Stop Scrolling, it's Quen Blackwell

When the laughter dies down, we see how important Blackwell is to our generation. How often do we have Black women in the entertainment industry reminding the rest of us to stop taking ourselves so seriously? To stop living up to hegemonic expectations that force us to be receivable, attainable, and maintainable? We suppress our authenticity, comfort, and joy to ensure we are in line with confinement. When was the last time we recorded ourselves dancing across our bedrooms? Or showcased how much appreciation we have for our bodies? As younger girls come across the dinosaur vines and TikTok’s of Blackwell featuring Mike Tyson cosplay, crying videos, and absolute protagonist energy, they wash off the imposter syndrome, stepping into a new chapter of self-love and chaos. 

As a victim of the ‘Taking Myself Too Seriously to Enjoy Anything’ club, the opportunity to sit down with Blackwell was a one of one experience. I probably had my head rolled back for the majority of the interview since Blackwell’s comedic timing may be powerful enough to stop an asteroid. We spoke about every topic possible, from our unspoken situationship with Twitter to the fender bender Tesla fiasco that caused her to miss out on her Starbucks order, to the infamous $100,000 couch, to her upcoming Podcast, and of course, how Black women are deserving the space to be extroverted, and loud, and extra, and all of the above because who is anyone else to bring us down a pedestal? For so long, we’ve had to move across industries, procuring a dainty and passive version of ourselves to obtain status. 

Here, Blackwell has gathered a nation by being her original and boisterous self. There’s no PR or marketing when it comes to her influence. You follow her because you have no choice otherwise. You press play because you want to. You have dreams about her. You would do anything for her. And she thanks you for your service.  

Read the exclusive interview with the future Hollywood starlet below. 

What was the first video that you posted that let you know that you had gone viral? Did you believe you could be famous?

The first video I had that went viral was me doing a cheerleading stunt and falling off the chair and breaking the leg. And I mean, I was on the cheer side of the internet. So I was like, if this works on this side of the internet, I'm the best. There's like big children and Jamie Andries. And I was like, if I get as many likes as her, then I can do this as a career. And that video went more up than anything she's ever done. And I was like, Oh, I got this. Let me just keep posting stupid shit. And now we're here. And now I can pay my rent.

Exactly. And now, you can pay for $100,000 couches. So at what age did you start making videos?

Probably when I was nine. Which, I don't think that's a good thing for like a developing child brain. But you know, it could pay for the couch. So shout out.

As a black woman in comedy fashion and now modeling, did you feel as if there were expectations already set for you?

Hmm, no, I feel like there's no expectation set except for getting through the door. I don't know, the only expectation I feel is to make it easier for the next black woman to come and do it, too. I don't feel any expectation to perform blackness ever. I feel an expectation to carve out a space for other people.

Is that the expectation that you have set for yourself? Are there any other goals that you have in this industry?

I would say, the ability to not be categorized is kind of the expectation I have on myself. Just to be able to exist. So many people of different races are allowed to just exist without being categorized in some sort of stereotype. And I just think Black people should have that availability. The only person I've seen really be able to do that is like Donald Glover, probably. Or, Tyler, the Creator but I've never seen a woman truly do it.

You've definitely been able to set a standard to stay unexpected and unpredictable.  Do you feel as if you've already allowed upcoming Black girls the ability to feel comfortable using social media?

Completely, completely. I feel like my presence on social media has changed things. It's just crazy to think about it because I'm only twenty-two. Right? So you would still think, that you haven't had an impact so far, but I see people coming up on social media that are like, using the formula I created. I didn't even know that I was creating it, but I'm like, "oh, this is sick." Even when I go meet with the new TikTok girls, or new Instagram girls, or new Twitter girls that go viral, they're like, "I've been watching you for forever. Like, I used to watch you when I was in elementary school." And I'm like, "what the fuck, I was in elementary school the same time?"

Would you be interested in any other forms of media or art? How serious do you want modeling to be?

I want modeling to be serious, but I don't want it to be my bread and butter. I really think I'm meant to be an actor. I feel like the internet does this thing with talent, where you have such a raw talent that the internet just gave you everything that you would get if you went and just grew the talent. Like, I feel like, if I didn't have the internet, I would have gone to theater class, and then to acting school and all this, but I had the internet and I got all these accolades so quick, so that it was like, fuck it, I don't need to learn anything else. But now getting to the point in my life where, I know for my craft, I want it to be acting. I spent so much of my time in my past seven years on the internet, instead of you know, learning how to act and go into these programs that there's people my age in LA right now that have been acting since they were like 10. And they are are all of these prodigies and I'm like, I'm a prodigy of just being fucking insane. So now that's what I want to get into, just figuring out how to get my foot through the door in a way that I don't want to be an actor because I'm Quenlin Blackwell, I want to be an actor because I'm a talented person.

Do you have any dream directors you'd want to work with or like a type of genre you see yourself in?

I just watched this movie called Risk Cutters. Okay. And it sounds fucked up. But it's about like how people kill themselves. They go through this type of purgatory, and but they still exist—like, they're modern day humans who have jobs and shit. And just the way the film was made, was like, it wasn't like a Marvel $300 billion budget film, it was like indie, I don't know I kind of just want to be in indie movies to begin with. And then go into like a big thing later on. I don't have a director in mind that I want to work with, just a director who wants to tell a story that hasn't been told before. That's kind of the stuff that I want to be involved with. 

I think you'd be the next horror girly, for sure.

Right! I literally think I could be that, too. I think like when I'm 50, I'll be Viola Davis. But like, I've been making music for the past four years, I'll release some songs of course, like, why not give the world all my forms of creativity but it's not something that's like, "this is my craft." I feel like my craft is going to be acting, I just got to figure out an agent and stuff for acting and all these things. You know, someone who's interested in building a career instead of writing off my social media career and putting me in some cheesy shit. I'm down to be in something  E-list as long as it is actually has meaning instead of just trying to pump out the next teen drama.

When it comes to like modeling, do you feel as if you've already worked with the people you want to or do you have like a set list of people?

Oh, I haven't worked with the people that I want to, because I kind of spent the past year and a half my life figuring out how to make myself comfortable when I'm overwhelmed, because I think I'm gearing up for a really, really big career. Yeah. So to meet these people I want to work with in modeling or acting, you have to go out and meet people and I have not gone out in the past year. I've been sober for six months, it's really hard to go mix and mingle when you're not drinking. So it's time for me to like, put my foot back out the door and be like, "who wants to take a picture of me?" 

Even though obviously, in your videos, you'd be much more extroverted. But would you actually describe your personality as that?

What's your favorite app out of like all social media?

That's like asking me, "what's your favorite drug?" Like, let me tell you which one I'm most addicted to. How about we do that? First, it's TikTok, and then it goes to Instagram. Twitter is like, Twitter is like— what's that drink called? A Four Loko. Like you know, you'll have fun, but you'll have the worst hangover the next day.

It's because you can't really leave it alone! It's like, once you're scrolling you'll end up doing it for four hours!

Twitter is an app that's like, "so do you want to panic? Have self doubt or hate on somebody today?"

Then, you'll end up doing all three at the same time. You'll find yourself in the comment section arguing with someone from Kentucky about a topic that isn't even about you! Here's my next question, as a lot of your teen hood or life has been documented online, what are some things you feel people don't know about you?

That I am an amazing writer. A lot of my friends say that I'm a poet when I read the my journal entries to be honest, and that I have way more to say when I'm not screaming than when I am. The internet is so based on our attention spans and getting the attention quickly that the louder I am, the quicker you'll listen. If you listen to me when I'm talking in a normal tone, I'll have much more to say. So, I feel that I'm actually a long form type of content creator that's been put in a short form world to which I have way more to say than people know. Except for just jokes, I can shoot a joke but I can speak a nice little paragraph.

Even though you've been put into short form, would you just want to go against the grain and force your audience to start to see you in more long form?

Oh, that's what I'm doing right now. Like, I literally just got my streaming setup, because t I don't leave my house, since I'm sober. And I love saying I'm sober, it makes me feel so much better than the bitches that literally get fucked up every day, like it really does. Anyway, I have my whole setup in the next room. And right now I'm working on my podcast. I just got a trademark and everything, it's called Public Indecency. So, I'm creating to replace different long form types of content, just the reason I've never done it is because I will not half-ass anything. I will sit and wait until I know I can give it my full attention and capabilities. So like, now I'm finally doing it. But yeah, they're (the audience) getting forced, they're getting forced to go to long form. I'm not making a YouTube. I'm not becoming a YouTuber. Fuck no, no, no, no, no,

I think you can skip over that phase.

Mama can skip over because she's been making and creating content since thirteen-fourteen. I'm twenty-two now, enough time to just speak and let the content create itself.

Truthfully, what are the topics that you'd want to have for your podcast?

I feel—you know, who really ate with their concept? Good luck, Charlie. When the day was explained, and then the takeaway from the day? You know, I mean, like, just going through and explaining what happened in my day, or what's happened in my life, in my career, my friendships and my family life, what I've taken away from it, how I've coped with it, how life affects me as a young adult. And just like little tips and tricks on how to not kill yourself every day because mama used to be depressed, anorexic, bulimic, you know? Like, I really used to just be out of my mind. And I found a way to come back into reality and just show my audience that it's possible, and that life is worth living. And it can be fun. You can laugh at the absurdity of life without feeling defeated by it. And just give hope in the podcast with a little laugh on the side.

I think it's important to know that others have a safe space within you to be like, this is someone who's usually out like outwardly laughing, but it's like, here's some like real topics that are happening.

And I could take this podcast idea and bring it to a big production thing and like, get a whole deal for the podcast. But I haven't done any of that because I feel like mental health hasn't been stigmatized, it's been commodified. And to de-stigmatize mental health, it has to get really ugly into like—the true ugly side of that shit. And I feel, the more honest I am with how I dealt with my life, and what I've done, is better. And sometimes it's not ad-friendly, but it's true. At the end of the day, I'm not trying to be like, I'm the mental health girl with mental health tricks. I'm not trying to commodify it. I'm just trying to be like, here's the part of my whole existence as a young adult, and it's okay to be a part of it.

How would you describe yourself like in third person?

Okay, how would I describe myself in third person? I would say I'm curious. I would say that I am joyful. Confused as fuck. Mmm hmm. I will say that I give good love. I am independent. Like, I don't fucking need anybody. But I'm kind of too independent sometimes. Like, I'll have a broken arm and if you call the ambulance, I'm like, "give me the fucking phone, I'll do it before you can tell somebody else that you called the ambulance for me. Fuck you." — Which I need help on. What else about me? I'm hopeful. I'm really hopeful for the future. I have not let the nihilistic nature of our society take away my hope for my future in our collective future.

Those are good descriptions, for sure. I definitely relate to the confused as fuck point.

Oh, like, nothing makes sense! But you know, this is what I say if the world is burning down, let's dance on its ashes. Let's make marshmallows off the char.

The best thing we can do is just be like, "I don't know what's going on."

RIght, so if you don't know what's going on, and if nothing makes sense, then there's no expectation. That's the most freest existence ever, genuinely.

Did you have to go through any rebranding when transitioning from like Vine to Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok?

No, I feel like people think that I've done a rebrand but I've actually just aged. I was on the internet when I was a child, and then a teen, and now young adult so the rebrands have just been puberty. So, no, I don't think any rebranding has occurred, except for me. Coming into my womanhood, I don't think I've had to deal with marketing. There is not a pinch of a marketing dollar in any of this. This is me being like, "oh, wait, I'm hot!" 

In one of your latest post, you said you could dance to anything. So what's in your music rotation right now?

Right now? Let me see. Let me tell you. My music rotation right now has The Strokes, I just got put on. I'm so late. What else? Sega Bodega is one of my favorite producers of all time. What he's doing with Björk right now is iconic. I love when the bass repeats, it's just, he goes right on the tempo of some shake-ass music and he's doing it on all the songs and I love it. If you were to put the song in a strip club, the Sega-Bodega-Shy-Girl weirdo shit, it would actually work. I've also been listening to Bree Runway because she is the next girl. Her and Doja Cat, like they both got it and they're gonna take it.

What was in your Spotify Wrapped?

Oh, I have no idea, I don't look at that shit because it'll make me insecure. Like, last year I can tell you my last year Spotify Wrapped was probably Mitsky, period. Okay. Last year was sad. 

We don't— we don't talk about it. We just move on. How would you describe your style? What are your closet essentials?

My style is vintage. My style is everything, expensive earrings and not even expensive in the price because some of you bitches be paying—not you—but some of the bitches be buying shit that cost so much and has the shittiest quality. My closet is nice quality things that make them expensive. My quality is vintage, it gives my outfits personality. My closet is long skirts, of course, it's the era of long skirts. I will follow the trends, fuck all you bitches that are like, "oh, I'm not doing any other trends." That's why you look crazy every morning. I take a little bit of a pinch of a trend out the bed anytime. So I do a little long skirt. I love my baby tees, my big boobs. I love you know, a nice pretty bra with a sheer top. I like investing in good lingerie because it can turn into a good outfit. I love a chunky shoe, I love anything Japanese, those girls understand what's going on. The girls in Europe get it, they might not treated the world kindly, but they do get nice threads and nice fashion designers, like they do understand that one little thing so you know I get them. I like mismatching, like mismatching will always eat to me. The clothes don't have to match as long as the idea is there. Right? That's what I'm doing recently. And honestly, I've been starting with the hair, now I've been doing pink highlights in this brown wig. Like the hair makes the whole outfit. 

That's absolutely true. The hair finishes off the outfit. Do you have any advice for Black fashion and comedic girlies like yourself who are trying to break into the industry?

I would say consistency. Don't let one thing working good make you get comfortable. Don't let anyone define you by what you may look like or how you may seem. Don't let nobody stereotype you. It's okay to be angry. It's okay to be mean. Have your heart in whatever art form you want to be in, be completely yourself. It might seem like you'll get far fitting into the categories that are already made in Hollywood, or in the entertainment industry, but you'll actually get further within your heart and in the industry, if you just be completely yourself. I mean—don't be crazy have a little bit of PR training you know, tucked in the vein, but like don't be a stock photo of a human. Be yourself. Be true. Be consistent. Be dedicated and regardless of the numbers, as long as you got your heart in it, it's gonna work.