Qing Madi might be Kendrick Lamar's #1 fan

qing madi on superfandom, jollof rice, music, and ofc kendrick <3

Welcome to mixed feelings’ Hyperspecific, a profile series of increasingly intimate questions in which we ask our favorite artists, scientists, musicians, and the like to unveil their innermost selves — their weird existential musings.

There’s nothing better than when a talented artist in their own right is an unabashed superfan of another. Like Adele’s 2017 Grammys speech, the majority of which was spent (rightly) fawning over Beyoncé’s artistry. Or Ariana Grande being so psyched to meet Imogen Heap that she actually thought, prior to their meeting, that she was being catfished. And then there’s Qing Madi, who might be Kendrick Lamar’s #1 fan.

At 17, Madi’s hit single off her her self-titled EP, “Ole (feat. BNXN)”, has over 46 million streams, she has 1 million monthly listeners from around the world on Spotify, and she’s consistently featured on reputable lists of “artists to watch”. But to her, meeting Kendrick and picking his brain would be the be-all end-all: The best — and maybe even the last?? (see below) — day of her life.

But Madi’s got more to her than her rising star and Kendrick standom. She’s a born performer, a proud Nigerian, an avid reader, and a lover of movies that force her to cry (same).

No more spoilers, though, read below to see how she got hyperspecific with us.

LEVEL I

1. Something you’re always hoping people bring up in conversation when you first meet. When people talk about anything concerning Kendrick [Lamar]. I have a lot of knowledge about [Kendrick]. We could go all day, because I'm always excited to meet someone that is in love with the type of music that I make or that I listen to. I like meeting a fellow fan.

2. One positive trait that people always tell you that you have. Industry people always tell me that I have good energy and I feel like it's because we don't get enough good energy around here. Industry people are always business-oriented or music-oriented, and they're just very focused on what they're doing. I feel like they usually don't get a break from all the hard work they put in. I'm a very hyper person, so when I get in the room, everyone knows that it’s going to be chill.

3. One destructive trait you know you possess and wish you didn’t. I think it's my inability to be nice to people that I genuinely don't mess with. I'm super hyper, but when I stop, it's evident. If someone in the room is not my friend, I'm going to become very shallow about it. I hate that I’m very obvious wih my feelings. If I'm happy, I'm happy. If I'm not, I'm not. I would rather be able to hide stuff well.

4. If a bodega were to name a dish after you, what would it be? (Be specific.) If it was a drink, it would be piña colada, because that's my favorite drink. Virgin obviously, because I can't drink. If it’s food, it would be jollof rice for sure. Just let a Nigerian cook it. That’s the only way — I’m sorry.

5. One song that makes you feel understood. I'm going to say Billie Eilish “Male Fantasy.”

6. Something you think is wildly underrated. When people can play instruments. I think that's super underrated. I unfortunately can't play any instruments, but I'm learning. When I see how people just know what key something is in I’m like “this skill is extremely underrated!” [I’m currently learning the keyboard.] I plan to do live performances with the keyboard, and just stay at home and try to create songs with it.

   

   LEVEL II

1. A movie you watch when you want to self-soothe. I never repeat a movie because like, why, but if I were to repeat a movie, it would be Shrek. The OG Shrek is still golden. I think we just see it as a cartoon, but the storyline itself is really deep. It's a golden movie, to be honest. Shrek 2, too.

2. Your problematic fave artist/actor/musician (dead or alive). And why? Doja. I feel like everything she's done is a masterpiece, but I think I've never been able to get very personal with her life. But everything that she lets out of the studio is just a smash. I really don't care about anything else.

3. A line from a TV show/film that plays on a loop in your head. There's this Zambian Netflix movie, Can You See Us? It’s about a father and his son, who is albino. The son didn't have friends and everyone was bullying him. So the father says "people don't understand, they fear, and what they fear, they try to destroy.” That line has been guiding me subconsciously when I think I'm doing something wrong. I remember that what people don't understand, they just try to destroy. It's not something they've seen before.

4. One time you laughed so hard you cried. I was with my best friend and he got a call. [The people on the other line] were complaining to him about stuff that he didn't care about. So the way he was reacting made me start laughing. He was on mute and just giving the dumbest responses to the questions. That was a really good moment last week.

5. One time you cried so hard you laughed. I don't think I've cried in a while, to be honest. And I think that's healthy? I don’t know, I’ve just been pretty happy, lately.

LEVEL III

1. What’s an anecdote you usually tell to describe how you were as a kid?

   My mom has one [notable] story that she always tells: When I graduated from kindergarten I was so excited I threw away my backpack. I thought I was done with school in general. She was like “Oh my god, baby, you have school tomorrow!” and I was so upset. So it's like, she's always telling the story about how much I hated that place.

2. What is your low-key hell and actual heaven? My low-key hell would be going back to school for the wrong reasons. I think that my heart wouldn't be in it and I'd just be doing it to finish. My low-key heaven would just be… to meet Kendrick Lamar. That man is literally my inspiration. I think I'd want to meet him if he was locked in a room and I was the only one with the key. That would be so cool because then he would have no option but to talk to me…

3. Share a quote of one of the most meaningful things someone has ever said to you, context optional. The first time that I met one of my idols, Wizkid, I did a backup [vocal] for him. A lot of people say that his music in the past is different from the music that he makes now. So I asked him, why don't you make the type of music that you used to make? He said it’s because he doesn't want to be a slave to the music, and that he feels like sometimes people make music to please other people, not saying what they really want to say. That kind of hit me hard. And I was like, yo, I don't ever want to be a slave to music, either. [Editor’s note: The conversation segues here into me asking Madi about her favorite activities to do outside of music. She mentions reading, which leads to some of her favorite authors, like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who employs a lot of Nigerian slang in her writing, which then leads to me asking her about her favorite Nigerian slang word. Here’s what she says: “So it’s ‘you dey whine’ — it's like when you're feeling yourself too much and somebody's hyping you up and they need a reality check. It’s from a song by Austine De Bull. That song is always stuck in my head. I've been saying it all the time. You have to say it with a lot of attitude.”]

4. Random thing you hate so much for no apparent reason. Chocolate. I hate chocolate.

5. How you exit a party. You have to be really, really smart to get me to a party in the first place. I hate parties a lot because I have low social battery all the time. I feel like the one way I exit is just leave and text. I'm sorry. I can explain later, but I can't be here right now.

6. How you wanna go. I want to actually die at a Kendrick Lamar concert where I'm in the VIP area and he brings me on stage and he's like, “I just told this girl the biggest secret of the century.” And so I take the mic and I'm about to tell everyone… and then I die. Everyone would have YouTube conspiracy videos about how Madi died. What was the secret????