Jhoni Jackson (
[Also see Jackson’s article “Esty Is Roller Skating Straight to Stardom” in Paper Magazine.]
Innovation comes easiest when you’re authentically you, Esty has realized. Without dedicated soul-searching, though, your own voice can be muffled, or maybe you can’t hear it at all.
The first-generation Dominican American’s newest single is the result of her commitment to a never-ending survey of the self. On “Holy Ghost $$$,” she raps, “quiero salvación, no la fama,” and it isn’t aspirational. Esty is living that line.
“I’d rather be good spiritually and be a good person and not step on people’s toes and do things the right way than have fame,” she says. “Fame is nothing. It matters more that you’re a good person and you do right by others.”