JT Is MAC’s New Muse—and She’s Doing Beauty on Her Own Terms

Jatavia Johnson—known to the world as the rapper JT—has always had a persuasive swing in her delivery, one that commands attention and urges fans to follow her lead. In her latest single “Ran Out,” she gives clear instructions: My bitches shaking ass with their hands out / Pay up. For naysayers, her tone shifts—it’s sharper and more biting. Pretty ass lips make these bitches cop syringes, mwah, she taunts on 2023’s scathing freestyle “No Bars.” It’s not exactly a suggestion, but a reminder: in JT’s world, influence doesn’t beg—it declares. Her lips have long been a fixture of tabloid fodder, whether she’s doling out cutting retorts online or debuting a glossy Black ombré at a Mugler show. So what do you do when your name is figuratively on everyone’s lips? Give them something tangible to put on it—a MAC Cosmetics lip kit, to be exact.

Her love affair with MAC began like it does for many Black girls—watching her mother get ready in the mirror. “I remember my mom used to do her whole foundation routine with the [MAC] Studio Fix Powder; it was in a black [compact], and she applied it using this red powder sponge,” she recalls. “Besides the hair store lip gloss—the one that you squeeze and roll on—that was one of the first MAC products that I actually knew about.”

In high school, JT began experimenting on her own, often with MAC’s famously loud Snob lipstick, a hot pinkish neutral shade that announces itself before you could even speak. “I used to take my Snob and just put it on my lips, no liner, no nothing,” she says. “That created a bold expression for me. When you look back at my pictures, beyond mugshots, I always had a crazy pink lip on that wouldn’t make any sense right now, but it was the shit at the moment.” She often gravitated towards maximalist Y2K beauty (think pink lipstick, bold blue or dark eyeshadow, and glossy lips). Now, her go-to lip is just as expressive, only a bit more refined: a high-shine gloss, a swipe of Snob, and a ’90s-style brown liner—all packed into one $52 kit you can buy now.

JT’s limited-edition lip kit features the exact combo she rocks both on and off the stage. Versatile and universally flattering, the collab may come in a box, but according to its maker, it’s not made for just one type of woman. “The girl who I see wearing this lip combo can be so many girls,” she says. “I feel like it represents so many different types of Black girls, from the suburban to the ratchet. But outside of that, I’ve been seeing so many other women—white, Asian, you name it—in the kit.”

Ahead, JT opens up about curating her MAC Cosmetics kit, why she’s drawn to “controversial beauty,” and her next musical era.

I’m still so much of myself, just older. I’m more mature than I was before, but I was always sassy. I always had a way with words, and I always loved makeup and lip gloss. [I’ve] always been creative. I actually went to school for fashion merchandising for a short period of time. I was always considered an It girl in my area, because I had a unique identity. I don’t really follow trends—I create them. That’s what being an It girl is—just doing your own thing and being your own person.

My mom. The first time I ever wanted to wear lip gloss was after watching my mom put it on. When I was in middle school, I was still on my Vaseline and little roll-on lip glosses from Claire’s or Limited Too. I would only dream about having MAC in middle school, because that was an adult brand to have. So when I got to high school and was able to do my own thing, I started experimenting, putting different stuff on my lips. That’s when I discovered my lips were cute.

MAC Cosmetics means so much to me because it was always with me, from my childhood, when I saw my mom using it, to my aunts and big sister using it. Plus, they always had cool-ass celebrity campaigns. I wanted to be a MAC girl and have a MAC deal because of Teyana Taylor, Nicki Minaj, and everyone else who had one. Now, I am one of the girls who has a MAC collaboration, so I feel like I have definitely accomplished something. It’s a very full circle for me. MAC is my childhood. The first makeup memory I have is of my mom doing her whole damn face in Studio Fix Powder. And when I got old enough, I wanted to experiment with foundation, so I used NW45 for a long time. Even though I looked orange as hell, it complemented my skin. I could get away with it at a time when brands didn’t have anything for Black skin. So I was the NW45 girl—that was the first Black girl shade to have.

The first actual thing I did with MAC was a performance during New York Fashion Week, which is based around clothes. However, I did this bold beauty look. That was the first time MAC invited me to do something with them, so I didn’t show up like I didn’t want to be there. I put on my best fucking glam. I went all pink. I didn’t go with a nude lip or soft glam. I went straight full-out glam Barbie. That was my MAC interview on the low. I wanted to make sure they would want to work with me again. So I gave them a look. I believe that’s how it started.

MAC Lip Combo by @TheGirlJT

What’s funny, and people probably wouldn’t believe me, but one person’s makeup I admired growing up was Joseline Hernandez’s. Her makeup used to be sick on Love & Hip Hop. She used to have sit-downs with the girls in a dark-ass eye and a pink lip. And she was one of the people I would see and be like, “Her makeup looks good. Her makeup is done right.” I think her style of makeup is even popular now. Also, I love Donna Summer and Tina Turner’s makeup—[Turner] always had that dark cheek.

I’ve always been a fan of Teyana Taylor. Not too long ago, I sat with her at her place and told her that I wanted a MAC collab. I really do admire her style, from fashion to beauty; she was one of the first It girls I knew of at such a young age, thanks to her Super Sweet 16 episode. The big hair, the lips—everything.

First of all, lip gloss definitely complements my Black skin. My love for lip liner runs deep. Literally, when I put on my lip liner and that gloss, you don’t need anything else on that face. It’s just going to make you, as a Black woman, stand out. And that’s just how I feel. So, when I was creating the lip kit, yes, I was thinking about the people who want to use it every day, like myself. I definitely use the Chestnut and the Lip Glass every single day, but the Snob is when you’re going out. I tried to give them the all-in-one.

The one lipstick they didn’t let me put in my kit was Frost, because that’s my color. I love a chalky, frosty lip. I would have loved to do a Frost lip kit, with a bold, silvery, metallic look. Also, MAC Candy Yum Yum was another favorite. I would have put that in the kit, but I didn’t want to hear the girls cry [laughs]. So I wanted to create something for my bold-ass self and my everyday self that you see right now. And that’s what Snob is—it meets in the middle.

Oh my God, I cannot believe you liked that! You know what? I loved it. So many people dragged me. But having a sense of freedom to do what the fuck I want to do feels so good. Knowing that nobody can tell me anything or stop me, I do it simply because I know I can. I was paying homage to the dolls and the drag queens, who Viva La Glam is actually for. I was trying to be extra, and people were like, “That shit was hideous.” I got so many mean comments that day. The people who get it, get it. And people who don’t get it will forever be in my business. People are always yapping, and they just have to talk about me. I don’t know what they want from me, but they have this lip kit, and it sold out, and it’s been a huge success.

My 2022 birthday shoot. I had the blonde eyebrows and the blonde hair—that was the shift that birthed me as this monster for bold, standout looks. It’s controversial to people, and I love it. I love it when I do me, and somebody doesn’t agree with it. I love controversial beauty. I love when it’s going to spark a debate, because if you do everything so right all the time, people just get used that, and they will never talk about you, versus giving them something to talk about. People love a debate. If you don’t give them anything to debate about, you’re going to fucking die down.

My favorite trick is to use the back of the pencil—my clean pencil, which belongs to me—and smooth and blend the lip liner.

My next project will sound nothing like City Cinderella. It’s more so for me, where I am right now. I think City Cinderella was just like a letter to my old self, and I didn’t want my very first project to stray too far away from her. When I look back at my projects, I can always know that I have a City Cinderella, something more in-depth, and more southern, slower, or hip-hop, which I enjoy sonically. But my next project is very upbeat; it’s up-tempo and cute. I spent all last week in the studio recording. I’m almost done.

She would say, “You ate that.” She would know that I deserve this, but she would definitely say, “You ate that, and look at you now.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.