Season 2 Ep 6: Access Your Essence & Harness Your Voice with Mama Yaya

I hope you're all ready to feel the love, because my guest this week is none other than Mama Yaya, the featured musician on this very podcast (and my dear friend, to boot). She's a Chicago-based singer-songwriter of Palestinian and Jewish descent who began her music and acting career in the 5th grade. Since then, she's gone on to play numerous venues, compete on American Idol, sign with producer Jake Bass, and — as of this week — release her first EP!

She has also been a part of my journey for the last 7 years. From the moment I first saw her, I felt like I'd known her forever, which is just one of many reasons I couldn't wait to have her on the show. We talked about everything from mental health, to radical body positivity, the dangers of comparison, and how all of those things show up in her musical career. I know you're all going to love her just as much as I do.   "It has been so icnredibly healing and so incredibly important to me to have people who understand that [...] I need to have a canvas, I need to have these instrumental tracks, but I need to vomit all over them and be able to talk about it. I wanna sing about what it's like to be really fucking alone. To be in a toxic relationship. Let's talk about it. I want to sing about it."
Want more Mama Yaya? Her new EP drops this week, and you can purchase it here.  You can also check out her website, or find her on just about any social media platform under "Mama Yaya Music." Enjoy her tunes, and I'll see you next week!