Crystelle002 talks the music genre she's in, her filmmaking dream, and experimenting with aesthetics as a Black woman in the industry.
GF: What’s your name and where did the idea come from?
Crystelle002: The origin of this name…I’m basically into electronic music. With the music that I make, it has that futuristic kinda vibe. So I thought maybe I should make my name more robotic. So I added the 002 to make it seem like I’m a prototype.
GF: That’s fire. I like that.
Crystelle002: I didn’t wanna be basic and be like “oh, 007.” I was like, “nah- let me switch it up.”
GF: We know your name now. Tell us what your gender identity is and your pronouns so we know how to refer to you.
Crystelle002: So I am a woman. My pronouns are she/her. And I am a bisexual woman on top of that.
GF: We love to see it. What’s your zodiac sign?
Crystelle002: Aries. I was born on April 15th, 2002.
GF: Okay! I’m a cancer. I’m a water sign
Crystelle002: Okaaay!
GF: I’m a water sign, but I love my fire signs. I have a cousin who’s an Aries and she’s dope. She’s one of my favorite people because once she feels a way, she makes everyone else feel it, too. I just admire her for that because she don’t hold back. Water signs tend to hold back but fire signs put it out in the open. If I had to rate, I would put Aries first, Sag second, and Leo last due to some bad experiences I’ve had. I’m into Astrology so I try not to judge because I know everybody’s built differently, but Leo is an honorable mention.
Crystelle002: Yeah, I’m friends with a couple of them.
GF: I hope that they’re better than this one person I knew. But like I said- not all Leos, not all zodiac signs are built the same. So I don’t doubt that they’re dope people.
Crystelle002: Exactly.
GF: Okay, next question: your favorite color?
Crystelle002: My favorite color- I hate to be boring- but it’s black. A lot of the clothing that I own is black.
GF: That’s dope. Do you feel like there’s a reason why you’re drawn to black more than any other color? How does it make you feel? What is it about black that makes it your color- your power color?
Crystelle002: I really like dark colors because I feel most comfortable in the dark. Not to be like, emo, but truthfully, it does embody who I am because I’m more into the mysterious, dreamy kind of things. I’m most active in the nighttime so I feel like maybe that’s what correlates. I just feel like that’s what complements my skin better, you feel me?
GF: It’s crazy that you mention it makes you feel most comfortable. I was just learning more about aura colors from this famous aura color reader on TikTok (@spiritontap) who said that people who are drawn to black are into protecting their energy. But apart from that- black is just that color.
Crystelle002: motions period
GF: Speaking of color- what’s your next hairstyle idea?
Crystelle002: I’m glad you asked. I’ve been getting into ponytails. My hair is growing so I can do some ponytails now. So last time I did a singular ponytail but next thing I wanna do- ‘cause I’m very much into 2000s hairstyles and I always try to showcase that in how I dress, in how I style my hair- so I wanna do pigtails braided. And I want them to have the classic…you know when we were little girls and we had the little bo-bo’s? I wanna do something like that. Maybe like a clear pink- a translucent pink goin’ on. We’ll see when I get in the beauty supply but that’s definitely on the next-hairstyle [list]. Either that or a platinum blonde wig. Or a mullet. ‘Cause I haven’t gone full blonde yet with my wigs, so.
GF: I personally feel like you would eat with all those three. I’ll definitely look forward to see what you post and come up with. I like the idea of them all. It’s inspiring to me because I feel like I still struggle with how to style my hair, so maybe that’s something we can talk about a little later.
Crystelle002: No forreal!
GF: Okay so we touched on your hair and now I want to talk about your nails. What’s your go-to way to do them?
Crystelle002: I’m french-down. French-tip down. It could be short, it could be long. Either way- french tips. Classic, white tips...But for my birthday I plan to [take] a different route and do them black. I saw it on Pinterest and I was like hold on- they did suttin’. I just had some nails on, too, but I finally took them off. It was gettin’ in the way of my work.
GF: That’s how I am too. I’m bare right now. I’m all natural because I’m a writer.
Crystelle002: Of course!
GF: Exactly! I’m always typing so it does get in the way. But ion know. Suttin about having nails it just turns it up a notch. Oh my gosh. Like you ever feel that bad bitchery. You be doing anything just to show them off.
Crystelle002: Like when you point- “Over there?”
GF: Yessss. Like, “Oh, what did you say?” You be using them nails for everything. Your vibe is very 2K and in the 2000s, french was IT. And it’s always gonna be IT.
Moving away from beauty and all things external, I’d like to shift the conversation to more random shit. I want you to think broadly rather than narrow-mindedly.
What’s something you’ve done for the plot recently?
Crystelle002: So basically…what I did recently for the plot…I messed with somebody who I’ve had my eye on for a while. And…should I have done it? No.
GF: But why? Why do you say no?
Crystelle002: I say no because it’s like…I kinda already saw the signs that he wasn’t fully ready to do anything serious. And neither was I, but you know, I was still open, you know what I’m saying? But I went through the motions of it.
But here’s why I shouldn’t have done it: He already told me like, “okay, Crystelle, you know, I’m young. I’m not ready.” And I was like, “I’m not really looking for anything serious either.” But I still wanted to experience them. And me being me, I’m always like, “I could change them.”
GF: Mmmmmm. That’s where we go wrong, Crystelle!
Crystelle002: Every. Single. Time. I think it’s gonna be different- it’s never different. You know, we had our fun while it lasted, and you know, that’s it.
GF: There we go.
Crystelle002: It is what it is- you feel me?
GF: Yes. Exactly. At least you had fun even though it hurt a little bit. I feel like everything we go through is a lesson even if it’s small. I feel like it’ll help you learn yourself more and that’s not the only person out there. You know what I’m saying?
Crystelle002: Exactly.
GF: There’s more where that came from.
Crystelle002: Exactly. We’re still young. I’m gonna be okay. We’re all gonna be okay.
GF: “We’re all gonna be okay.” I needed to hear that. The losses be wins.
Crystelle002: Exactly. ‘Cause it’s like you said before: does it hurt? Yes. Nothing valuable comes easy. Something of value is not gonna be too easy. You gotta go through the hard shit to figure out what you really need.
GF: And that hard shit be haaard! Like…I don’t want the lesson!
Crystelle002: Literally, like, let me vibe.
GF: Forreal. Like damn, I couldn’t just have this lil one? Alright.
Crystelle002: Literally. Life is humbling as hell. But we are each other. I can’t be mad at somebody who’s figuring out themselves, too. So i’m like, you know what, fine. If they need to go elsewhere, then let them go elsewhere so they can also learn that shit ain’t sweet. There’s ongoing lessons for everybody involved. So
GF: We’re all connected. Romantic shit aside, just in general- everybody’s on their own journey…We just gotta respect that and use the energy that we would to think about their shit and put it into ourselves so that we can level up, step into the baddest-bitch era that we ever could- every single era, ‘cause I feel like there’s no limit to how bad we can become in every aspect of life…When shit don’t work out, it happens for a reason so that we can tap back into ourselves. We can remind ourselves of that when shit don’t go our way, feel the feelings because we’re still human, but then keep it movin’. Better things are on the way.
He missed out. But you’re on your way to better shit.
Not just romantically, but in general- what are your biggest turn-offs/icks?
Crystelle002: Turn-offs in relationships that are not just romantic. Hmm…everything bothers me so though which is also another thing.
GF: Yo…I felt that.
Crystelle002: One thing I do hate is people [who] are just so easy to anger. Especially when you’re just being yourself. Let’s say I’m hanging out with somebody and I’m just being myself. I’m being quirky, I’m being goofy, and they’re like, “ew, what the fuck are you doing? Like, shut up.” You know what i’m saying? If you’re quick to snap at me, I can’t be around you. Because you’re gonna snap…a lot. And that’s not really fair to me because one thing I don’t like is limiting myself and downplaying myself for the comfort of others. I’ve done that for too long and I don’t wanna do that anymore. So when I see that i’m bothering you in any way, even though it’s not intentionally, I’m just gonna leave you alone. I can’t do it.
I hate when somebody is constantly leeching off another person. Like why don’t you have the energy to want to do it yourself? “Oh, I have a friend that knows how to do my makeup.” “Oh, I have a friend that can drive so I know that she’s gonna bring me.” Girl, come on, you know you can do this little thing, so why aren’t you doing it? But I feel like people are just too comfortable being one way. You gotta be able to move past stuff and experiment. You feel me? I’m also learning this, too. Cause I see the potential.
And something that goes hand-in-hand with this is people who are not trying to make shit shake for themselves. Not that it’s a bad thing to have some discernment, but…you can’t hold back and then be mad that you’re not involved in that thing. You had the chance.
GF: I feel like people like that could also be easy to resent and be jealous.
Crystelle002: Just know that we only have one life to live and you gotta go ahead and do it because at the end of the day, nobody really cares that much. Give yourself a chance to live. Give yourself a chance to breathe.
GF: I love that. Ouu. That’s deep and makes me self-reflect too. When you’re a powerful woman, it’s so easy for you to see power in others because you see others as a reflection of yourself. That’s how we view the world- through how we would do things and how we would approach things. When you’re powerful, you want other people to see their own power. Like “yo- you are so good at this thing. You have so much potential.” So when they don’t act on it it’s like damn, really? You could support people and bring the horse- what’s that phrase?
Crystelle002: You can bring the horse to the water but you can’t make them drink.
GF: Exactly. So it’s like are we gonna continue to spend our energy bringing that horse to the water or are we gonna drink it for ourselves? When you love somebody, you’re always gonna wanna empower them and fan their flame. But I feel like with us powerful women, we have to know what our boundary is when it comes to that because at a certain point- we can’t save everybody.
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More of this interview in the upcoming 2/6 video release.