Brooklyn-based singer Maya Azucena is associated with several social causes because she feels that it is the only power at her disposal to trigger a change in society and the way people think. On her maiden trip to India, she tells Shrabasti Mallik she was a victim of domestic violence and getting out of it has made her confident
Some sing to impress, some to entertain and then there are some who use their talent towards the betterment of society, selflessly. Brooklyn-based singer Maya Azucena belongs to the third kind — dedicating her voice to bring a change in causes like domestic violence, gender equality and empowerment of women. Everything about her is casual — the way she dresses, her accessories and even her Mohawk style hair — but underneath all that, she is a person deeply influenced by all the wrongs in the world. And she uses the only tool at her disposal, her voice, to try and propagate the message of unity and strength. “The fame and popularity comes along with it. I never ask for it,” laughed the singer on her maiden trip to India.
She calls herself the ‘female Bruno Mars’ and told us that her music is, “the Azucena music.” She elaborated in her own words, “I believe in using my music and songs for social justice and human rights. The sound of my style is the combination of soul and American, fused with the inspiration from rock and roll to jazz to RnB. It’s like a soup with many different ingredients that I put in together in my way, to have my Azucena sound.”
Not many would know, and she does not openly say it all the time, but Maya was a victim of domestic violence early in life. “For almost seven years,” she said, “I was in a relationship where I was hit, scratched by knives and strangled. But I was under the conviction that I was strong and could take care of things. It was in the end that it dawned on me that I was being exploited and then I fought to come out of it.” Maya credits her combined love for all genres of music to the neighbourhood she grew up in. “It was a cultural pot,” she said and told us that her neighbourhood is filled with families from Jamaica, Trinidad and Korea among others. “It was all in one walking distance so I was exposed to a fusion of cultures and music. Plus I am a mix of half white and half black American. Everything around me is fusion. So, it’s not surprising for that to show up in my music,” she added.
However, her core inspiration lies in the music of Stevie Wonder and Prince because they, too, combine all music styles. “Yet the sound is unique to them and I believe that, that is what a true artiste can do — create a unique sound which is only them,” she pointed out and illustrated that the process of making a unique sound is like cooking. “It is like baking a cake. You’ve the same ingredients as anybody else but the way you put them together and may be add a special ingredient is what gives that special taste to the cake. I would like to describe my music like that,” she elaborated.
Ever since she was a child she was affected by suffering, loss and pain. “Whenever I hear a tragic story of human rights violation or injustice towards oppressed people I have had this stubborn feeling of doing something to help them,” she said. The fall of the Twin Towers on September 11 helped her find her “superpower.” She recalled how she was in lower Manhattan when the tragedy struck and she saw the second tower crashing. “People all around me wanted to help and they lined up outside hospitals to donate blood. But the creepy thing was that there were no survivors to even take that blood.
That was when I felt so stuck because I was unable to help. I was overcome with this overwhelming desire to sing and I was already singing that time but that event helped me discover my superpower. It is the only power I have access to, it was my gift, and I can use it to contribute to healing, to spread peace, justice and unity. I was clear that my music can contribute to change,” she explained.
When her music is unique, the lyrics are bound to follow. She writes from the heart, pouring into words things that matter the most to her — the way she sees the world, her convictions and personal experiences.
“The lyrics have a lot of themes about overcoming obstacles, finding your greatest potential, being able to shine or wanting to be free. These are consistent in my life,” added the singer.
Photos Pankaj Kumar