MAVI
MAVI
Omavi Minder, better known as MAVI is a 21 year old rapper from Lexington, South Carolina who is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. MAVI studies neuroscience at Howard University while also having a rapping career. He marries being both a student and a rapper expertly. At Howard, he is an advocate for black anti-oppression movements, and in his rap lyrics, MAVI raps about his experiences as it relates to what it means to be Black. Separately, MAVI connects his major to his rap as well saying that the relationship between music and neuroscience is based on “being human and experiencing moments.”
Let the Sun Talk is a naratively driven album that uses rich sampling over a confidence in lyricism and delivery of someone several years his senior. As the title suggests, the focus is on how to convey one's inner thoughts, how to enact black liberation, and how to overcome cycles of self-destructive behavior and past mistakes. It is an album that is deeply personal, but one created with the express person of speaking to the larger movement
Self Love is a particularly raw and heartbreaking song that sees Mavi discussing his substance use with his mother, initially not accepting her in, insisting this is a battle he win by himself.
"Mama, wipe your tears, I'm fighting titans, can't invite you here Poetic license veering from the mic, my chest too tight to steer
Chess lessons, bloodletting, flood when the night is clear I ain't give a fuck 'til my lungs had to fight for air"
He then uses his therapist'wisdom to confront himself (literally looking in the mirror) and feels he has been flaunting the damage he's endured in a "scar competition", culminating in a moment were his mother begs him to stop hurting himself
"Arguing with mom 'cause I'm always gone when I stay here Yeah, she said, "It's just because I love you That I see you out here poisoning yourself and want it for you And I love you better than I love myself, my fruit is spoiled"