New York City’s own King Princess – the project of Brooklyn-based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and actor Mikaela Straus – announces her triumphant third record Girl Violence today. Her first release with section1, Girl Violence will be out on September 12th, with lead single “RIP KP” out today. The song was debuted last night with a performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and is out now alongside a Warren Fu-directed masterpiece, as well as an announcement of a global tour.
Made in collaboration with Jake Portrait (Lil Yachty, Alex G, Unknown Mortal Orchestra), and Aire Atlantica (breakthrough: SZA’s “Low”), this new King Princess record is the sound of Straus picking up the pieces after her world fell apart – fighting for freedom, stepping back from the limelight and major label system, breaking up, moving away, and returning to NYC where she was born and raised. Through it all, she somehow found the agency and creative spirit to fight the misconceptions and create the album she was destined to make, in a potent return to self. Perennially underestimated, she now wields the chip on her shoulder as a weapon, upping the ante and taking the reins on Girl Violence.
The video for lead single “RIP KP,” directed by Warren Fu, finds King Princess in her own personal hell: a particularly demonic – and extremely gay – afterlife limbo. The song itself serves as one of the album’s defining statements. Brimming with erotic euphoria and King Princess’ voice cracking with lust, “RIP KP” is hands-down the sexiest cut she’s ever conceived. Straus tears into the uninhibited edges of desire with reckless abandon while straddling the line between vulgar and proper, calling into question if that line even exists in the first place.
King Princess says of the song: “‘RIP KP’ is about the sexy side of girl violence – when love takes over your brain like a cordyceps and suddenly you’re getting fucked all over your house, acting a fool. It’s the perfect way to open the record: dramatic, unhinged, and a little tongue-in-cheek. I wrote it during a full ego death – leaving LA, my label, my old life – and somehow landed back in NYC making the music I would’ve obsessed over at 15. It’s a slutty anthem for the lesbians. We need debauchery this summer.”
Tour Dates
June 4 – Market Hotel – Brooklyn, NY ** SOLD OUT **
October 3 – Austin City Limits – Austin, TX
October 10 – Austin City Limits – Austin, TX
October 25 – Marathon Music Works – Nashville, TN
October 26 – Buckhead Theatre – Atlanta, GA
October 28 – The National – Richmond, VA
October 29 – Brooklyn Paramount – Brooklyn, NY
October 31 – 9:30 Club (late show) – Washington, DC
November 1 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
November 2 – House of Blues – Boston, MA
November 4 – HISTORY – Toronto, CAN
November 5 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Royal Oak, MI
November 7 – The Salt Shed – Chicago, IL
November 8 – Uptown Theater – Minneapolis, MN
November 10 – The Pageant – St. Louis, MO
November 11 – The Truman – Kansas City, MO
November 13 – Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
November 14 – The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
November 16 – Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA
November 17 – Roseland Theater – Portland, OR
November 19 – The Regency Ballroom – San Francisco, CA
November 21 – House of Blues – Anaheim, CA
November 22 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
December 3 – Vicar Street – Dublin, Ireland
December 5 – Queen Margaret Union – Glasgow, Scotland
December 6 – Beckett – Leeds, UK
December 7 – New Century Hall – Manchester, UK
December 9 – Brixton Electric – London, UK
December 13 – La Madeleine – Brussels, BE
December 14 – Le Trianon – Paris, FR
December 16 – Melkweg Max – Amsterdam, Netherlands
December 17 – Astra Kulturhaus – Berlin, Germany
Photo Credit: Conor Cunningham
TheWaster.com | Listen Up
6.4.2025
