All photos courtesy of Lizzo

When Sleater-Kinney announced their reunion tour, they could have chosen any buzz band—from grunge girl groups like Chastity Belt to garage rockers like Viet Cong to, hell, Taylor Swift— to open for them. Instead, they handpicked Lizzo, a 26-year-old Houston native who’s basically the punkest rapper around.

Last year, she released her aptly-titled debut, “Lizzobangers,” on the Minnesota indie label Totally Gross National Product. Shortly after, she scored a big record deal with Virgin/EMI, and she’s been collecting comparisons to Missy Elliot and Nicki Minaj and wowing hard-to-impress audiences—Carrie Brownstein and David Letterman, among them—ever since.

Though her sound is quite a departure from that of the legendary indie-rock trio’s vibe, Lizzo’s Riot Grrl appreciation is obvious. Not only are all of her tunes hyper-empowering and overwhelmingly feminist (just give her Caroline Smith collab “Let Em Say” a spin), but she’s also rarely spotted without her beloved Grrrl beanie.

In addition to the homage-paying hat, her performance style is heavy on the Nasty Gal: graphic-print blouses, short circle skirts, and and enough gold chains to make French Montana jealous. “I hope my music is as frivolous as my style,” she said. Since she just wrapped up touring with Sleater-Kinney, we reached out to find out what she needs when she’s hitting the road—which she’ll be doing all over again come summer festival season.

EYEBROWS

“They frame the windows to your soul.”

ESSENTIAL OILS

“When I smell good, I feel the sexiest.”

MY GRRRL BEANIE

“Because it goes with everything.”

HIGH-WAISTED PANTIES

“They look good under and over.” [Editor’s note: She’s not quite so into bras, but who is?]

TINTED MOISTURIZER

“SPF for dat ass.”

Casey Lewis is on Twitter – @caseymlewis.