ultimately burning me out physically and emotionally. I focused in on my nail business because I realized that after after working from 8am to 10pm, the only thing I wanted to do was sit down and create. And that’s where I’m at now. It’s been a painful experience, as I’ve lost a few people along the way that were extremely important to me – but I’m happier and more content than I’ve ever been. And that’s where I’m at now.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My music has jokingly been described as “bitch rap” – a sort of grungy, underground scream rap that was as cathartic to create as it was to conceive. I didn’t want to embody any culture that wasn’t mine, and I always wanted to be genuine about where I came from and what my personal struggles were. I never pretended to have struggles that I didn’t have, but I wanted to be real with my audience about what I did face and share my journey with them.
I’m most proud of my own adaptivity and freedom that I’ve come to own. I wanted to create imagery that both had meaning for my own message as well as room for others to interpret. One of the pieces I’m most proud of is my music video for the song “Stay Asleep” – I worked closely with the director, Wendy Wang, to place meaning and symbolism in each scene, personifying the power imbalance between men and women our professional, religious, and personal lives. I’d had very limited experience in front of the camera at that point, but the entire team helped pull together an extremely conceptual vision that truly embodied the world of Lilbadkatt that I had envisioned.
I think what sets my visuals and music apart from others is the commitment to vision over beauty. A huge part of being an Asian woman is adhering to the strict beauty standards, which are imposed on you from a stupidly young age by men, by other Asian women, and by your own parents. I was constantly battling these “not enough”s – not skinny enough, not pretty enough, not feminine enough – and honestly, I was sick of it. I didn’t set out to create something hard to listen to, but I will say that it’s not easy to ignore a message that’s quite literally screaming in your face. For the first time, I cared so little about looking pretty and being consumable by the masses, and I think that’s something that resonates with younger (especially queer and Asian) women, who are constantly constricted by unreasonable standards.
It’s the same with my press-on nail business. I don’t adhere to one style, though the one thing every set has in common is that they are maximalist as hell. They’re not the nails you would see on someone at the coffee shop or running errands – but they’re red carpet nails, photoshoot nails, dream nails. I’ve seen and felt the change from putting on a set of the perfect nails – it has a huge effect on your confidence and pulls together a look completely. Given my Hannah Montana-esque life, press-ons were a requirement so that I could do the job I needed to do in the daytime to live the life I created for myself at night.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
For my press-on nail business and my music, my fiancé is one of my biggest supporters. He is at every shoot and event, working right beside me without infringing on any of my boundaries. He has worked every single booth at every craft fair I’ve sold at, helped me set up in my first physical retail location at Rosebud Body Art Studio in NoHo, and stays up with me on nights I get off my 9-5 and get right back to work on my nails. We even spend nights at the studio and at home making music together as he’s an artist as well, so I’m so grateful to have somebody by my side who understands the ins and outs of being a creative. Emotionally, my parents are huge supporters as well – even though they’re not always happy about what I choose to do or personally like the art I create, they have accepted me for who I am and have been there for me through every doubt, every idea, and every tear.
Pricing:
- $35 minis (Short press-on nails, any shape)
- $45 – $90 pre-made long nails (Varying shapes)
- Custom nails starting at $50
Contact Info:
- Website: www.badkatt.beauty
- Instagram: @badkattbeauty / @lilbadkatt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/lilbadkatt
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lilbadkatt
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@lilbadkatt
Image Credits
Jocelyn Campbell Steve Meier Matthew Romasanta
