Rapper Blakchyl's (formerly known as T-Fly) is a talented, community-minded wordsmith, having come up in the local hip hop community collaborating with music collectives, nonprofits and filmmakers. The queer artist has three European tours under her belt plus opening slots for Talib Kweli, Snow Tha Product, Jean Grae, Bizzy Bone and Scarface and her new album Better Than I Imagined (produced by The Mask), was accompanied by a short film and dropped in July. Always indefatigable, she recently landed a deal with Brighton, UK-based Tru Thought Records as well as an Austin Chronicle cover, was nominated for Best Hip Hop Artist, released an EP (Call Me Sometimes) and played a Waterloo Records in-store. It all comes down to her"powerful and effervescent songs" (CultureMap) and her love for the craft and it's community.