Moor Mother - Hip-hop Poetry on the Front Line

Moor Mother is the stage name of Camae Ayewa, an American poet, musician and multidisciplinary artist born in 1976. She is known for work that blends experimental hip-hop, noise, avant-garde jazz, spoken word and electronics, tackling themes such as African-American historical memory, systemic racism, social justice and the African diaspora.
Founder of the artistic collective Black Quantum Futurism, Ayewa explores in her work the relationship between time, history and community. She has released critically acclaimed albums, including “Fetish Bones” and “Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes”, establishing herself as one of the most original voices in contemporary avant-garde music. Besides music, Moor Mother is also active as a writer, performer and curator of cultural projects that weave together art, activism and historical research.

Hi Camae, how are you? Let's start with what we can expect from your performance at Electropark in Genoa.
Hi Frank! For me every show is an encounter with a different community. I never think of a performance as something fixed: it's a conversation that builds itself in the moment. I know Electropark has a history tied to experimentation and sonic research, and that interests me a lot. I like performing in these contexts. Anyway, here I'll be bringing “Shinkolobwe” with Aquiles Navarro, Hamid Drake and Pasquale Mirra. I premiered it at the Venice Biennale in 2025, it's a sonic excavation of trauma and resistance, the name comes from the Congolese uranium mine run by the Belgian colonial regime and tied to atomic bomb production. There will be poetry, improvisation, noise, frequencies, memory. We'll see if we have time to add something else too.

How would you describe the project with Sumac? You made a really interesting record together.
I'd known them for a while, then I talked to Aaron and told him it was time we did something together. It was just a matter of finding the right moment to meet up in Seattle. It was very easy working with them, and they know what they're doing, which isn't a given. Their sound is very physical, while my voice brings other dimensions into the piece. I'm interested in the way language can cut through noise and transform it. We've also already got something else in mind. It'll be heavier!

I was wondering if you had a punk/hardcore background.
Yes, of course! I like Rage Against The Machine, Bad Brains, there's this band from Rotterdam, Funeral Oration, I like Rancid, street punk.

What about Henry Rollins? Was he important?
I discovered him a bit later, with his most famous track, “Liar”. You know, I appreciated the singing more than the screaming or the rapping. But then I heard Rage and changed my mind. Also combining poetry with punk… I wasn't aware of that at first, then I started spending a lot of time discovering things, especially punk music. I've always liked the more political stuff.

Any projects coming up?
I just made a new record with Irreversible Entanglements here in Los Angeles, I can't wait for it to come out because it's really good. I'm happy because I sing more on it, it's more blues. Then I've got a solo noise record in the works, plus other projects, one in particular that's very hip-hop and dance.

You've played with Shabaka, I see some similarities between you two, right?
Yes, he's great, I liked Sons of Kemet, with him I mostly talked about music, it's great learning from other people's passions!

Are there writers who influenced your lyrics?
Yes, I can mention Octavia E. Butler, Amiri Baraka, radical African-American poetry for sure, Toni Morrison and others.

In these very turbulent times, do you have a positive or negative view of the future?
Positive, absolutely! Life is like that, like the ocean, sometimes it's stormy and sometimes it's calm, it's always been that way and always will be. This isn't the worst moment in history, there's been worse, every time we get different monsters, they always change. Sure, bring me a tiramisu! Ahaha.

(September 27, 2026)

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