Maya Jupiter

iTunes Review

Best known as a radio and TV personality heavily involved in community activism, Australia-based artist Maya Jupiter makes very original, impossible to pigeonhole music that incorporates hip-hop, salsa, R&B, electronic, reggae, and just about everything else you could imagine. She's been recording for many years now, releasing her first album Today in 2003, and forming the group Foreign Heights the following year. On this self-titled effort, she raps and sings primarily about female empowerment, social and economic turmoil, cultural pride, and environmental concerns. Her Mexican heritage is in full effect on "Madre Del Amor," "Furacão," and the horn-laced "El Secreto," while "No More" takes on right wing corporations raping the earth, and the dancehall-flavored "Phemonenal" is a straight bravado anthem. She's all about the struggle, making music for (all) the people, and giving a voice to the voiceless. The production and instrumentation is all over the place genre-wise, and the lyrics are perhaps a little too conscious to blow up stateside, but this is still a highly enjoyable listen; thought-provoking but funky.