Mayyadda is a chameleon in the Minneapolis music scene. A singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, Mayyadda brings a wide range of influences and sounds to her music. She can play solo acoustic shows, to jazzy sets, to full band groove party. From neo-soul vocals to a folksy acoustic guitar, to trap electronic beats and power-pop piano, the blend is uniquely her own, which she calls “BlackGirlMagic.” If you follow Mayyadda, you’ll easily identify the steady boldness, varied statement pieces, and strong sense of fashion that she brings to every live show. This style informs and directly connects with her varied roles as a musician, pulling in specific things that fit perfectly into a song. Mayyadda knows how to put things together.
Attending a school where she wore a uniform from first grade through eighth stunted the identify of finding her own sense of style. Her family was a pretty traditional Christian, immigrant family and even though she could start wearing what she wanted, there were a fair amount of restrictions. It was then in 11th grade while her brother was attending Minnehaha Academy that she discovered a new outlet. Every year the high school has an Arena Sale that packs the ice arena with donated clothes. It was a requirement that every parent had to work a shift there.
When her mother took a shift, she discovered a place called the ‘round room’ which was in the bougie area. It had all the designer clothes, sometimes with the tags still attached to pieces. Her mother called her down to check it out. Although both her brother and Mayyadda were scholarship students at private schools, they didn’t have the budget to dress like many of her peers were doing in school. Mayyadda immediately saw the bold colors, patterns, and crazy options at her disposal, now marked down. It opened up her eyes to what was possible.
“I start experimenting with some crazy stuff and look, I will tell you, I have some pictures of that time and it wasn’t always successful. But I feel like that was the start of me being who I am.”
-Mayyadda
Mayyadda’s newest album Try&Remember is a sonic trip thru the risks one takes on their way to healing. It’s a touching assembly of songs dealing with setting boundaries, empowerment with finding your voice, and understanding the lessons from past journeys. The songs are personal pieces being told with confidence. They aren’t looking for someone else’s donation or perspective. In many ways the album ties into her own sense of fashion. In looking down at her outfit, she disclosed that she’s a hard person to shop for.
“I’m really persnickety about my jewelry. I’m looking at my outfit and nothing that I’m wearing is something that somebody else picked out for me. I guess there’s an internal logic to it, but I just know when I see something if it’s me.”
In that spirit, Mayyadda has to take that step herself, making that decision without anyone else influencing it. You hear it in her music, that voice that exudes the wisdom of her own choices. The strength that comes from the pain of doing it alone. As “Cracked Chest” shares “it’s really hard for me to ask for what I need.” When you have that internal trust in yourself, then fashion and style comes naturally without anyone’s help.
“I have been told by a lot of my friends that I have to stop using words like subtle and neutral in regards to my clothing, because I don’t actually know what they mean.”
-Mayyadda
At first look there’s a lot of jewelry that Mayyadda embraces. Two pairs of hoop earrings, multiple necklaces, bracelets, and fingers adorned with silver and gold rings, there’s a story behind almost each and every piece.
One necklace hosts her name in Arabic, made from a designer from Lebanon called Calligraphics Jewelry. Another has the big three of her zodiac, a necklace from Sun & Selene, a black-owned business.
Her right hand is filled with gold rings. The array consists of a class ring from college, a classic v-ring design from Liberia (where her family is from), a thumb ring with a brass map of Africa on it, and a gye nyame symbol that translates to “I fear no one but God.”
Finally she wears her grandma’s wedding ring, whom is very close to her. Her grandma literally came to the US to take care of Mayyadda. She was also born the day before her grandma’s birthday.
Her left hand is filled with silver rings, a ring from a class trip to Mexico when she was 16 and a ring from her mom that was gifted to her. Her mother bought it for herself as an anniversary gift before getting divorced, which Mayyadda chuckles that it encapsulates everything that needs to be said about that marriage.
The bracelets are more souvenirs from trips to Ghana and Jordan. One bracelet specifically honoring the painful past of her ancestors. Along the coast of Africa are slave castles. When enslaved African’s were loaded into ships, there was a particular door called the door to no return. The bracelet stamped with the image of that door, Mayyadda wears it as a physical reminder of that painful point in history.
The neon lime green dress is from Noel Puello, a fiber artist from Washington D.C. She up-cycles random fabrics into clothing, making custom pieces for fun. The dress is slightly transparent with a sheen that changes color with whatever colored light hits it. Like a literal chameleon, the dress is chaotic, rough, but deliberately noticed. Mayyadda aims to support black designers, black queer designers, and especially black trans designers. As a black queer person, she understands they don’t get the same access and shine to their work. So if she can put some shine on someone’s work, especially a person with that lack of coverage, it’s an important asset to pass on.
Finally the thick platform Converse shoes stand out. Bold, chunky, and eye-catching, the sneakers are an odd choice to pair with anything, but strangely enough, looked great with the full outfit. Although she doesn’t wear heels, she loves the added height without being uncomfortable. The sneaker, which she has 4 pairs of in different colors, represents a long time guiding principle of her style.
“Cuteness is a circle. Something can be so ugly that it comes back to being cute. I want the ugly clothes cause nobody else is going to wear them. But then I show how cute the ugly things can really be. That is the appeal for me.”
-Mayyadda
As you’ve seen in the outfit and can hear in her music, Mayyadda is drawn to things that evoke feelings. Her song “Lost Cause” exemplifies that ability to evoke a spark with the layered silky voices and reverb guitars, pulling at your heart strings. Her 2017 hit ballad “BlackGirlMagic” still has a powerful effect when performed, the swag oozing from stage, bringing people together.
When asked if there’s a risk involved with bringing drama to her outfits, Mayyadda smiled and explained,
“I don’t want people to be upset about it. Well, that’s not strictly true. I’m okay with people being upset if it’s a good growth kind-of-upset.”
Try&Remember is a growth stage for her. Another shade of color, another blend of finding the right things to pair together.
She resonates with a designer Schiaparelli that is using gold molds of body parts, shoes that have toes, earrings that are molds of ears, to express and create drama. For many people, it’s ugly and too much. In the eye of the right beholder, it’s cute in the best kinda way. And if there’s anyone that can find the right way to pull off something that bold and dramatic, Mayyadda can make it fit.
Check out the links below for ways to follow Mayyadda and all the things we discussed above.
Mayyadda website - Instagram - Try&Remember Album - Calligraphics Jewelry - Sun & Selene - Converse Run Star Motion - Noel Puello- Schiaparelli
