Kim Petras and Carmen Electra on Sex Work, Stripper Heels, and Slut Pop Miami

Kim Petras might have delivered the raunchiest Valentine’s Day gift in history. Slut Pop Miami, her new EP released last week, takes Slut Pop down to the 305, a city that knows how to turn up the heat. “What happens in Miami, stays in Miami,” says Carmen Electra, who got on Zoom with the pop star last week. Inspired by (faint) memories of wild nights out–nights, Petras explains, that seem to always involve chartering a boat–Slut Pop Miami warmly embraces all things sleaze and sex. “There’s something so liberating about being on vacation,” Petras told Electra, whose iconic photoshoots served as a sort of blueprint for the EP’s debaucherous visuals. Calling in from Europe, where Petras is currently touring, she and Electra exchanged stories from steamy late nights in Miami and talked cockblocking, OnlyFans, and the clothing and accessories Electra keeps safe in what was formerly a wine cellar.

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CARMEN ELECTRA: Hello.

KIM PETRAS: Hi, queen. Thank you for doing this.

ELECTRA: You’re such an icon. I know you could have picked anyone to interview you for this. To get myself over with, why did you choose me?

PETRAS: You’re a legend and we reference your photoshoots a lot. I wanted to extend my passion for the iconic visuals you’ve created. I’m so inspired by you.

ELECTRA: Oh baby, same. When I worked on music, some of my lyrics were a little too naughty for some people’s taste. But you have been able to change that, to win a Grammy, and express yourself the way you want to. How does that feel?

PETRAS: It feels really full circle. I always liked dirty music growing up. It wasn’t a bad thing or necessarily all about sex, because when you’re a kid, you just have fun. You don’t judge it. I feel like that about a lot of Britney and Madonna. I find it really strange that people don’t think that it’s real music when you have dirty lyrics or talk about sex because–

ELECTRA: Have you heard that before? 

PETRAS: Absolutely.

ELECTRA: You’re like, “Yo, but look at my Grammy.” All your Bunheads, they love you. 

PETRAS: I’m so grateful for them. They get it. Especially with something like Slut Pop, it’s obviously meant to be fun. I’m not trying to be like, “This is my poetry.” I created a character for myself that can say whatever and get away with it. That is such a fun perspective to have from a writing standpoint too. Anything goes and I can say the sluttiest things I can think of. 

ELECTRA: Why did you decide to drop the EP on Valentine’s Day?

PETRAS: Honestly, Valentine’s Day is always a tough one for me. I never particularly liked it, and there’s so much pressure. Usually I end up going out with my friends and partying. We’re all like, “Well, we haven’t found the one, so we’re going to have fun and get really drunk and dance around.”

ELECTRA: That’s what friends are for. You have a new friend, by the way, if you ever want to go out and do something fun. I know you love the ’90s and I lived those days. The raves, the dance club scenes. I’m ready to go. 

PETRAS: It would be an honor for me, going out with a real one. Everyone is so jealous of that time period.

ELECTRA: I hear that a lot from people. There was a lightness. For all my friends, we were working but we made sure we still had fun.

PETRAS: The fun came through for us, watching you on the screen. It was like, “She’s bringing the glamor and I want to live her life.”

ELECTRA: That is so sweet. Tell me about your writing process in general.

PETRAS: It really depends. For Slut Pop Miami, whenever me and my friends would make a slutty song, we would just call it “Slut Pop.” This time, I was really inspired by House music. We were making five songs a day and finishing them super quick, because the topics are fun. And especially now that I brought the slut pop universe to Miami, there’s so much to explore. The beach, the drinks, the boys, the outfit, the bikinis. I came in with a list of titles that I thought were fun and we went from there. We said the most ridiculous things that came to our minds. The dumbest one usually won because it’s so fun to scream out in a club. It’s so freeing to be on a project where you don’t have to worry like, “This reflects how I feel deeply on the inside.” Sometimes you sit there for hours and can’t find the right words. This one came easy because slutty songs come naturally to me.

ELECTRA: When you’re with your crew, that can happen, right?

PETRAS: Absolutely.

ELECTRA: How is this EP different from Slut Pop?

PETRAS: I go on a lot of vacations with my friends where things get crazy. There’s something so liberating about being on vacation. It’s like, “My real life doesn’t really matter, all that matters is us tonight.” We had a really fun trip to Miami and I came back and we all liked this idea of bringing this music to different cities. There’s so much visual reference there. There’s Miami Vice, and party culture in Miami is so out there. 

ELECTRA: I’m dying to hear about one of your wildest Miami stories.

PETRAS: The thing is, I don’t remember that much. But we always end up getting a boat. What happens on the boat is always unhinged. There’s lots of videos that get sent to me and I’m like, “Oh my god, I don’t remember doing that.” 

ELECTRA: What happens in Miami stays in Miami.

PETRAS: Stays in Miami and stays on the boat.

ELECTRA: My wildest story is when I got arrested in Miami.

PETRAS: Oh my god. What happened?

ELECTRA: I was with my guy, we had an argument and ended up getting arrested. But otherwise, I’ve always had amazing times where we go from club to club to the strip club after hours. We didn’t come in until the sun was up. That’s just how it was.

PETRAS: Amazing. 

ELECTRA: How do your fans from Europe to America differ? Do you notice different people love different things?

PETRAS: Yes. Slut Pop is way more popular in Europe than in America, which is crazy but makes a lot of sense. I’m from Germany, so we grew up with nudity on TV, no censored lyrics, and sex was an open conversation. A lot of European music, especially when I was growing up, was house and techno that was really X-rated lyrically. We heard that on the radio as kids and it took away the taboo. I find in America, a lot of the time it’s censored and behind closed doors. Of course, it doesn’t matter to everyone because the fans that love Slut Pop in America love it. At my shows, it doesn’t matter. Everyone just screams “Throat Goat.”

ELECTRA: I’m so lucky, I got a chance to hear “Gag on It,” “Cock Blocker,” and “Head Head Honcho.” Tell me about these songs.

PETRAS: “Gag on It” is the rhyme-iest sonically. It expresses my sexuality in a new way for me, which is nerve-wracking to put out there, but I think my fans are going to appreciate it. “Head Honcho” is such a fun analogy for me. I love the line, “I’m the head head honcho. I like the taste, no poncho. I make the boys cum pronto, from Miami to Toronto.” And “Cock Blocker,” I would say, is the funniest song on this project. It’s like, “No one likes a cock blocker.” That’s the lesson I want you to take away from this. I need you, as a listener, to realize that no one likes a cock blocker. Don’t be that person. 

ELECTRA: You nailed that one. Back in the day, we could never have explicit lyrics or song titles and get away with it. And not only get away with it, but win a Grammy. You really prove something to people with your music, that you can do what you want and still be successful, even if it’s new for those types of songs to be accepted.

PETRAS: Absolutely. I can’t imagine how I would’ve built a career back in the day. I’m extremely lucky that you get to make your own little world on social media,and that gives you power when you prove that there’s people out there who want to listen to something you put out yourself. I’m lucky that I get to be myself and make things that bring me the most joy. 

ELECTRA: I also wanted to congratulate you on your awesome Cosmopolitan cover.

PETRAS: Thank you.

ELECTRA: How’s it feel to be recognized by the beauty and fashion industry as well?

PETRAS: It feels incredible. I grew up trans and I was always like, “Maybe my friends are going to think I’m beautiful, or that one special person that I find.” But now, everything is changing and people are able to see the beauty. That makes me teary-eyed most of the time, because I never thought I could never be beautiful to a large number of people. I don’t think I’m necessarily a classically beautiful person, but I always knew I had personality and I’m funny. I can write. That’s something that can make you beautiful, your own energy.

ELECTRA: This is a little bit of a deeper question, about supporting sex workers when OnlyFans was planning to ban them from their platform. Slut Pop made a statement of the double standard surrounding male and female sexual expression, where men are celebrated and women are judged. How do you feel about that?

PETRAS: It is the worst thing in the world when what you can or can’t be is based solely on your gender. Women’s sexuality has made men so much money, and I’m so happy that there is now a way for women to make their own money from it. Everyone putting themselves out there is so brave. Knowing that you’re going to get judged but not caring is amazing. Also, from the trans perspective, a lot of my sisters resort to sex work to afford hormone therapy, or because they get kicked out of their houses and they’re not accepted. I want there to be less shame about sex in general. It’s fun, it’s human, it’s exciting, everyone loves it and is a part of it, so why does it need to be so taboo and judged? A lot of people are looking at this EP and being like, “Why are you exploiting yourself and only talking about sex?” When the reality is I’m making what I want to make. If you want to do something, do it. People are going to judge you, and there’s a double standard. But you can be really smart and successful and also really sexual, and that’s great. Don’t let these bitches tell you shit. 

ELECTRA: I recently joined OnlyFans and I have to say, I love it. I say exactly what I’m going to do. I have my own creative process. I’m the boss.

PETRAS: That’s so great. Walk me through your process.

ELECTRA: I’ll decide on who I want to shoot me and we’ll start going through my closets, because I’ve kept a lot of things. Eventually, we just roll with it as we’re doing it. “Oh my god, it would be fun to do this,” or “this outfit would look really good here.” It turns into this little fun thing.

PETRAS: I’m happy to hear that. You just briefly brought up your closet and how you kept a lot of things. I would die to know what you kept where you’re like, “This is my prized possession or my favorite thing that I have good memories of.” 

ELECTRA: Almost all my ’90s clothes.

PETRAS: Oh my god.

ELECTRA: Yeah. They’re all locked away but knowing I have them is really comforting. There’s some really special things in there that are really meaningful to me.

PETRAS: That’s amazing.

ELECTRA: One thing I did when I moved that was really fun, I had this huge wine cellar. And I don’t really drink wine, so I decided to make it a shoe cellar. All of my shoes throughout the different eras. Some of them are from when I was broke and I couldn’t afford to buy anything, and I would go to Hollywood Boulevard and buy a little stripper heel. It wasn’t that expensive, but it looked good.

PETRAS: I love stripper heels. 

ELECTRA: It became an art project.

PETRAS: Oh my god, I love the shoe cellar. I love stripper shoes and shopping on Hollywood Boulevard. I do that all the time.