Camae Ayewa, better known by her stage name Moor Mother, is an American poet, musician, and activist from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. She is one half of the collective

Black Quantum Futurism Black Quantum Futurism (BQF) is a literary and artistic collective composed of Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa) and Rasheedah Phillips, two queer Black women from and based in Philadelphia. It is also a name for the set of Afrofuturist theoretical framewo ...

, along with Rasheedah Phillips, and co-leads the groups Irreversible Entanglements and 700 Bliss.

Early life and career

Ayewa was born in

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimor ...

, where she grew up in a public housing project. She moved to

to study photography at the Art Institute. In 2016, Moor Mother released a studio album, '' Fetish Bones'', on

Don Giovanni Records Don Giovanni Records is an independent record label originally specializing in punk rock from the New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene but eventually working with a variety of artists from different genres. History Don Giovanni Records was fo ...

. The album, which was released alongside a 122-page book of poetry, was included on year-end lists by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', and ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

''. In 2017, she released a studio album, ''The Motionless Present'', on

The Vinyl Factory The Vinyl Factory is a large music company based in London, United Kingdom. It includes a record label, vinyl pressing plant, and a venue space. It also publishes ''Fact'' magazine and owns Phonica Records store. Overview The Vinyl Factory be ...

. It featured collaborations with Geng, DJ Haram, Mental Jewelry, and Rasheedah Phillips. The same year, she released a collaborative EP with Mental Jewelry, titled ''Crime Waves'', on Don Giovanni Records. She served as one of the guest curators at the 2018

Le Guess Who? Le Guess Who? is a Dutch music festival featuring different music genres: from avant-garde, jazz, hip hop, electronic, experimental, noise rock, indie rock, world music and others. The festival, founded by Bob van Heur and Johan Gijsen, has ...

music festival. In 2019, she released '' Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes''. Ayewa co-leads and provides lyrics and vocals for the "liberation-oriented free-jazz collective" Irreversible Entanglements. She met the quintet's members through musical and activist endeavors: bassist Luke Stewart shared bills with her band the Mighty Paradocs; saxophonist Keir Neuringer worked with Books Through Bars, whose events Ayewa has emceed; and the trio of Ayewa, Stewart, and Neuringer was followed by the duo of trumpeter Aquiles Navarro and drummer Tcheser Holmes at a 2015 Musicians Against Brutality event following the shooting of Akai Gurley. The group performed in the inaugural season of the Kennedy Center's "Direct Current" contemporary culture showcase, and their releases have been included in best-of lists in ''

Magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nicke ...

,'' NPR Music, ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

'', and '' Stereogum''s "20 Best Jazz Albums Of The 2010s". The band's instrumentalists also performed on Ayewa's debut theatrical work, '' Circuit City''. In the fall of 2021, Ayewa began serving as an assistant professor at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Fetish Bones'' (2016) * ''The Motionless Present'' (2017) * '' Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes'' (2019) * ''True Opera'' (2020) * '' Circuit City'' (2020) * ''BRASS'' (2020) * ''Black Encyclopedia of the Air'' (Anti-, 2021) * ''Jazz Codes (2022)''

With Irreversible Entanglements

* ''Irreversible Entanglements'' (2017, International Anthem) *'' Who Sent You?'' (2020, International Anthem) * ''Live in Italy'' (2020, self-released) * ''Live in Berlin'' (2020, self-released) * '' Open the Gates'' (2021, Don Giovanni / International Anthem)

With 700 Bliss

* Spa 700 (2018) * Nothing to Declare (2022)

Compilation albums

* ''Manufacture of Indigo'' (2015) * ''Clepsydra'' (2020) * ''Anthologia 01'' (2020)

Live albums

* ''Offering: Live at Le Guess Who'' (2020)

EPs

* ''Crime Waves'' (2017)

Guest appearances

* Fhloston Paradigm - "...All" from ''After...'' (2017) *

Show Me the Body Show Me the Body is an American hardcore punk band from New York. Their sound draws heavily on hip hop, noise music and sludge metal. Their debut album, '' Body War'', was released in 2016. History 2009–13: Early years Julian Pratt first ...

- "In a Grave" and "Everything Hate Here" from ''Corpus I'' (2017) *

Lushlife Raj Haldar (born August 1, 1981), better known by his stage name Lushlife, is an American rapper and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the co-author of '' P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever''. He is one half ...

- "I've Seen It Before I Was There" from ''My Idols Are Dead + My Enemies Are in Power'' (2017) * Eartheater - "MMXXX" from '' IRISIRI'' (2018) * Reef the Lost Cauze - "Splinters" from ''The Majestic'' (2018) *

Screaming Females Screaming Females is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey comprising Marissa Paternoster on guitar and vocals, Jarrett Dougherty on drums, and Mike Abbate on bass. They released their debut album '' Baby Teeth'' in 2006. The ban ...

- "End of My Bloodline (Remix)" from ''Singles Too'' (2019) *

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jazz styles and plays many instruments, including "little ...

, ''We Are On the Edge'' ( Pi, 2019) * Zonal - "Body of Wire", "In a Cage", "System Error", "Medulla", "Catalyst", and "No Investigation" from ''Wrecked'' (2019) * Harrga - "À Vif" from ''Héroïques Animaux de la Misère'' (2019) *

Armand Hammer Armand Hammer (May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990) was an American business manager and owner, most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran from 1957 until his death. Called "Lenin's chosen capitalist" by the press, ...

- "Ramses II" from ''Shrines'' (2020) * Sons of Kemet - "Pick Up Your Burning Cross (feat. Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid)" from ''Black To The Future'' (2021) *

The Bug "The Bug" is a song written by Mark Knopfler and originally performed by Dire Straits on the final studio album by the band, '' On Every Street'' (1991). It was covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1992, and also recorded on the albums ''Blues B ...

- "Vexed (feat. Moor Mother)" from ''Fire'' (2021) * madam data - "In the emptiness beyond emptinesses..." from ''The Gospel of the Devourer'' ( PTP, 2021) * Art Ensemble of Chicago, ''The Sixth Decade: From Paris to Paris'' ( RogueArt, 2023)

Remixes

Gonjasufi Sumach Ecks (born 1978), better known by his stage name Gonjasufi, is an American vocalist, producer, disc jockey, and yogi. Life and career Ecks was born in 1978 to a Mexican mother and an American-Ethiopian father. He spent his formative year ...

- "The Kill (Moor Mother Remix)" from ''

Mandela Effect In psychology, a false memory is a phenomenon where someone recalls something that did not happen or recalls it differently from the way it actually happened. Suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinforma ...

'' (2017) * What Cheer? Brigade - "Iahabibi (Moor Mother Remix)" from ''You Can't See Inside of Me'' (2017) *

The Avalanches The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in Melbourne in 1997. They are known for their studio albums '' Since I Left You'' (2000), ''Wildflower'' (2016), and '' We Will Always Love You'' (2020), as well as their live and ...

- "Because I'm Me (Moor Mother Remix)" from ''Because I'm Me (Remixes)'' (2018)

References

External links

* *
Moor Mother
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

* {{Authority control Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Poets from Pennsylvania Musicians from Philadelphia Activists from Philadelphia Don Giovanni Records artists Afrofuturists African-American poets American experimental musicians 21st-century American women musicians People from Aberdeen, Maryland African-American women musicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians Anti- (record label) artists