“I’m Just Freeballing Life”: A Burger Date With Rapper Cortisa Star

Welcome back to OFF MENU, a column where we gossip and gorge with our favorite tastemakers. In the last installment, we binged on caviar with Salt Lake City’s resident ice queen, Meredith Marks. This time around, we invited 19-year-old rapper and producer Cortisa Star to eat burgers in SoHo and talk about her recent brush with internet notoriety. The Delaware native first blew up on TikTok for raunchy bars about furry conventions and opium trade over blown-out bass beats (see: “Get It Down” and “Fun.”) Now, after going viral again for her From The Block freestyle last month and subsequently writing a diss track to her middle-aged haters, she’s locked in working on her next project, which includes some top-secret rap-girl collaborations. Between smoke breaks and studio sessions, we met up at Hamburger America to debrief on drone conspiracies, debunking ragebait rumors, and doing it big for trans girls in the underground.

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MEKALA RAJAGOPAL: We got the velvet rope treatment.

CORTISA STAR: I know, we’re VIP.

RAJAGOPAL: But they’re yellow ropes. When did you get to New York?

STAR: Yesterday.

RAJAGOPAL: You went straight to the studio?

STAR: Yes, right off the train.

RAJAGOPAL: Apparently this is the burger of the moment.

STAR: Yeah, everyone’s here. Literally, everyone is here.

RAJAGOPAL: I know everybody here.

STAR: This is the new club.

RAJAGOPAL: Should we order?

STAR: I guess I’ll get a fried onion burger.

RAJAGOPAL: I might get a peanut butter and jelly because I’m feeling crazy.

STAR: I was looking at that…

RAJAGOPAL: And two fries, a half and half, and a coke.

CASHIER: Would you like that for here or to go?

RAJAGOPAL: For here, thank you. Wait, I’m gagging. We got the 100 sign. This is funny.

STAR: 100!

RAJAGOPAL: 100 bands in her burger. It’s perfect. Can I take a picture?

STAR: The universe is crazy. Wait, what does your shirt say?

RAJAGOPAL: I love Paris.

STAR: I need to go to Europe so bad. I’ve never been out the country. 

RAJAGOPAL: You live in Baltimore?

STAR: Yeah, I was born in Baltimore, but I grew up in Delaware.

RAJAGOPAL: I’m from Maryland. I used to live in Baltimore. Where in Delaware?

STAR: Sussex County. No one knows where it is. It’s like a wasteland.

RAJAGOPAL: What was it giving growing up?

STAR: Farms and ditches. Honestly, it was not giving us anything.

RAJAGOPAL: Where was the spot to congregate?

STAR: My house. All my friends came over to my house. It’s like a beach town right above Salisbury, Maryland, on the border. It’s tragic over there.

RAJAGOPAL: Okay, I’m getting the visual. When did you move to Baltimore?

STAR: Halloween night at 12:00 a.m.

RAJAGOPAL: Spooky. 

STAR: Yeah. I got back from New York the same day and I just left. My mom was gagged. I was like, “I got to go.”

RAJAGOPAL: Oh, it was a surprise?

STAR: I didn’t tell anybody. I just left because my twin sister moved to Baltimore in September. It’s been fun. Everyone there is so nice. Everybody in Delaware is kind of evil.

RAJAGOPAL: When did you graduate?

STAR: I didn’t. I dropped out. I couldn’t do it anymore. I got bullied a lot. That’s why the internet doesn’t affect me at all. Like, in middle school, I would sit down and people would pull out my chair and I’d fall on the ground.

RAJAGOPAL: Wow.

STAR: Like, this is not Disney Channel. Then I dropped out and I was free. I can’t be around those people. Everybody was racist and rude. That’s why I’m shitting on all of them. All the people from Delaware who I love know I love them, so this doesn’t apply to them. 

RAJAGOPAL: Did you work?

STAR: Yes, I worked in an ice cream shop downtown.

RAJAGOPAL: All baddies worked at an ice cream shop or a smoothie shop.

STAR: We had smoothies too. And I worked at a fish market. I made pies and bagged fish. And then, a crab shack. And then a hotel, and then a pizza place.

RAJAGOPAL: These are such Delaware-coded jobs. A fish market is crazy. What if the fish contaminates the pie?

STAR: That’s what I always thought. I was like, “This key lime pie smells like fish.” It was nasty.

RAJAGOPAL: Are your friends that came with you from Baltimore?

STAR: No, they’re from New York. My friends in Baltimore got jobs and shit, so they can’t go nowhere.

RAJAGOPAL: That’s the thing about the city I like. Everyone is so domesticated. It’s crazy, especially for gay people. 

STAR: Exactly.

RAJAGOPAL: I’m like, “Where they at?” 

STAR: They’re actually everywhere.

RAJAGOPAL: In the house. Like, indoor gays are unheard of here.

STAR: But as soon as it hits 9 p.m., you go to Ottobar in Baltimore and they’re there.

RAJAGOPAL: Another very spooky place.

STAR: I love it. I’m just like, “I know I’m not supposed to be here, but I love it.” And a lot of raves. I be raving boots. But I’m a real homebody. I don’t get out too much, unless I’m here in New York, then I’m always outside. You got to switch it up.

RAJAGOPAL: Sometimes against your will.

STAR: The universe is holding a gun to your head, telling you to be an outside monster. You’re kind of partying the entire time, and I love it. Being young and turnt is my favorite thing on earth, I think.

RAJAGOPAL: Will you move here?

STAR: Maybe in like six months. But I have a dog who hates people. He does not like cities.

RAJAGOPAL: What’s his name?

STAR: Zuko. He’s crazy. When you moved to New York, did you start smoking cigarettes? Because every time I’m here, I smoke a pack a day. New York brings it out of me because I’m walking too much and it’s cold.

RAJAGOPAL: It’s like, “Bit chilly innit.”

STAR: Exactly. My life’s crazy, so I’m always smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.

RAJAGOPAL: It’s been crazy. 

STAR: These drones.

RAJAGOPAL: These what?

STAR: Have you not seen the drones? There’s drones everywhere.

RAJAGOPAL: What do they mean?

STAR: Nobody knows. I mean, that’s what they’re saying. You don’t know if they’re evil or not. There’s just drones everywhere.

RAJAGOPAL: Something really weird is going on.

STAR: Yeah, something shifted and the drones are out.

RAJAGOPAL: I’m not going to lie, I was on Worldstar’s page because I was trying to find the post of you and I was scrolling past all the other posts and I was like, “What reality are we living in right now?”

STAR: Someone flipped a rock a long time ago and it just messed everything up.

RAJAGOPAL: I think 2025 is going to be lit, but it’s going to be crazy.

STAR: I think for individuals, it’s going to be really fun.

RAJAGOPAL: Everyone’s going to see a lot of success.

STAR: Now everybody thrives on chaos. The world is so chaotic. When shit goes crazy, everybody’s up. I love it. Is this Clairo? 

RAJAGOPAL: [Sings]

STAR: I didn’t know New York was down like that.

RAJAGOPAL: Speaking of New York, From the Block. How did that happen?

STAR: Me and my label were doing a press run in New York. I walked there from Koreatown in Manhattan to somewhere in Queens or Brooklyn, but it was deep. I walked for like three hours.

RAJAGOPAL: Any reason you walked?

STAR: I don’t know. Felt the vibe. I like walking. 

RAJAGOPAL: What was recording the episode like?

STAR: It was like 10 minutes of recording, just me and my friends from the music video. They were all awkward.

SERVER: Here’s your order. Enjoy.

RAJAGOPAL: Thank you. Oh, they’re kind of mini. Do you like pickles?

STAR: I don’t.

RAJAGOPAL: Can I eat your pickles? I feel like it’ll kick start my digestion.

STAR: The cigarettes already did so much for me.

RAJAGOPAL: Love your pentagram of mustard. I’ll eat the pickle and then we can use this cup for ketchup.

STAR: Your mind. I love people with powerful minds.

RAJAGOPAL: You have a powerful mind. It’s giving computer.

STAR: Thank you. Sometimes, I’ll say a bar and I’ll just have to stop recording and just drop my jaw. I’ll be like, “What the fuck? How did I just say that?”

RAJAGOPAL: How do you write your bars? 

STAR: I just do it off the spot. I just think it and then I write it down.

RAJAGOPAL: So you don’t really write them.

STAR: Yeah, I usually just lay it all down.

RAJAGOPAL: That’s when you get the best work, when you’re just brain vomiting.

STAR: Yes, and my lyrics are really random. I feel like all the people who love randomness or just being slightly off-putting, they get it.

RAJAGOPAL: Not beating the weird and off-putting allegations.

STAR: My grandma said I had the job of a clown.

RAJAGOPAL: That’s iconic. I’m using that.

STAR: I had to think about it. Like, I really do go in front of people and entertain. A jester type vibe. Maybe she was onto something. She was reading me for a good 30 minutes.

RAJAGOPAL: I mean, the straight grannies online are mad too. And I’m like, “What are you mad about?” It’s nothing offensive going on here.

STAR: My music is not for them. I’m 19 and transgender.

RAJAGOPAL: Right. You tweeted something funny like, “I just spawned, let me cook.”

STAR: Yes, because I literally just got here. It’s been 30 minutes. That got a lot of people tweeting like, “I fucking hate her music, but she’s so funny.” And I’m like, “Okay. I’ll take it.” Maybe a side gig as a comedian, except I’d actually be really awkward on stage.

RAJAGOPAL: What’s your favorite bars you’ve written?

STAR: “That boy don’t do nothing, he a square, we calling him Bob,” that’s my favorite. Or, “Working these bitches like my name is Benson.” The Regular Show gag.

RAJAGOPAL: They don’t get these references.

STAR: I’m telling y’all, there’s a deep meaning. Wait, my mother’s calling me. [Answers phone] Hello? I’m in the middle of my interview. I love you, too. Bye. [Hangs up] She said hi.

RAJAGOPAL: How does she feel about you going viral?

STAR: She’s always just like, “This is crazy.” Because people in the town will ask her, “Aren’t you so-and-so’s Mom?” I don’t hide anything from her. Anytime I go anywhere I’m always like, “I’m going to be here until 8:00 a.m.” Lying doesn’t get anybody nowhere.

RAJAGOPAL: How are you doing with the influx of attention?

STAR: I have a really hard time taking in people’s perception of me. But I kind of feel the same. I don’t really know what’s going on. I have my social media notifications off because the second that video got posted, I was asleep and I woke up like, “Why do I have 1,000 comment notifications?” I was like “Oh my god.”

RAJAGOPAL: Here we go.

STAR: And then the next day, it was Worldstar and Rap TV. They were using me for rage-bait. People were in my comments and DMs trying to get me mad and I’m just like, “I don’t know you.” I can’t be mad at somebody I don’t know.

RAJAGOPAL: Are people recognizing you?

STAR: Yes, for the past few months. In Baltimore too sometimes. I was at Ottobar and someone recognized me and my sister. And they were like, “Here’s a shot for both of you.” I’m really bad at socializing, so it helps because I can’t talk to people. Now, we can talk.

RAJAGOPAL: They have some context. You’re not starting from scratch.

STAR: Exactly. And then, we went outside because we’re smoking a cigarette outside the bars. And then we smoked a cigarette with a homeless lady and we convinced her to go to rehab.

RAJAGOPAL: You end up forming a bond with so many homeless people in Baltimore. It’s interesting.

STAR: They talk about the raw real shit.

RAJAGOPAL: They do. Well, you’ve been going out a lot, but have they played your song while you were at the club yet?

STAR: No.

RAJAGOPAL: Really? Last night I was at a holiday party and they played your song and everyone was going up.

STAR: My friend sent me a video of her in Japan and they were playing “Cortisa Crump” and I was like, “Why am I tapped in?”

RAJAGOPAL: It’s international, darling.

STAR: Everyone’s diva now.

RAJAGOPAL: Everyone’s been divafied. That’s the real agenda.

STAR: There’s some straight men DMing me. They’re just like, “I can’t tell anybody I like your music.”

RAJAGOPAL: Not the closeted fans. 

STAR: But it’s a lot more love than hate. It was thousands of hate comments, but tens of thousands of positive comments.

RAJAGOPAL: The numbers don’t lie, babe. What do you think of the TikTok ban?

STAR: Honestly, we’re going down a bad slope. It’s going to make them think they can ban everything.

RAJAGOPAL: Yeah.

STAR: Seriously, free us.

RAJAGOPAL: TikTok music is good to me. What’s a topic you want to explore in your music?

STAR: I don’t know. Maybe a sad song. That’d be crazy. I want a crazy song because I was on antipsychotics at one point.

RAJAGOPAL: What’s your cocktail?

STAR: It was just Abilify. Every time I would drink on it I would black out, so I just stopped taking it. And the estrogen. And whatever I find at the afters.

RAJAGOPAL: That’s treatment. Everyone’s off their meds.

STAR: Yeah. I’m just freeballing life. But every time I’m off them, I make the craziest songs, so it’s okay. I’ll get back on them when I need to.

RAJAGOPAL: Right. Somebody online called you the white Rihanna. 

STAR: Everyone keeps calling me albino transgender rapper.

RAJAGOPAL: The tea pages?

STAR: Yeah. I’m not albino. I’m just really pale and biracial. But I am transgender, so maybe they’re on to something.

RAJAGOPAL: I guess they got your tea. 

STAR: Word on the streets is that I’m albino and demonic.

RAJAGOPAL: The Facebook types think everything is satanism though.

STAR: I’m just finding this out. I really wish they would’ve told me.

RAJAGOPAL: Good thing you drew them a pentagram earlier.

STAR: The signs are here.

RAJAGOPAL: They’re all here at Hamburger America.

STAR: The ground starts cracking. The psychoanalyzing of Cortisa Star must be stopped. But I could make the most fire song and people would still hate on me just because I’m a trans girl.

RAJAGOPAL: I always feel like the ideal amount of fame is where you have a cute niche fanbase but you can still walk wherever you want and not be ambushed from all directions.

STAR: I remember I was at the Bktherula and Skaiwater concert in D.C. and a group of people were screaming my name. There’s a video of me just so shocked. But so many people think my name is Cortissa. It’s Cortisa.

RAJAGOPAL: They just aged you by 30 years.

STAR: Seriously. One time I was on the stage and they said the wrong name the entire night and I was just like, “Oh my god.”

RAJAGOPAL: Do you like performing?

STAR: It’s so fun. I get hyped when everyone starts screaming. Crowd control is always my favorite part. I’m like, “Everybody dance right now,” and people start dancing. It’s like, “All hail Plankton.” 

RAJAGOPAL: Seriously. 

STAR: When I’m not performing I want to party with bitches. I don’t care. Like, spike my drink, whatever.

RAJAGOPAL: It’s lit.

STAR: It’s lowkey impossible to spike my drink because I actually wanted that.

RAJAGOPAL: How’s your burger?

STAR: I’m burgered out, but I like it.

RAJAGOPAL: What does your diet consist of?

STAR: Cheesesteaks, burgers, pizza. That’s what I get as of late.

RAJAGOPAL: Okay. I get the vibe.

STAR: I eat a lot of clementines and bananas too. I just be so busy. I’ll be at the afterparty and I’ll separate myself for an entire hour because I’m going to be there until 8:00 a.m. anyway.

RAJAGOPAL: Okay, you’re an afters queen.

STAR: Low-key. It’s kind of bad. Me and my twin sister, we party down. Probably once a week, if not three times. There’s nothing else to do. Well, you can go to the skate park.

RAJAGOPAL: Do you skate?

STAR: No, I just watch.

RAJAGOPAL: Are skater boys your type?

STAR: No.

RAJAGOPAL: What is?

STAR: I’ve talked about Opium boys, but, low-key, I’m against them. I think they’re the devil incarnate. I don’t have play, so honestly, my type is anything that comes my way. 

RAJAGOPAL: Well, in Baltimore—

STAR: The trade up there is looking good.

RAJAGOPAL: They be paying for stuff.

STAR: They’re like, “You look so good. I want to spend my money on you.” That really works for me. I don’t know what I’m going to vibe about tonight. Maybe drugs, not too much though. I don’t want to Lindsay Lohan myself.

RAJAGOPAL: You don’t really usually rap about drugs.

STAR: I have recently, just because these parties are being crazy. I love me some Trans-Pecos.

RAJAGOPAL: How do you feel about doing a part of the underground? Do you identify with that?

STAR: Yes, I love the underground. They hate to see me, but I love to see them.

RAJAGOPAL: It’s so bro-y.

STAR: Right. I feel like people haven’t seen a lot of trans artists up in their face before, so they’re all kinds of confused. It’s time for the girls to come out.

RAJAGOPAL: What celebs have been following you?

STAR: Oh my god. Ayesha Erotica, Kim Petras, Arca, Charli, and a couple others. TiaCorine, Bali Baby. Rico Nasty followed me on TikTok a while ago, and I almost blew up and died. Seriously. I was as gagged as a ball.

RAJAGOPAL: Who are you trying to collab with?

STAR: Rico. I’m collabing with two girls soon and it’s going to be awesome. I’m collabing with [REDACTED] and [REDACTED].

RAJAGOPAL: Oh, fab. Who are the rap girls that you’re into right now? 

STAR: I really like Skaiwater. I like Chief Keef and Kimya Dawson, boots. “Squid Melody” by The Living Tombstone is really good.

RAJAGOPAL: What is that?

STAR: He makes like, game music.

RAJAGOPAL: Are you a gamer?

STAR: Boots. It’s bad. I play a lot of Fortnite. I play Splatoon, Sonic. I also like Call of Duty. I’m allied with the gamers. I’m also allied with the furries.

RAJAGOPAL: Are you a furry?

STAR: I might be. They’re tapped in. They were drawing me as a furry. It was crazy. 

RAJAGOPAL: Are you going to the furry con?

STAR: I need to go.

RAJAGOPAL: Have you been inside a fursuit?

STAR: No. They’re thousands of dollars. Those people are rich.

RAJAGOPAL: Yeah, they are really expensive. But furries are probably addicted to their lifestyle. They’ll spend anything.

STAR: Yeah. I had this friend who did commissions and they made so much from one year of making fursuits. Apparently, it only costs like $300 to $1,000 to make them, but they sell them for thousands. I think I just need a bunch of furries around me.

RAJAGOPAL: Furries as far as the eye can see.

STAR: I was going to go to the anime convention in Ocean City, Maryland, but I had to come to New York. Shit got serious. 

RAJAGOPAL: And now you’re working in the studio all week. I hope your music still sounds fried. Tell the engineer to crank that.

STAR: Yes! I keep telling them to. My music is for the evil bitches. 

RAJAGOPAL: What do your studio sessions look like?

STAR: I bring my bong with me and I just hit it and hop in the studio.

RAJAGOPAL: How cute. Bongs are so suburban.

STAR: That’s what everyone says, but I have an 18-inch tag bong and it’s so awesome. How’s your peanut butter and jelly?

RAJAGOPAL: It’s like an Uncrustable. The fries are better. These are like McDonald’s fries.

STAR: These are definitely McDonalds fries.

RAJAGOPAL: Our velvet rope is gone. Should we kick ourselves out?

STAR: Yeah, let’s go outside. I want a cigarette.