Healing with Honesty: MAVI's Introspective Approach to Hip-Hop
Image courtesy of Pitchfork.com
Image courtesy of TheFader.com
Omavi Minder, known to most as MAVI, continues to evolve the next generation of underground hip-hop as he pioneers a new approach to modern rap. MAVI was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has ancestry tying back to rural South Carolina. He makes up one-fourth of the rap collective KILLSWITCH, along with artists MESSIAH!, SSCOPACK!, and Ahmir The King. At only twenty-one years of age, MAVI is quickly making a name for himself as an esoteric lyricist within a new wave of hip-hop. His lyrics revolve around self-reflection, as opposed to the traditional braggadocio style that has characterized the genre since its beginnings.
MAVI’s ambitions extend far beyond personal fame and materialistic wealth, which typically personify those who find success in hip-hop. He does not try to preserve a disingenuous self-image, unlike countless other artists in this industry. One of his songs, “Self Love,” presents a balance between humility and pride, as he confesses, “I self-aggrandized in the past, but now the sun talking.” Although exaggeration has been a core aspect of hip-hop’s evolution, artists who do not hide behind fabricated personas - which are amplified by social media today - seem to have more meaningful impacts on their audiences.
MAVI is said to have been writing poetry since elementary school, citing various poetic inspirations, such as Nikki Giovanni, and musical inspirations, such as the Soulquarians. His music embodies both Giovanni’s sense of racial pride and the Soulquarians’ soulful feel. In addition, MAVI references drawing inspiration from Keorapetse Kgositsile, the father of one of his contemporaries and role models, Earl Sweatshirt. He describes his relationship with the Kgositsile family during an interview with FakeDeep Podcast at Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C., where Minder is currently pursuing a degree in neuroscience.
MAVI’s discography includes a plethora of singles such as “NO FEAR,” “One Foot,” “rest,” and “five minutes writing from the bottom.” He released his first studio album, Let the Sun Talk, in October of 2019. The thirteen-track project, released shortly after his twentieth birthday, outlines his perspective as a young man—and a Black American—who continually confronts the ebbs and flows of mental health.
One article, written by fellow Howard University student Nichelle Robinson Hernandez, contextualizes MAVI’s artistry: “Music and art healed and motivated several broken spirits in difficult times since slavery and Jim Crow. Today, heart diseases, cancer, and police brutality take the lives of Black men and women every day.” Aligning with the theme of Black History Month, Let the Sun Talk opens with a description of what it means to be “pro-Black” in the track, “Terms & Conditions.” To MAVI, “pro-Blackness” consists of pursuing, “the purpose of creating and maintaining healthy and productive Black communities. It means the cultivation of a culture that reinforces a unified vision of Black well-being and continuous advancements.” When envisioning what healthy forms of success look like, MAVI pictures a future where the Black community is prioritized first and foremost. This future would hope to compensate for the detrimental effects of generational oppression which persist to this day.
As an outspoken critic of hyper-masculinity, MAVI is not afraid to expose his own flaws. His music counteracts popular stigmas that equate vulnerability, a trait that is rarely shown from men today, with weakness. MAVI’s relatability extends into the universal struggles of mental health. His honest self-expression can be therapeutic for listeners, especially for those who can relate to mental health struggles. MAVI utilizes his platform responsibly, and is deliberate with the transparency of his mental and emotional output. His multidimensional lyrics demand several listens to catch all of the subtleties that lie within his thought-provoking verses. With a lyrical delivery that does not follow conventional rhythmic patterns, MAVI masterfully takes on experimental flows which serve to express a variety of moods, such as anxiety, relief, despair, remorse, and gratitude.
The gap between how people portray themselves and how they really feel below the surface is more prevalent than ever. In times of great inauthenticity, it is refreshing to listen to an artist with an unforgettably genuine vernacular. His willingness to address uncomfortably dark issues demonstrates a courageously open attitude toward destigmatizing mental health. MAVI does not shy away from shedding light, or “letting the sun talk,” on painful realities that most people are either too afraid to accept or too shameful to admit.