TheARTI$t Talks Redefining R&B on Her Own Terms & Opening for Kehlani’s World Tour

For TheARTI$t, R&B is more than a sound, it's a space where a Black, queer, masc-presenting woman can show up fully herself without compromising for the industry. Rooted in faith, dance, and a lifelong love of performance, the Newark, New Jersey native is reshaping what mainstream visibility looks like on her own terms.

“I’m not trying to hold on to this image or this persona just to please people. Either they gonna love me or not. God love me regardless.“

That perspective defines how Newark, New Jersey, native TheARTI$t, born Erica McCauley, navigates an industry accustomed to rigid visual and cultural boundaries. It reflects an artist grounded not by streaming metrics, tour rosters, or external validation, but by an unwavering sense of self.

Despite her commanding and confident presence, she remains candid about the internal realities of her career trajectory:

“Everything makes me nervous—performing, meeting supporters, everything, honestly. But I’m working on it,” she exclusively shares with Gaye Magazine.

Her journey into professional music was far from linear or conventional. A former dancer specializing in hip-hop and contemporary styles, as well as a dedicated preschool teacher, McCauley initially envisioned a career in education or athletics, basketball in particular.

“I wanted to play basketball for the rest of my life. Hoop dreams. Or be a teacher.”

However, her inner child was already manifesting a musical career before she recognized it.

“I remember pretending I was performing in front of 20,000 people in the mirror, just singing and dancing. I have songs on YouTube. But I never believed I was gonna be an artist.”

After friends persuaded her to enter a recording studio in 2018, her musical trajectory took shape quite suddenly and organically. The viral success of her single “Sober” on TikTok in early 2023 subsequently accelerated her path into mainstream visibility. Additionally, her track “Ghost” (a personal favorite) was recently featured on the soundtrack of the television series “The Chi.”

“Sober” originated from personal heartbreak, addressing the sometimes necessary finality of ending past relationships:

“That’s the whole song. Letting her know I’m good without you, and this is not that.”

Since her breakout, TheARTI$t has released three cohesive projects: “ARTChives: The Gallery,” “Who I Am” and “DND.” Each functions as a chapter in her creative evolution. “ARTChives” explores vulnerability and past experiences; “Who I Am” serves as a testament to self-assurance; and “DND”

“ARTChives was basically me going back into the past, the things I was dealing with, and me stepping into my vulnerability. Because that was something I didn’t really do in my music. So ARTChives was me going back and figuring out what goes where, and making a story out of it.”

“Who I Am” she calls an ode to herself, including “being confident in the artist that I am right now, and the artist I’m always becoming, because we’re always evolving and changing.”

“DND was inspired by the people that we are that we don’t want people to know [about]. You put your phone on DND; you don’t want to be spoken to, or you don’t want people to know where you are, what you’re doing, or who you are at that time. It really had nothing to do with the phone. It’s the concept of what DND means to everybody.”

She calls it the next chapter in a very long story.

R&B is experiencing a real resurgence right now. It feels nostalgic with that late-1990s, early-2000s energy, but it also feels brand new. When asked where she believes she sits within that landscape, TheARTI$t said:

“I feel like I’m straddling a line right now. I’m implementing all the sounds I fell in love with growing up, mixed with the sounds of today that I love now too. That’s the space I’m living in.”

Positioning herself within the modern R&B landscape, she blends that same late-1990s and early-2000s sonic influences with more contemporary production elements to create a sound that is uniquely hers, citing Lauryn Hill as a primary influence for “her rawness. Her rawness and her ability to allow her voice to be an instrument.”

With such a powerhouse as her number-one influence, it’s no surprise she said she is working on her sound every day.

“Honestly, [I’m] still finding the sound I feel the most comfortable with. But right now we’re giving it to y’all from many different angles. You could get some rawness, some vulnerability — you’re gonna get a little bit of soul in there too, because I do come from a soulful city.”

TheARTI$t aims to utilize this same practice while integrating her foundational training as a dancer into her creative process. When asked what felt like a valuable lesson that could be translated from one performing art to another, she had the following to say:

“Just feeling the music, not doing anything that feels forced. In order to push yourself when dancing, you have to move to something you feel inside. That’s how I approach music.”

As an openly queer, Black, masculine-presenting woman operating within R&B, a genre historically dominated by traditional expressions of femininity like softness and sensuality, TheARTI$t rejects any calls to alter her image for commercial marketability:

“Nobody can be us better than we can be ourselves. Showing up as myself is already putting me a step ahead because I’m not trying to be someone I’m not. Sometimes it takes a little longer going this route … Listen, man — what you see is what you get.”

Her path is sustained by both strong familial support and a steadfast personal faith. Unlike common narratives of estrangement within queer spaces, her family and community have consistently affirmed her identity. She attributes her resilience through industry challenges to her spiritual baseline and regular church attendance:

“I stay in church. Every Sunday when I’m home, or on live stream when I’m on the road. I stay prayed up and in the Word… Once you truly understand who God is and what God is capable of, you realize that at the end of the day, everything is in God’s hands.”

It is important to pause at this moment because the narrative of a faithful, church-attending, family-supported, Black queer masc artist is rarely elevated in mainstream discourse. While stories of estrangement and religious trauma are valid and deeply personal, this alternative narrative is equally vital. Crucially, TheARTI$t shared her story without a hint of the defensive tension so many anticipate.

Although she has performed on large stages before, the artist acknowledges that a tour of this magnitude presents a relentless back-end workload, marked by constant scheduling calls and the challenge of building a massive production from scratch.

“This is what we pray for and ask for,” she said. “Once the first show goes amazingly well, you realize all that hard work was worth it.”

“This is what we pray for and ask for,” she noted. “Once the first show goes amazingly well, you realize all that hard work was worth it.”

For her, the most rewarding aspect of preparation is simply the anticipation. “Just the thought of being on the road for two months is a blessing.”

Rather than superficial applause or nonchalance, she hopes to evoke genuine emotional resonance from audience members experiencing her live performance for the first time:

“I want them to feel something. I’ve left some shows ready to move on to the next thing, but after others, I’m searching the artist’s entire catalog because they moved me. I want the audience to truly embrace and live in the experience with me.”

This emotional connection sits at the very core of R&B. The genre relies on universal, raw shared human experience, which is the kind that moves listeners to tears and deeply visceral reactions.

When discussing the impact of her visibility on emerging Black, queer, masc-presenting artists, her approach was pragmatically grounded:

“Whatever resources I can provide or ways I can bring people along on this journey, I’m committed to doing it. I hope it serves as motivation. Put your head down, lock in, and pray. Everyone gets their turn eventually; the industry is always evolving, and your turn is coming.“

Her background as a former preschool teacher continues to shape her vision as well.

“I look forward to using my platform to create space and provide resources for youth coming up.”

When asked what her younger self, as a Black, queer, masc kid who never saw proper representation in this style of music, would say upon seeing her on stage today, fully authentic and uncompromised, her answer was instantaneous: “I knew something like this would happen. For sure.”

Joining a lineup anchored by headliner Kehlani, who is also a mainstream trailblazer who has long expanded the boundaries of queer visibility in R&B, TheARTI$t steps onto a stage shared by performers who similarly disrupt genre norms. Alongside artists like Durand Bernarr and Isaia Huron, her presence adds a distinct and vital dynamic to the tour’s roster.

 

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As a Black, masculine-presenting lesbian in a space often dominated by standard tropes of feminine presentation, she grounds the tour’s collective energy in raw, unapologetic authenticity. Sharing the road with a headliner who opened those doors and fellow genre-defying artists reinforces that her identity is neither an isolation nor a gimmick, but part of a broader cultural movement. In this lineup, she isn’t just an opening act setting the stage; she stands as a blueprint for queer women in R&B, demonstrating that soft vulnerability and masculine expression can coexist seamlessly in mainstream spaces.

Ultimately, TheARTI$t’s presence in R&B is more than just a fresh artistic direction. It is a bold redefinition of who gets to occupy space in a genre historically bound by traditional images of femininity. As a Black, queer, masc-presenting lesbian showing up with total authenticity, she isn’t adjusting her image to fit industry expectations, but instead is shifting the narrative altogether.

By combining uncompromising self-assurance with deep-rooted faith and vulnerability, she paves a path for future artists who have yet to see themselves in the music they love, proving that taking the long road while staying true to yourself is not only viable but transformative.

No doubt about it, Gayes, I know we all can’t wait to see the vibes that TheARTI$t brings to Kehlani’s upcoming world tour. I will most certainly be sat — will you?

Watch Our Full Interview with TheARTI$t Below: