Uptown Artist – Chloe Michelle Fischbach

BY Led Black (@Led_Black)

Photography by Art By Dj Boy (@ArtByDjBoy)

Chloé Michelle Fischbach is the truth. When I first came across her viral YouTube clip, Girl from Washington Heights, I was awestruck. Her impersonation of an Uptown girl was spot on and downright hilarious. By the way, the name of the character is Krismeyris, which is really f-ing funny by itself. As I started to dig through her YouTube channel, FunnyChloeMichelle, I realized that Chloé is going to be a problem. This woman is amazingly talented and her future prospects are very bright. When I first posted the YouTube clip on Monday, November 15th it had just over 3,000 hits, within days that number had skyrocketed. If you combine the hits on her YouTube page with the ones on World Star Hip-Hop, she has almost half a million hits. At one point, it seemed that everyone Uptown had seen it. Anyway, here it is, the Uptown Collective Q&A with Chloé Michelle Fischbach. FYI…Krismeyris makes a cameo appearance at the end of the clip.

Chloe Fischbach

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  • Dj Boy
    November 29, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    Hilarious girl! I am so glad to have been part of this.

    • Eileen
      November 29, 2010 at 6:29 pm

      Nice job on the video!

      • Dj Boy
        November 29, 2010 at 7:03 pm

        thanks eileen!

  • Carla
    November 29, 2010 at 3:38 pm

    Dj Boy, love, love, love this!

    • Dj Boy
      November 29, 2010 at 7:04 pm

      haha, thanks Carla!

  • mattg
    November 29, 2010 at 3:46 pm

    Great stuff, can’t wait to see where this goes!

  • Dan Mills
    November 29, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    This girl is amazing. I am a fan. Good luck Chloe.

  • Eileen
    November 29, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    I LOVE HER! She has no idea how incredible she truly is…keepum coming, Chloe!

  • Introducing Led Black: “Washington Heights Renaissance Man!” « PAUL LOMAX PHOTOGRAPHY
    December 1, 2010 at 7:56 pm

    […] “Just this week we started shooting video interviews. This is something we wanted on the blog and thanks to our host of collaborative artists we accomplished this goal very quickly.” Evidence of that initiative is right here with Black’s and DJ BOY’s interview with Chloe-Michelle-Fischbach, or more popularly known as ”A Girl from Washington Heights,“ […]

  • AyDios
    December 27, 2010 at 10:59 am

    Unbelievable. Are we really lauding this level of minstrelsy? This woman’s claim to fame comes from a youtube video where she mocks the mannerisms and speech patterns of poor women of color in her neighborhood. The amount of classism, prejudice, and misogyny in her performance is off the charts. And she describes herself as an “artist”? Vilifying women with non-standard names, women with accents, immigrant women and women from poor backgrounds–this is funny? To whom? What kind of level of self-hatred do you need to have to find this outright exploitation laughable? A White woman making fun of poor Hispanic women? Really? What type of mindset do you need to have to feel comfortable mocking your fellow women, women who live in your neighborhood and who may share your own background, women whose immigrant background and socioeconomic status have molded their speech patterns, their mannerisms, their experience of the world? You have to be careful about these things. Do you really want people to log on to this site and see you celebrating a white woman who made a name for herself mocking poor Hispanic women in your neighborhood? Is this what this site is about? Is that something you’re comfortable with? Is it okay because these women are seen as poor and unsophisticated?

  • uptownco
    December 27, 2010 at 4:23 pm

    Ay Dios,
    Where do I begin? First of all, I do not believe that what Chloe is doing is mocking but impersonating. Dictionary.com defines impersonating as such “to mimic the voice, mannerisms, etc., of (a person) in order to entertain.”
    You hurl a lot of accusations but misogyny (really?). Also, I take issue with the term vilify. The character’s name is Krismeyris which is just like the main character of In The Heights being named Usnavi. You wouldn’t say that Lin-Manuel Miranda was vilifying would you?
    When the original “Girl from Washington Heights” came out, it immediately went viral. The reason for this is that the skit rang true. This is exactly how SOME of the girls in this neighborhood sound, act and reason. You may not like the skit. It may not be your cup of tea but that doesn’t give you the right to cast aspersions on this site or on me as the Editor-in-Chief of this site. I am a proud Dominican but I will not be held hostage by anyone’s outdated and simplistic misinterpretations and misguided militancy. Chloe also impersonates Jewish, Russian, British and Italian people as well because that is what she does. Thanks for the comment.

  • TonyCreative
    December 28, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    AyDios and LED, you both have valid points.

    AyDios – I can relate to your feelings of discomfort viewing this video, as did I. No one likes to see the very thing they take pride in (in this case, nationality) to be mocked, or made fun of. You see, to view a video like this, you have to have an objective view of the subject matter. I’m Puerto Rican by descent, yet I have tons of Dominican friends (and some of them are females with weird names and thick accents) from the Heights and I didn’t feel too comfortable with this Chloe’s humor. Not saying she had racist intentions or trying to put people down, just wasn’t finding it L-O-L’able.

    LED – Freedom of speech. Gotta expect people to point the finger at the top dog when the thing, blog, company, they are in charge of causes controversy. I don’t think she was attacking you personally, just questioning where you stood.

  • uptownco
    December 28, 2010 at 1:52 pm

    I never said that she was attacking me personally. I said she was casting aspersions with such comments as “Do you really want people to log on to this site and see you celebrating a white woman who made a name for herself mocking poor Hispanic women in your neighborhood? Is this what this site is about? Is that something you’re comfortable with? Is it okay because these women are seen as poor and unsophisticated?”

    I don’t expect everyone to find the original skit funny but don’t make anyone that does seem less than thou. I, for one, don’t look for reasons to be offended. That reeks of victim-hood and one who sees themselves as a victim will always find fault with just about everything. It is 2011, let’s move beyond the nonsense!

    Led

  • ArtForStrangers
    December 28, 2010 at 7:42 pm

    I for one found her impersonation spot on, hilarious, and completely harmless.

    Ironically, you know who is holding back women of color? And women? And anyone of color? Of any color? All colors? All genders? And every other class of human being the human mind can invent?

    The people who make their superficial karmic living chasing offensive ambulances to take every opportunity to remind these “victims” how victimized they should be. I couldn’t imagine a more effective way to keep someone down than constantly reminding them of why they should be down.

    And you know who really embarrasses the kind of women Chloé was impersonating? The actual women that Chloé was impersonating. Chloé wasn’t inventing that accent, or mannerisms. In fact, to be honest, she left a lot out, like naming their kids Hennessey and Gucci, and flashing their gold plated bling and bootleg Chanel bags they bought with cash that came from illegally traded food stamps and the money Grandma put in the Xmas cards for school supplies and overpriced sneakers.

    So, did I just villify poor women of color, or did I just describe my upstairs neighbor whose grandmother complained to me cuz she knows she took the Xmas money for herself?

    Hagame el favor, guys, quit the victimhood. It’s all in good fun, coño. This isn’t self-hatred. This is being able to laugh at ourselves. Also, being able to laugh at others. (not with them. At them. And that’s ok, cuz some people are totally asking to be made fun of).

    Anyway, the only reason any of these people are inferior is because they aren’t Cuban.

    Anyway, I’m off to work on my new impersonation of a republican vegetarian folk-song singing come-mierda football jock lesbian wheelchair bound blind ninja pendejo with a lisp and a limping dog that says the word ‘cock’ and ‘vaggie sandwhich’ a lot for some inexplicable reason and keeps trying to build the perfect flotilla to float back to Cuba and then Palestine because he is a self-hating jew with a discount card for Barnes & Noble that she can’t use because Barnes & Noble closed down the mom & pop bookstore he never visited anyway but it’s fun to be offended and let others know about it online.

    I just can’t get the hand gestures juuust right.

    • erinnyc
      December 29, 2010 at 10:44 am

      But how do you really feel?

      And, also, best post ever!

  • erinnyc
    December 29, 2010 at 10:40 am

    I was one of the clicks on November 15th, and I roflmfao! She is amazing! Thanks for turning me on to Chloe’s humor. And thanks to Chloe, I mean, Krismeyris, for that humor.

  • erinnyc
    December 29, 2010 at 11:05 am

    My last post was before viewing the interview. I so wanna see her old Jewish lady! And her Brit was so Brit. but fleeting! And she says painting is her true calling? Are her paintings going to blow my brain sprockets? More, please!

    I am a middle aged white lady, but to anyone who finds this comedy offensive, I now direct you to:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCmfEWDU7pQ

    Comedy makes truth hurt. And then you open your eyes.

  • osiris
    December 29, 2010 at 11:53 am

    This kind of humor can easily cross lines where it is understandable if some take offense, or fail to see the humor. To be able to laugh at or with it means taking a look at the context. In Chloe’s case it takes only a click to see she is an equal opportunity impersonator mocking various ethnic accents from a city she actually lives. Given that context it’s a leap to imply the site promotes self hate for sharing the vid.

  • Carla
    December 29, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    I also think it’s interesting to note that we are now apparently living in a day and age where a Jewish woman is considered “white” and not a minority.

    I suppose I should be celebrating?

  • WiLL TeeZ
    December 29, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    When I first saw the video I didn’t quite know what to think of it. I’m from Uptown and know plenty of people who are living the life she is depicting in the video. If you know me you know I love a good laugh and my own humor is probably “questionable”. Chloe’s accent and mannerisms were spot on I admit. Even still something about the clip rubbed me wrong. After thinking about it it became evident that she exposes the very things about “hood culture” that I am not proud of and stay clear of. Misogyny, materialism, and a general lack of character are nothing new and can be found in any ethnic or class group. The real question to be posed is why people feel so strongly about it and what that says about them. She made a funny video and it offended some people, big deal. No offense to Chloe but the real issue here is not how she depicts things but the fact that they actually exist. All the energy that gets put towards “loving” or being “offended” by something like this could be better spent in my opinion.
    I feel that both the praise and the uproar are useless when the real issues are left alone. If you feel offended, do something about it. Not by bitchin online but by working with people(esp youth) to open their minds and dead the whole mindset she describes. If you think it was cool cause you know people “like that” (as I do), are you standing on their ribs to make yourself feel a little taller ? Ignorance should never be applauded or a cause for shame. It is defined as “a lack of knowledge or awareness”. So instead of wasting time and energy on a viral video of little consequence, why don’t we spend some time illuminating the youth? Half of the people laughing couldn’t spend a minute in the shoes of the type Chloe depicted without getting the taste slapped out their mouth anyway and I bet many of those offended are too embarrassed by their own “shadow” to admit that the stereotype she depicts is alive and well. I just wanna know when people are gonna stop using so much energy talking sh!t and actually do something. EACH ONE TEACH ONE….your local HooDFeLLa

  • Photo/Video: Chloe Michelle Interview | Art By Dj Boy
    January 7, 2012 at 11:02 am

    […] and video of Uptown Collective interview with Chloe […]