Katastrophe, aka Rocco Kayiatos is a queer FtM rapper who has just left his native San Francisco for a short European tour. If he hasn't stolen your heart yet, it's only a matter of time. Combining tongue-twisting rhymes, phat beats, political frankness and big dollops of humour, Katastrophe has been setting stages on fire since his debut in 1997. Lucky London audiences will soon get a chance to check him out, but in the meantime here's a little interview to get you going.

How did you get started?
I have always loved music and writing, I played many instruments when I was growing up and I always wrote poetry. Rap felt like a natural progression and a way to use all of my creative skills at once. It’s the best art form for me because I want to inspire people to think, but also to be free and light-hearted, and to enjoy life.

What's emo-hop?
It's hip hop that is more emotionally vulnerable.

Who or what inspires you to make music?
Everything! Especially struggle, being broke, being trans, being radical, being disenfranchised. The desire for extreme change and acceptance, and the value of all human life.

What's your best song?
It's a song called Your Girlfriend and it’s about how, if you do not look after your girlfriend and make her feel special, I will take her.

How does being a female-to-male transgendered person affect your work?
It affects everything, especially my art. It is, at this point, the focus of my life. I rap about it in some songs, and even the songs that I do not mention it in are still informed by my experiences. It also makes it difficult to be part of straight hip hop culture, because I am scared of what could happen if someone does not know and then they find out.

What do you think that European audiences are going to make of you?
I do not know, but I hope they like me.

Eminem: discuss!
I think that he's spoken directly to the queer community in a way that no other artist ever has. He seems to be so focussed on queer subject matter that it makes me feel a bit suspicious. Most artists write about what they are passionate about, or what they know intimately, so why does this straight man fixate on queers so much? It's not like other rappers either, because they just use the word Fag derisively. But Eminem mentions all aspects of the queer community, even pansexuals, which many queer people do not even know about. It could be said that he just hates fags, but why is he so threatened then? You know that saying – we hate what we are.

Got any tips for attracting the ladies?
Be nice, smile a lot, tell them when they look good, always let them know that they are smart and that they are the best part of life. Be yourself, unless you are mean.

Katastropherap.com