A stream of people follow BKTHERULA into the photo studio. It’s 11 in the morning, and the Atlanta artist downs a couple ginger shots, remarking that she’s been up since seven. We’re in Chinatown in NYC, and, as she settles to glam up, she transforms. This isn’t just a young woman; a model; a musician. It’s increasingly clear, as she prepares to go to work, that BKTHERULA is a budding megastar.

BK, born Brooklyn Rodriguez, just got off a European tour and hasn’t had a break all year. Following her most concise project yet, 2025’s LUCY, BK didn’t skip a beat, jumping straight into the rollout for Denzel Curry’s supergroup album Strictly 4 The Scythe in the spring, alongside work for newer projects, like forthcoming album N5ON.

This breakneck speed seems to be what is required to keep up momentum in the crowded rap field of 2026. Although BK doesn’t seem to be a pursuer as much as an attractor. “I can succeed in whatever I want as long as I believe it. I feel like all the other shit, it’s just noise,” she says. Her confidence is unwavering—BK is self possessed in a way that manifests itself in not only her music, but also her personal style. It tracks, then, that BK’s creative purview has extended beyond music and into fashion. She’s now an ambassador for adidas Originals, a partnership that underscores her creative ethos: a unique blend of new with old, of self-reflection with unrelenting, meticulous output.

And, BK is no stranger to output. 2018 singles “Faygo” and “LEFT RIGHT” put her on a trajectory that culminated in 2020’s viral TikTok hit “Tweakin’ Together.” By then, she was already producing RULAFEST, her curated festival. Flash-forward to 2023, and Rolling Stone put her second on a list of “50 Innovators Shaping Rap’s Next 50 Years.” Last September, she performed at adidas Originals’ Open Source concert (for which brought out fellow superstar Denzel Curry), and immediately launched into a series of festival appearances and the aforementioned tour.

“[Self-assurance is definitely something I had to grow into, especially because when you’re young, all you hear is noise,” she tells me of her ongoing process of self actualization. Middle school drama, high school, all types of weird stuff going on. I wasn’t as faithful as I am now, but I grew into it pretty quickly, with the help of my parents, too.”

BK has a cameraman rolling the whole day for a documentary they’re working on. The presence is no surprise, given how BK has taken to being involved in all aspects of the creative process. “I call it structured chaos, and I feel like the way that I am just makes it better. I’m responsible and I’m disciplined, just a little chaotic,” she admits, gesturing towards the cameras. We migrate from the studio outside, where it’s sweltering and humid in the July sun, though, of course, she seems unbothered. 

I want to talk about the whirlwind of the past eight years, but it seems to be in BK’s nature to talk about what’s next. “I don’t reminisce on the past, because there’s so much more life to live,” she says. She becomes particularly animated when it comes to discussing her next album, N5ON, an exploration into electronic music. She’s never boxed herself into just Hip-Hop, singing and dropping verses over an eclectic variety of production, but this next era is a bit of a left turn, for the audience at the very least. Not for her. 

“Since I was 9 years old, I’ve listened to EDM, dubstep, house music, things like that. It’s actually the first couple of genres of music that I recall being a fan of, going down the rabbit hole of those genres,” she explains. “So I would just call this a full circle moment of going back to the music I started with.” The single, “I GO PUNK,” a collaborative track with producer Whethan, is a slight departure from the last BKTHERULA project, but contains all the hallmarks of her style. The poppy melodies that double as earworms and rage-inflected flows are all there, but then there’s the DROP. Immediately, it shifts into an EDM moshpit, as BK spits, ‘I go punk, I go rock / I go cold, I go hot.” The confidence bursts at the seams.

Looking deeply through viral social media phenomena, though, BK is very…normal. She loves horror movies, and waxes lyrical about Hereditary, Obsession, and Evil Dead Burn. And, like the vast majority of our generation, she loves vintage-inspired clothing. Despite the vast resources that come with success, she hits vintage stores for inspiration for the idiosyncratic style she’s developed, returning to silhouettes like the 90s inspired Adistar XLG: “I embody different versions of myself a lot,” she admits of her dressing habits. “Sometimes it just depends on the day. You know, I’m different.”

The music of her youth, the films she loves; the clothes she loves; all of this is absorbed and utilized in pursuit of the worlds she’s building.  BKTHERULA’s magnetic confidence means that her risks are frequently rewarded, whether it’s a record or a fit. “I feel like in a couple years I’m gonna look back at my fits [and think] ‘What the fuck?’ Or I might be like, ‘Nah, this shit was iconic as fuck.’ I don’t think there’s such a thing as a cap to my style. The peak will never fall. There are no peaks.”

Photographed by Abi Polinsky

Styled by Heidi Cannon

Written by Tal Kamara

Hair: Shanice Watkins

Makeup: Skreem

Flaunt Film: Naoki Fukada

Production Assistant: Adelaide Young and Caroline Humphrey