Galway rapper Celaviedmai is one of our favourite up and coming rappers and collaborators as she has shown adeptness at moving between rap, house, drill, Amapiano and Afrobeat in her music so far.
Mai is an artist with ambition and exciting plans on the horizon including a set at The Hennessy Hip-Hop House at Body & Soul Festival this summer.
It was great to have Mai in to pick five songs that have influenced her craft and one current banger she can’t get enough of, and trail some future plans for Celaviedmai.
Listen to the chat, and see the songs that Mai picked.
We also played ‘Go Down Low’ and ‘Known Better’ from the artist.
Celaviedmai’s current favourite track:
Doechii – Crazy
“I think anyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with Azealia Banks. That’s the first thing that I notice about the Doe Chii song. Also, the drums. what’s going on? It’s very busy, it reminds me of my mind. I feel like my mind is so busy that it kind of seems like chaos, but it gives me peace at the same time.
And I know it’s a hectic song, but that’s what it feels like for me. And I love that so much about that song, and I just love the tone of her voice as well”
Celaviedmai’s influential tracks…
Azealia Banks – Luxury
“Funny story. I always got stories, but funny story. I remember when Azealia Banks came to Dublin, I went to her headline show, and she gave me the dirtiest look of my life!.
“At first I thought I was imagining it, right? But I was like, Nah nah. I think she really did. So it happened, like, a couple of times. So I was like, ‘Girl, what the hell is going on?’ ‘So I was like, you know what? Let me message her. She probably won’t see it, but let’s see.’ And she did, and she responded…
“She was like, you and your friend, you guys were high as hell. DA DA DA DA. Like shouting me on instagram. I was like, Girl, you know what? You kind of weird. But I still love you regardless. So that’s our little altercation that we had.
“But you know what? I felt so seen that I didn’t care, because my idol responded. And I don’t care what anybody says. I made it in life, because Azealia Banks seen me.”
“Azalea Banks, is probably the type of artist where you have to separate the art from the artist. And one thing you can’t take away from her, she’s bloody talented.
“Like, she is a creative genius, regardless of what anyone says. I think she was way ahead of her time. But like I always say, your mouth can either be your blessing or your curse. And you just have to be really careful with what you say and do.
“Sometimes be authentically yourself, but don’t do it in a sense of hurting people. Don’t do it on Twitter, too out of pocket. And unfortunately, I think that was the case for her. But I I love her. That’s Mommy!”
Missy Elliott & Ludacris – One Minute Man
“To be honest, why do I always got backstory? There is this girl called Sharaya J, that was like Missy Elliott’s prodigy and I was listening to her music, and then I think the next on my playlist was ‘1 Minute Man’. It really stuck in my head.
“And also, someone DM’d me recently talking about ‘let me take you on a date…’, and this song came to my head! So, eh… yeah.”
J Dilla, Common, D’Angelo – So Far to Go
“When I started rapping, this was one of the first instrumentals that I found. When I did my little quick YouTube search for hip hop instrumentals, it was one of the first ones that I found that I rapped to. So it’s just something that has stuck with me since forever. So every time I think about freestyling or just writing music back in the days, that will be the song in my head.”
“And there’s just something about it as well that just, I don’t know, hits me heavy. And plus, when I heard Common on it, I was like, oh my God. Because I was obsessed with Common when I was younger.
So I just wanted to freestyle on it and you know, back in the days when you’re younger, you’re like, ‘yeah, I’m going to post it on social media, and he’s going to see it and he’s going to fall in love with me and I’m going to be so happy’. So it was one of those for me…”
JAY-Z & Kanye West – Otis
“It’s the same story as the last one. It was one of the first songs that I did a cover to when I started rapping when I was posting on social media back in the day. So that’s the reason why I picked it, because I was thinking about, okay, hip-hop in general and my sound evolution. “
“Actually, basically the way I picked the list was just kind of picking it in terms of my sound evolution and phases of my life and when and what time I listened to the songs and stuff. So that was kind of like the start of my career.
And I just love that song so much. I love the flows. It introduced me to different flows and styles as well. So I really just love that song so much.”
Doja Cat – Get Into It (Yuh)
“So, basically, I picked this one because it kind of reminds me of Nicki Minaj. So if you listen to second verse, right, I don’t even want to butcher the lyrics right now because it’s one of those songs that I just listen to because it gives me this type of vibe.”
“I really like her energy. I like her vibe. I love she’s another person I would deem as a creative. Like, they really understand their craft. She kind of is like me, but just more advanced a little bit. She’s very versatile. She does absolutely everything, but it works for her, so I like that about her.”
Denise Chaila, Gemma Dunleavy, Kojaque, Fabio & Grooverider and The Outlook Orchestra (A/V Show) are among the headliners for the Hennessy Music Trail and The Hennessy Hip-Hop House has an extensive lineup of hip-hop to celebrate the genre’s 50th year in tandem this year. Names like Daddy G (Massive Attack), Nightmares on Wax, Stevie G Soundsystem, Tee Cardaci, DJ Mek, Aby Coulibaly and Negro Impacto also stand out.
* Support Nialler9 on Patreon and join our Discord community
Listen to the episode below or subscribe in your favourite podcast app:
Listen on Apple | Android | ACAST | Patreon | Pocketcasts | CastBox | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Feed
Show notes
