21st Century Voices: Final ProjectStudents will research contemporary artists and writers to make recommendations for Mexican American Literature &

Literature curriculum.

Photo Credit: www.mayajupiter.com

Self-Declared Hip Hop Artivist: an artist who openly declares their art an effort to create social change.

What ideas does the artist communicate for the student of Mexican American/ American/ culture?Being biracial and raised in Australia, Maya Jupiter reveals that declaring oneself a Chican@ is a not a stagnant identity that is tied to preconceived nationalist, racial, or even geographical notions of identity. Instead, Maya Jupiter embraces the term Chican@ as one that instead reflects a cultural and political affiliation with a historical struggle and culture that transgresses and challenges both figurative and literal borders.

MAYA JUPITER

Artist Biography

Photo Credit: Stes-o-GraPhy for www.mayajupiter.com

Maya Jupiter is a self declared Hip Hop artivist who exudes a celebration of multiculturalism that is at the heart of Chican@. Born Meeshell Martinez in La Paz, Mexico, but she grew up and found her love for Hip Hop in Sydne, Australia. While finding her unique voice as an Hip Hop artist in the Australian Hip Hop Crew known as Foreign Heights, Maya found herself embracing the sounds of Mexico which emanated from her father’s music and the driving beats of her mother’s Turkish pop albums. Today, she lives in Los Angeles where she found the perfect setting for her growing interest and passion for music and culture that results from mixing communities.

Web credit: www.mayajupiter.com/abouthttp://oneplaylist.fm/artists/maya-jupiter

Example of Work

“Get Yours” w/ Foreign Heightshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gfg7QJQs8I

“I am”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgJF08qJeMc

“I Am” from Self-Titled Album: Maya Jupiter (December 2010)

The song titled “I Am” by Maya Jupiter celebrates the notion that identity should be expansive instead of limiting. Jupiter uses the form of List Poetry and parallel structure to the sounds of “Son Jarocho” beats to articulate her embrace of the multiple cultural margins that she identifies with. Another important point driven by the jarana rhythms that carry the lyrics is that even Hip Hop must make room for an ever growing Chican@ influence. The declaration that she stands for “Justice/ Equality/ The Past and the present/ What is and What isn’t…” is a powerful example of her “artivisit” identity and affiliation of her music to social justice movement. The ideas found in Jupiter’s music remind listeners that “WE ARE” fluid creatures that do not have enough skin to contain all the stories that make us up.

• SUBJECT: The central point of the song is that we must celebrate identities that challenge essentialisms.

• OCCASION: At the time “I Am” was written Maya Jupiter had relocated to Los Angeles and began to collaborate with Grammy winning Chicano soul group “Quetzal.”

• AUDIENCE: Jupiter’s music is targeting listeners who have “artivist” leanings in the choice of music and lifestyle.

• PURPOSE: The work futhers our understanding of Chican@ identity as one that embraces multiple histories, cultures, and voices.

• SPEAKER: By including sounds of “jarocho” music, Jupiter is also reminding audiences of African influences in Mexican music.

Maya Jupiter in Context

"I was sick—really, really sick—of rapping over a loop and a beat," she says. "I

wanted to have an album that was way more musical. I just wanted to break free of

hip-hop rules.”- Maya Jupiter

“Maya Jupiter Brings Latino Flavor From Down Under” by Gabriel San Roman for www.ocweekly.com

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