Season 2: Episode 11
Camae Ayewa – Moor Mother
Camae Ayewa – Moor Mother
AUGUST 3, 2022
Maori chats with musician, poet, artist, cultural worker, and professor Camae Ayewa, also known by her stage name Moor Mother. Camae talks about her early life growing up in Aberdeen, Maryland and her formative influences. They also discuss her journey as an artist, from her early days performing in Philly’s underground music scene to her successful solo project, bands, and involvement in the Black Quantum Futurism Collective. Camae is truly an inspiration to all creatives, as she pushes the bounds of experimentation and reminds us of the importance of comfort with the journey.
The songwriter, composer, vocalist, poet, and educator Camae Ayewa spent years organizing and performing in Philadelphia’s underground music community before moving to Los Angeles to teach composition at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. She released her debut album as Moor Mother, Fetish Bones, in 2016, and has since put out an abundance of acclaimed music, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians who share her drive to dig up the untold. She has performed and recorded with the free jazz groups Irreversible Entanglements and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and made records with billy woods, Mental Jewelry, and YATTA.
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Photo by Ari Marcopoulos.
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