Back in June, we premiered an exhilarating 23-minute mix from NON Records co-founder Nkisi, which she'd made in support of MAMI, an art exhibition opening this weekend at New York's Knockdown Center (read more about the artists taking part).
Today, MAMI and NON Records have teamed up once again to share a compilation of eight exquisite mixes, including Nkisi's, that highlight woman-identified and gender-nonconforming producers and DJs. MAMI co-curator Douze's mix starts with the painful yet powerful words of Pulse night club survivor Patience Carter — "The guilt of being alive is heavy" — before transmuting into a celestial club mix.
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There's also hot-rocked R&B from NGUZUNGUZU's Asmara; gut-pounding bass from Queens producer stud1nt; granulated hip-hop and diaspora sounds from Parisian DJ crystallmess; the gripping poetry of Baltimore artist Marcelline (who, incidentally, runs a night with SCRAAATCH and DJ Haram); club-rinsed dancehall and reggaeton from New York's Tygapaw; and a lesson in polyrhythmics from Toronto DJ Bambii, including a life-affirming remix of Sunshine Anderson's "Heard It All Before."
"NON's collaboration with MAMI is and has been a true testament to the power of black/brown intersectional unity and solidarity," NON's Chino Amobi told The FADER over email. "As black and brown people, we are stronger together then we are divided. This union serves as a model of interaction which we feel not only uplifts artists, but also empowers communities as well. [MAMI curators Ali Rosa-Salas and Dyani Douze] are the utmost professional angels and it has been a true blessing and inspiration to work with them both."
Rosa-Salas and Douze shared their own thoughts on the compilation over email: "MAMI and NON have come together in love and in the belief that it is our duty to take care of one another. We dedicate this compilation to our sisters lost to senseless brutality. We honor those of us who are forced to live everyday as if it is their last, yet manage to find beauty within pain. MAMI X NON is sonic femme energy, attuned to our divine power, and an affirmation that we are part of something greater."
