Isabella: It’s [all] so destroyed by the algorithm and censorship. What is the ultimate social media? Where is it going? I think it’s all about [finding] ways of making things tangible and easier to absorb because now everything’s so fast. You can’t fully grasp art in the way that it should be.

Isabella: It makes me comment on the projections [people make]. I make fun of it [in my music]. People are like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, are you making fun of me? Are you agreeing with me?’ Biz: You make music that’s meant to be danced to. I feel like that urge is like an innate tactility. Anything that compels you to move is a rare and special thing now.Biz: You have both been photographed by Richard Kern, who’s well known for his explorations of female eroticism. This conversation is happening at an interesting time, especially in relation to his work, because we’re living in an unprecedented era in terms of image-making, the female erotic, and ownership of those images. A great example of this is the massive success and impact of OnlyFans, which speaks to a shift in who owns the means of production and distribution for images that activate desire. What does desire look like in this accelerated hyper-digital world? Biz: I think focusing on that opposes the atomization and alienation that social media does to us all. Reggaeton is sexual dancing music; it’s all about liberating yourself and moving your body. By discovering my sexuality [through music], I’m doing my past self a favor. I’m trying to be the star I was envisioning, or the girl I needed, when I was young.

Shame and the taboo around sex actually contribute negatively to [the problem of] sexual harassment, [which] we’re now putting to the forefront with the #MeToo movement. If we’re not able to talk about sex in a positive way, how are we supposed to talk about the bad side that comes along with it?

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I think the powerful thing about porn is that it is the one industry where women as performers are the dominant figures. But then at the end of the day, who owns those companies? Men.”–Sasha Grey Like Grey, Lovestory understands the modality of desire—the many different shapes it takes, how gritty and dark it can get, and how funny it can all seem after the moment’s passed. “Love can be nasty and violent, it’s not always a sugary fairytale,” says Lovestory of the passionate stories behind her songs. “Sex is liberating and the most primal creative expression, but this same feeling can be found in other sides of life, not everything sexy is about sex.” Recently, Lovestory was shot by Richard Kern, the legendary downtown New York photographer known for his transgressive portraits of unvarnished female sexuality and an early collaborator of Grey’s. By the time I found [my] strength, using my sexuality to be empowered became a very important tool to me, and I decided to make it part of my life’s mission. I don’t think that work is done. It’s just finding different ways to adapt it. How do I continue to communicate that to my audience and to new people in different ways than I have in the past? The end goal is [always] to inspire people to come together and be accepting. Sasha: I’ve found myself in situations where somebody was aesthetically presenting themselves as potentially submissive, and I went up to them, politely, and asked something sexual and they scoffed at me. This is the danger of presenting this aesthetic but being unable to just turn it down. If you don’t like it, if you’re not into me and you’re not vibing, turn it down. It’s like we don’t have the experience to say no, or, ‘I’m not comfortable with that.’ But why then why are you representing an aesthetic? I’m trying to be the star I was envisioning, or the girl I needed, when I was young.”—Isabella Lovestory

The porn legend and reggaeton pop princess on sexuality, art in the attention economy, and making their Catholic guilt work for them These days, the line between civilian and sex worker is not as sharply drawn as it was ten or fifteen years ago. Much of that is thanks to Grey, whose success across a variety of creative mediums helped normalize the idea that pornstars are people with talents, abilities, and interests outside of having sex on camera. First came aTelecine, Grey’s experimental noise collaboration, followed by a buzzy transition into mainstream acting—landing the lead role in Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 indie drama, The Girlfriend Experience. She’s also published a photobook, a series of novels, and toured as an international DJ. Recently, Grey’s taken to Twitch, where she streams gameplays and cooking segments to an audience of over 670,000.Isabella: There aren’t a lot of women in reggaeton. Especially in Honduras, the only recognized reggaeton artist is one guy. There are amazing woman producers, but they’re hard to find, especially Latina producers. But it’s growing, and it’s inspiring to see [that growth] and to infiltrate this man’s world. Isabella: People don’t know how to really be personable or social anymore. Social media can be so fake. First of all, [people] believe everything they read, then they cancel people. It’s like they get this fake rulebook of who’s a good person and who’s a bad person. That’s [what I like about] music. It’s so accessible—everybody can heal through it and everybody can connect through it. It’s not elitist. Coming from Honduras, I feel like music is the most healing thing for communities and for people to connect to each other. Isabella: Rebellion was always inside of me. I was a troubled child, and I had a problem with authority in school. I wanted to do it my way. That’s always been part of my philosophy and personality, being rebellious at heart. Playing with the cross and [Christian] iconography, it’s fun to have humor with those stereotypes.