There’s a resurgence happening in rap right now. For the first time in years, we’re witnessing multiple women from various backgrounds take their rightful thrones in hip-hop. What’s beautiful about this current renaissance era of hip-hop is that we’re able to hear from a multitude of women, each with their own experiences and unique voices. Inspired by the new HBO show Rap Sh!t, we’re interviewing some of the dopest up-and-coming women in the game. One of those women is Atlanta-based emcee Mudy.
Mudy first picked up the microphone in 2016 and hasn’t put it down since. While Mudy has always been a wordsmith and a skilled poet, she started using her pen to write raps after the nudging of a friend. Since then, the Milwaukee native has built a name for herself as a skilled lyricist and fierce adversary for anyone who dares to challenge her on the beat.
Mudy stopped by Blavity News to discuss her artistry, how she got involved in music and why she feels like people gravitate towards her music.
Her earlier days
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To her fanbase, Mudy is an exceptional hip-hop artist whose talent is only enhanced by her creativity that manifests in dope visuals. However, before that, a dearly departed best friend of hers encouraged her to get into rap. And his influence is why she’s still here.
“I was into poetry, and one of my best friends in high school started to rap. And I had already been rapping just a bit, but it was just for fun,” Mudy said. “He moved to Atlanta before me, and we would just call each other. And he would do his songs, and I would do my songs. He would just tell me, ‘you could go so big, you could go so big.'”
“So, I decided to dip my toe in it. I found a producer. I ended up making my cousin my manager, and then everything went left. It went so far. I left and then life was just hitting me back to back. I was like, ‘I just, I can’t do this anymore.’ I reached out to him, and he kind of really just like saved me from myself at that moment. And he ended up getting killed like a day later. I took that like now I have to do it. Now I have to pursue it. Now I have to go hard because now I have something to prove for both of us essentially.”
How she's learned to be comfortable with vulnerability in her music
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Earlier in her career, Mudy struggled with being vulnerable in her art. As she’s progressed over the years, she feels that it’s her duty to show up as her authentic self in her music out of respect for her fans and the genuine connection she builds with them.
“Doing a show and seeing fans react to me and having people come up to me and say, ‘I love you,’ or ‘I love your energy,’ is a reassurance for me that I have something to offer to people,” Mudy said. “It would be unfair for me not to expose my truest self in my art because I want to connect with people who share experiences that I have as well. I want to mean something to people in the world, and my art is just the way that I’m able to communicate.”
The challenges of being an up-and-coming rapper
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As talented as Mudy is, she isn’t impervious to the challenges that plague many rappers of today, especially those who are women.
“Imagine reminding yourself every day that you’re working toward something consistently and then seeing somebody else pop up doing it can be discouraging,” Mudy said. “Just knowing how many people are doing it is just healthy competition in some sort of way. I don’t want my ego to run loose, but I also have to tell myself every day like, ‘okay, I’m better than y’all’ to some extent.”
Thankfully, Mudy provides her own source of validation that can’t be taken away from her.
“I have my own source of validation. So even though I just said it’s reassuring to hear from fans, I know what I have to offer. I feel solid enough in myself to continue to deliver,” Mudy said.
Why people gravitate toward her
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As Mudy continues to amass fans and supporters, it’s clear why so many people gravitate toward her — it’s her confidence. Mudy, who would agree, says that one would never know if she is off her A-game because she would never show it.
“I can’t be shaken in a room, even if I do feel some kind of way. No one will ever know it because that’s something I’m going to deal with on the backend,” Mudy said. “I have so much self-knowledge that I guess people can just kind of see that or feel that on me. I love that for me, but people will try to leech that as well, so I have to protect that, too.”
To keep up with Mudy and her music, follow her on Instagram.
