Maimouna Youssef is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. She is of Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee and African American heritage. She performs music under the stage name Mumu Fresh.

Musical career

Youssef earned a Grammy nomination for her vocal contribution to “Don’t Feel Right” by

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimm ...

in 2007. She performed in the 2007 hip-hop documentary film '' Dave Chappelle’s Block Party''. Youssef released an EP, ''Black Magic Woman'', and a full album, ''The Blooming'', in 2011. With DJ Dummy, she released the album ''Vintage Babies'' featuring

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, Irvin Washington, and

Malik Yusef Malik Yusef El Shabazz Jones (born April 4, 1971) is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, writer, composer, producer and director based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Early life He was raised in Chicago's South Side neighborh ...

in 2017. Youssef represented the Washington DC chapter of the Recording Academy at the 2015 'GRAMMY Festival at Sea'. She performed an

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with

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in February 2018, and her own set in July 2018. On September 26, 2018, Youssef was the featured guest o
What's Good with Stretch and Bobbito
an

podcast. She talks about her Native American heritage, culture, and family. She also shares how her mother, grandmother, and brother affected her as a youngster and fledgling vocalist, including an anecdote that her mother knew she could sing by listening to her cry. Youssef relates her experiences navigating the music industry as a signed and as an independent artist. In 2021, she was featured on Tech N9ne's album ASIN9NE alongside rapper Lil Wayne on the song "Too Good"

Life

Youssef was born in Baltimore, but moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

when she was about ten. She was partly home schooled by her theatrical parents who taught her how to handle an audience and a microphone. She went to the

Duke Ellington School of the Arts The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School syst ...

when she was in her teens graduating in the class of 2002. She went on to the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, ...

, but she dropped out. She returned to Baltimore and went to live with her aunt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Youssef, Maimouna American women rappers People from Baltimore 1990s births Living people American people of Choctaw descent American people of Muscogee descent American people of Cherokee descent 21st-century African-American women singers African-American women singer-songwriters African-American women rappers Rappers from Baltimore 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American women musicians Singer-songwriters from Maryland 21st-century women rappers