Maimouna Youssef is an American Grammy nominated singer, songwriter, and rapper. She is of

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

and African American heritage. She performs music under the stage name Mumu Fresh.

Musical career

Youssef earned a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination for her vocal contribution to “Don’t Feel Right” by

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

in 2007. She performed in the 2007 hip-hop documentary film '' Dave Chappelle’s Block Party''. Youssef released an EP, ''Black Magic Woman'', and a full album, ''The Blooming'', in 2011. With DJ Dummy, she released the album ''Vintage Babies'' featuring

Common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

, Irvin Washington, and

Malik Yusef Malik Yusef el-Shabazz Jones (born April 4, 1971) is an American spoken word artist, poet, rapper, record producer, and director based in Chicago, Illinois. Early life Jones' surname means "King Joseph" (''Malik'' and ''Yusuf'', respectivel ...

in 2017. Youssef represented the Washington DC chapter of the

Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely known for its Gramm ...

at the 2015 'GRAMMY Festival at Sea'. She performed an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Tiny Desk concert ''Tiny Desk Concerts'' is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music at the desk of former '' All Songs Considered'' host Bob Boilen in Washington, D.C. The first ''Tiny Desk Concert'' came about in 2008 after Boilen and NPR Music ed ...

with

August Greene August Greene is an American supergroup. The brainchild of rapper Common, and producers Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins, it was formed in 2018 after sharing the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for their song " ...

in February 2018, and her own set in July 2018. On September 26, 2018, Youssef was the featured guest on ''What's Good with Stretch and Bobbito'', an

podcast. She talks about her Native American heritage, culture, and family. She also shares how her mother, grandmother, and brother affected her as a youngster and fledgling vocalist, including an anecdote that her mother knew she could sing by listening to her cry. Youssef relates her experiences navigating the music industry as a signed and as an independent artist. In 2021, she was featured on

Tech N9ne Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced "tech nine"), is an American rapper and singer. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold ...

's album ASIN9NE alongside rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

on the song "Too Good"

Life

Youssef was born in Baltimore, but moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

when she was about ten. She was partly home schooled by her theatrical parents who taught her how to handle an audience and a microphone. She went to the

Duke Ellington School of the Arts The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School syst ...

when she was in her teens graduating in the class of 2002. She went on to the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

, but she dropped out. She returned to Baltimore and went to live with her aunt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Youssef, Maimouna 21st-century American women rappers Singers from Baltimore 1990s births Living people American people who self-identify as being of Choctaw descent American people who self-identify as being of Muscogee descent American people who self-identify as being of Cherokee descent 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters African-American women rappers Rappers from Baltimore 21st-century American rappers Singer-songwriters from Maryland