Trans In Texas: Houston Rapper Uncle Tino Won’t Fall Down Greg Abbott’s ‘Rabbit Hole of F–ked-Up S–t’

As Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas continues to double down on his anti-transgender rhetoric, including calling on state officials to investigate supportive parents of transgender children for “child abuse,” Billboard is speaking with transgender artists in Texas about the ongoing fallout throughout the state. Below, Houston rapper Uncle Tino shares his story. 

For 27-year-old rapper Santino Alcoser, being a trans man is an important part of his identity as a recording artist. It’s just not the entirety of his identity. “I’m very much of the mindset that I can prove myself as an artist, period,” he says over a Zoom call with Billboard. “Whether or not I’m queer or trans has nothing to do with that.”

Performing under the name Uncle Tino, Alcoser has clawed his way up through the music scene in Houston, showing himself to be one of the brightest rising stars in the city. It certainly hasn’t been easy — as Tino tells it, finding a community in Houston was a struggle at first (“I was like, ‘Where the f–k have y’all been this whole time?’” he says of meeting other Houston-based queer artists for the first time). But now that he’s found his people, he’s ready to spread his message of love and acceptance. “And I want to do even more,” he adds.

Below, Billboard chats with Uncle Tino about how he got his start in music, what it’s like being an openly transgender rapper in the local hip-hop scene and how he hopes Gov. Abbott’s recent comments about trans kids and their families serve as a wake-up call to other Texans. “People eventually need to realize that we can’t keep this guy in office,” he said.

Tell me a little bit about how you got started with making music.

I was 14 when I first recorded my first demo. I didn’t originally start playing music in a disciplined way — I’m still not that disciplined, I just really like it [laughs]. I started writing when I was really young, and I was telling stories, and there was a guitar and a keyboard in my house, like a Casio. Sometimes, my dad would be up late playing it, and it would keep me up, so I would go chill with him and take my turn if I wanted to. As time proceeded, I decided that I could tie in creative writing with music, so I started rapping. Not really about anything serious, at first, but it was definitely an avenue where I felt like, “Huh, well I really like poetry, and I really like hip-hop,” so I just kind of did it. As a kid, I really looked up to hip-hop artists — especially Missy Elliott, she was my biggest influence for sure. I think my uncle — who was about my age when I was six — would ask, “What do you wanna be when you grow up” type s–t, and I would say “Missy Elliott.”

I started taking it a little bit more seriously later on, and I figured out how to rig things like USB microphones from Guitar Hero to my computer, and how to record the audio internally, and that set it off, I think. I really liked how I could make it work, and I loved the reaction I got from it.

[embedded content]

As someone who’s made a career out of hip-hop, what’s been your experience being out and openly trans in the community?

I am 27 now — I didn’t come out as trans until I was 22 years old. I came to terms with it for like a year, and before then, I had identified as a lesbian. People just kind of knew me as me, like I was never a very feminine kid, I just was always … like 97% myself [laughs]. Which is more than what a lot of people can say, to be honest! Especially as a rapper and somebody who is mixed Latino, growing up you never would have clocked me at first glance as Hispanic. So there was always a part of me that felt like I had to prove myself as a non-Black person and as a queer person who could rap. The theme of what I’ve had to do is really just the element of surprise, you know? People get really skeptical, and starting from that foundation has always kept me prepared to expect negativity, you know what I mean? It’s never a surprise to me that people will be surprised by me.

When it came to coming out as trans, it also had to become a question of branding — like, do I now have to change my stage name? Am I going to sound different? Eventually, it was like, there’s a lot of artists who change themselves completely all of the time, so that shouldn’t make my situation any different because I happen to be trans. Again, it’s about having to trailblaze through what people are used to. Especially in hip-hop, it’s so … underrepresented when it comes to queer folks. You’ll occasionally get artists like Young M.A who are out and proud, but then they do not get a lot of respect sometimes. It’s something where I know that if someone’s gonna try and put me in a corner, I’ll have to break barriers and bend the genre, even, to get that attention.

What’s the queer music scene like in Houston?

I mean, there’s a lot of us! [laughs] Like even amongst my current friends, we’ve got bisexual artists, lesbian artists, all of these beautiful people who aren’t even necessarily immersed in the queer scene. To be real, it’s not quite all together yet — it’s really getting there, but I met so many LGBTQ artists, and I was like, ‘Where the f–k have y’all been this whole time?’ I feel like it’s also just a symptom of the lack of representation.

Over the last month, Greg Abbott has made public statements and attempted to make a policy punishing parents for providing affirming care for their transgender kids. What was your initial reaction when you heard Abbott’s original statement?

I heard it in our group chat, where somebody messaged me saying, “I know this is about teens and doesn’t necessarily affect you personally or legally,” and I was like, “No, f–k that, this is laughable.” Like, the idea that this is the worst of his concerns right now is hysterical — the state cannot function in freezing temperatures. People have died over mismanagement like that, and the fact that he is so worried about what people are doing with their bodies is just like, “You’re trying to f–k everybody over because you know that you’re about to get f–king voted out of office.” I’m giving that to the universe, please get this man out of here. But it’s not even only trans people, it’s women, too! These abortion laws he’s supported are so f–ked up. It’s appalling, and I cannot believe that our identities are on the top of his list of things to get done in this state. And not only that — these are kids! It’s so absurd! It’s just a rabbit hole of f–ked up s–t where people eventually need to realize that we can’t keep this guy in office.

[embedded content]

Unfortunately, it’s not just Texas — you’ve got the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, continued pushing of bills in state legislatures preventing trans students from participating in sports, and an even wider variety of discriminatory bills being brought up around the country. Why do you think this anti-LGBTQ legislation is picking up so much steam right now?

I guess it’s because … when something is being supported, the people that are staying back mentally immediately feel threatened by it. If anyone in power is threatened by any minority demographic, then I feel like it’s just closed-mindedness fueling all of this. Thinking things like, “This is what it is, this is what it has to be.” Whether you’re conscious of it or not, it’s just evil. Where there is progress and growth, there will always be a force that attempts to take all of that s–t down. It’s people feeling threatened and like we’re somehow wrong. I cannot fathom the minds of the people who think this way. You’re not special — everybody counts.

It’s also bulls–t Bible-thumping, let’s not forget that! Like, I am a person of faith, and yet I still don’t buy into what these bigots think “being a good Christian” is. It doesn’t and will never make any sense — if God doesn’t make mistakes like y’all think, then we’re divine and we’re supposed to be here.

Now, the good news here is that two Texas judges have now placed an injunction on Abbott’s policy, preventing him and his administration from putting it into effect. Seeing things like this, and the outpouring of support for trans kids, does that give you hope?

Oh, yeah! Absolutely. I am blatantly optimistic sometimes — I believe in realism, but come on, dog. We’re in 2022. A lot of people now know people that are trans. I know that, personally, I have been the first trans person to be friends with a lot of the people around me. And seeing them be like, “Oh, you’re just you, and you’re trying to do you,” it’s great. Then you get celebrities coming out, like Elliot Page is a great example. Seeing more and more trans women in media being recognized, that’s people walking so that the rest can run. “The rest,” let’s be clear, is the kids — they need the room to sprint, and getting to see that is amazing.

That’s why I try to do what I do — even if it’s only seen by, like, a thousand people, I know that there will eventually be some kid out there that’s going to see what I’m doing and say to themselves, “I can do that.” It’s a very powerful feeling. I’ve already had a few people confide in me and ask for my advice, and it’s moments like that that makes me feel like, “Okay, I’m not just out here to make music. There’s a purpose behind all of this.” But eventually, I want to do even more! I want to be able to help youth in some way in going through the things I went through. Especially the legal stuff involved — it’s hard to read government documents, and there’s always a lot of legalese involved. I want to be able to eventually be able to break that down and make it simple for kids that need help with it.

I think it’s also important to talk about proper methods of protest — a lot of touring artists might consider dropping their shows in Texas out of protest rather than coming to the state and performing for their fans. Where do you fall on that debate?

I can understand why people wouldn’t want to play in Texas right now, but I definitely think it’s important for artists to be here. I’m not particularly petty when it comes to certain things — at first, I was like, “F–k that, I wouldn’t wanna come to Texas, either.” But then at the same time, it’s like … it’s the governor and the government that’s f–king us, not the citizens. And like, there are obviously still a lot of people that aren’t very progressive in our big cities, but that should stop you, you know? I understand the protest angle, but if you wanna protest, great, go and join a real protest. Don’t skip a tour date — speak on the issue in these states when you’re on stage. Raise some money with your tour to actually help. There’s so much you can do — if you have the microphone, people are going to listen to you.

If you could say anything to the trans kids of Texas who might be reading this, what would you want to say? 

Baby, first of all — there is nothing invalid about you. Again, you are divine. You have been blessed to be who you are, blessed to know your born self, and blessed to grow into who you are meant to become. You are not the first, and you certainly will not be the last — you have trans-cestors [laughs] who are watching you every step of the way and guiding you. We see you, we hear you — talk to us. Ask for our guidance. If you’re not feeling the love, seek it out and find it within yourself. Nobody can tell you who you are except for you. It’s okay to be nervous, it just means you care. Love yourself the way you would love others, because it may sound cliché, but you need to water your garden before you give somebody else flowers.

[flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_title” class=”fl-input” title=”Title” value=”” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”category” title=”Select category”][flexi-form-tag type=”tag” title=”Insert tag”][flexi-form-tag type=”article” class=”fl-textarea” title=”Description” ][flexi-form-tag type=”file” title=”Select file” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”submit” name=”submit” value=”Submit Now”] [/flexi-form]