Event Recap ‣ TONKATRUCK Remix by Mijita ft. Rico Nasty
Mijita's and Rico Nasty's TONKATRUCK Remix release party was the indoor block party we needed this winter
Relive the celebration of NYC's own, Mijita, and her iconic collab with Rico Nasty
Ciani B.
Editor-in-Chief
Updated
All photos by @XiTookIt on IG
“Muñecas, push up those tetas and come show some panty at the cuuuutest kickback in town” announced the flyer posted on the Instagram page of I’m Finna Talk, a community organization that curates free, accessible creative workshops and events for queer black and brown folks in NYC. The flyer was promoting the release party for NYC-based musician, Mijita’s, TONKATRUCK Remix featuring Rico Nasty, and I immediately knew it was pop-out time!
The banger of the night, TONKATRUCK, had initially been released in June 2023 as a summertime block party anthem complete with references to NYC culture and a music video full of vibrant colors, ass-shaking, and summer-in-the-city vibes. Artist and director, Mijita, shared:
“The original name of the song was ‘Block Party.’ My uncle makes all of my beats and then everything runs by my cousin, who’s my engineer, before we do anything. So it's like we're a little team together. So, originally I was like ‘I can make a song like this for a block party’ and then, out of nowhere, my cousin was like, ‘we're not keeping this name, right?’ And then we were like, ‘no, no, no… it's gotta be TONKATRUCK’ But, yeah, a block party is the idea of it.”
Despite the song's name change and the addition of everyone’s favorite Black alt-girl rapper, Rico Nasty, to the remix, the essence of a block party remained and came to life at the release party. After braving the 1-hour-and-1-minute commute from Harlem to Brooklyn, I arrived at the beloved performance and event venue, Trans-Pecos, in Bushwick. Almost instantly, I could sense the palpable energy and love in the air. The venue came alive as attendees greeted each other with high-pitched hi's and hello's and smiles that took up their entire faces. Additionally, the disco ball caught the lights perfectly, casting a glamorous glow over the crowd, and the plants hanging from the ceiling added a touch of nature, creating a warm and visually appealing atmosphere
The event opened with DJ SUBWOOF, whose techno house set, accompanied by their intriguing fur suit, set the perfect tone for the night. The dance floor was quickly filled with energetic partygoers, with their heads bobbing and feet moving to the electrifying beats. As the night progressed, the DJ lineup, including DJ OATMILKDRUNK and her kitty headphones, kept the energy high. The crowd immediately responded with enthusiastic ass-shaking as she played NY Drill and nostalgic throwbacks, showcasing the infectious spirit of the party. Additionally, the DJs' mutual support of one another as they stood cheerfully beside the decks as each person played, contributed to a sense of camaraderie, emphasizing the celebration of music, dance, and community.
Explaining the origin story of this party, Mijita shared with me:
Sharaah, aka DJ OATMILKDRUNK, that's my best friend in life. We've been friends for like two years now, we're literally attached to the hip and she roots for me in a way that propels me forward. For example, I said that I wanted a DJ to perform with so she learned how to DJ and now she performs with me every time. She's just that type of person.
Then, recently, I was like, ‘Hey, I need to do a release party for this song [TONKATRUCK Remix] because I need to celebrate it in some way. I've been working so hard, I need to just like, drink and dance, you know what I mean? And she put this together with Michelladonna and Alejandro Ruiz from I'm Finna Talk. And then from there, she just figured it all out, she planned it all out.”
And, celebrate, drink, and dance, we did! The party's vibe honestly felt like it was straight out of the TONKATRUCK Remix music video. In the video, Mijita and Rico Nasty along with the rest of the cast members are donning clown face paint and having a full-blown party in each scene! Explaining the creative direction behind this video, its director, Mijita herself, explained:
I feel like I connect a lot to clowns in general, like in my life. I called myself the clown of Washington Heights since I was like 12. I would always dress up and run around the Heights and I was like, ‘oh, this is funny as fuck.’ Like, I'm a little clown 'cause all the Dominican grandmas look at you and they're like, what is going on girl?
So, I've always wanted to do this concept. Originally, I wanted the first music video to be a clown music video. But then I was like, ‘Okay, it's a summertime song. Let me just make it summertime, with everybody in their own little colors.’
But it was mostly the clown concept for me and the idea of a clown party is what I feel connects the most to me and the people around me. I feel like me and my friends putting on our face [makeup] and putting on our outfit, it feels like clownery in the way that it's like putting on a different little character that you are when you go outside. And I really wanted to show that in the way of all these clowns having a little party, which really is just me and my friends having a little party, you know? It's like it's us, but it's us amplified kind of thing.
So, I was absolutely GAGGED when several partygoers arrived in full clown paint and killer outfits. It was exactly the clown party Mijita had wished for!
But what honestly gagged me the most was Mijita’s performance! Her opening rendition of "Temporary Love" easily became a highlight of the night, complete with background dancers in cute black mini skirts. The upbeat, cutesy, girly vibes of the track, along with the interactive nature of the performance and Mijita's engagement with the audience, set the stage for an electrifying experience—especially when she spit some fire in the song’s rap verse.
Next, she and her dancers performed her single That’s My Girl!!!, keeping us entertained with dazzling choreography. I mean, the crowd was quite literally going crazy during the performance.
The packed floor of audience members let out an audible sad “aww” when Mijita announced that she had only one remaining song in the set. But our spirits were immediately lifted when she followed up with “But it’s also the song you all came here for.” We all went nuts!
“I’ve really been holding in this secret for months and months and months, and now the secret is finally out,” Mijita continued. “I feel so free, I feel so happy to know that y’all finally know what I know.”
Now, before I get into the performance, you’re probably wondering how this remix even came about in the first place. During our chat, Mijita gave me all the deets:
So, Rico hit me up. She saw the original song on TikTok, because I was just promoting it like crazy. And she hit me up and she was like, ‘do you have a remix of this? Are you putting a remix out?’ And I was like, ‘I can, like what?! Let's do something.’ And then, immediately, she sent me the verse literally the next day and we have been working on it ever since. But that was literally like two days after the original song came out. So, we've been working on this for a really long time, just making sure we got everything ironed out, and all the ideas and stuff like that, and getting me across the country because we shot the video in LA.
She continued on to rave about the experience of working with Rico Nasty:
I was very grateful and blessed for the fact that Rico really appreciated me for my artistry at the end of the day because, in the music video, I also painted the tapestry in the background and I painted my shorts for the video. I'm like a visual artist as well as a musical artist and I like to combine literally like any medium I can. And she really just loved and appreciated my work and was just like talking about it like she was a fan of it, which is crazy because she's literally like the first person that I see on my Spotify. If she drops a new release, I gotta save it. Like, if she drops a remix of her album, I gotta listen to. Like, she is my Drake, you know?
Okay, now that we know the backstory of this remix, let’s get into the performance because she DEVOURED! The vocals were on point, the choreography was amazing, and the level of ass-shaking from Mijita and her dancers was ASS-TRONOMICAL! Every person in the audience sang along word-for-word, adding to the electrifying energy in the atmosphere of this small club in Bushwick. I think I might’ve even felt the floor shaking at some point. But, hey, that's what happens when a girl with a big-ole-butt shakes it like a TONKATRUCK (that’s a play on the song’s lyrics if somehow you still haven’t listened yet, which I am judging you for!)
Following the ending of her set, the audience rooted and screamed in appreciation and awe. With large smiles and kisses and hugs, the night ended in pure community bliss and celebration of one of our own
Make sure you tune in to Mijita’s forthcoming EP release, it’s sure to be a banger like the rest!
