Conversations with Garmai

Today we’d like to introduce you to Garmai.

Hi Garmai, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
My name is Garmai, Mai Moxi, and I am a Liberian-American Cleveland, OH, native R&B, Neo-Soul, hip hop artist based in Brooklyn, NY. I currently work in the tech industry at a fashion tech start-up and have been working in tech for the past 5 years to support my creative pursuits. I started my music career writing songs at the age of 13 and performed locally in my neighborhood in my pre-teen music group, including my sister and childhood best friend called “NSG.” I would always freestyle with my guy friends growing up hot boxing in high school in their raggedy used cars and recorded my first freestyle “Cloud 9” over Bone Thugs N Harmony’s “Bud smokers Only” beat: https://on.soundcloud.com/J4zkC. I studied Fashion Design at Kent State University took Mandarin classes at Tri-C but ultimately finished my Bachelor of Arts at CU Boulder in Colorado when my family relocated to find more opportunities outside of Ohio. 

While in Colorado, I wrote my first EP Memoirs of Mai Moxi, produced by 100% of my favorite Ohio beat makers such as Pablo Amor, HOLY & so many more. Memoirs Of Mai Moxi is about a female character who lived during the Rockefeller era in East Cleveland when the streets had wealth and prominence. She falls into a coma after a god-forsaken night at Tucker’s casino on Euclid Ave. She wakes up in the year 2016 and has to readjust – love, relationships, state of our youth, survival are all of many things she has to download to her memory with the new state of East Cleveland being her newfound environment. 

After graduating at CU Boulder with my Bachelor of Arts degree in concentrations Chinese & Social Science, I went on to work at large tech companies and struggled living in major cities trying to make my dreams come true. I drove 16 hours from Boulder, CO, to San Francisco, CA, to start my career at Yelp and work part-time at luxury fashion brand Coach New York to save money for my first apartment in the most expensive city in the nation. While in the Bay Area, I collaborated with local artist like Lil B the Based God on our motivational hip-hop anthem “In My Bag”. This “get money” anthem suggests to treat obstacles in life like the Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 Game 6 game against the Warriors. 

My job relocated me to New York for a promotion, so I hit the ground running and wrote about my dating life, transition, and ebs and flows of intimacy and relationships in New York. My Cuffing Season EP is a compilation of intimate exchanges with including the highs and lows. It is a melodic, harmonic body of work: https://fanlink.to/CuffingSeason 

My NYMPHAEA album is a celebration of the authentic self and blooming featuring artist like Young Paris & producers like Nate Fox, Givtyd & HOLY, and more. My album single “B.A.D” ft. XXL Freshman Charles Hamilton was noted to be a celebration of black beauty and the diversity in the complexion of black women. As a hopeless romantic working from home in the tech industry to support my music and fashion dreams in Brooklyn. NY, my other singles like “QuaranTING” and ”Work From Home” both give an honest, comedic real-life view of living during a pandemic: https://fanlink.to/NYMPHAEA 

My 4th body of work the VIVRANT EP is reminiscent of the nostalgic sound of old-school R&B groups like XScape & SWV with a mix of harmonic goodness influenced by the sounds of my hometown legends Bone Thugs and Harmony. This sound is handcrafted by record-making producers such as Cash Fargo of Jetlife, responsible for one of Mai’s favorite rapper Curren$y’s ‘Land Air Sea’ projects, and many more. Released on the anniversary of Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony ‘E. 1999 Eternal’, I pay homage to the iconic Hip Hop group by naming her VIVRANT tracks anecdotal names such as ‘Moxi-N-Harmony’ Intro, ‘E. 99’ & ‘The Art of Love Outro’. Harmonies being my staple, I give praises to Bone Thugs for influencing her sound. With a dash of old-school Southern California Boom Bap hip hop, I fuse trapsoul weaved into my 20-something year old experiences all surrounded by the concept of time, love, lust, and reflecting on being a VIVRANT and free: https://fanlink.to/VIVRANT

My latest single “N.Y.N” (Acronym for “New York N*gga” & “Now is Yesterdays Never”). Cleveland, OH native rapper Charles Hamilton’s “Brooklyn” Girl’s” inspired this record, and the hook is a nod of respect and homage to him being one of the first Cleveland rappers to make it out of Ohio and have a hit record in NY. The lyrics are reminiscent of a female version of Jay-Z’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” and DMX’s “What They Really Want”. “New York N*gga” is my way of paying homage to the many boroughs in NY I have lived in and the cultures I experienced living in Brooklyn, Canarsie, Harlem, Jersey, and finding love in the Bronx. It is a personification of my love, appreciation, and my expression of gratitude to have the honor of living in NY and experiencing it as a young lady from the Midwest: https://fanlink.to/NewYorkNigga 

Today, I am happily working on my 5th body of work, “GARMAI,” named after my first name. I want to create sound that mirrors who I truly am and sounds that mirror the producers I love, such as J.Dilla, Alchemist, Harry Fraud, and so many others. I want something out in the ether that’s truly Garami. I am still feverishly working in tech to support my dreams, but am documenting my journey on my newly launched YouTube channel. See updates of my singles, freestyles, outfits of the day, and releases there: 

www.youtube.com/@maimoxi/ 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a crystal staircase at all! From living in my car for 48 hours in the Bay til I could find housing, depression, and crippling loneliness being a Midwest kid in big cities trying to make my dreams come true was far from easy. I struggled with self-doubt and insecurities, but ultimately, when it came down to it, I had to seek help like therapy and be more vulnerable with how I felt with the people I love. Relocating from Cleveland to Colorado to the Bay Area to now New York is not for the faint of heart! My midwest grit gave my the thick skin it takes to defy all odds, see things through, and make the best of every situation. I thank God for helping me see the light. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in R&B music, Hip Hop, new technology in fashion and sustainable fashion, language, beauty, and healthy living. Those are my sweet spots. I love songwriting and harmonizing records. I love assessing musical bodies of work and building inspiration from pioneering soul artists in an authentic way. I am very savvy when it comes to the user experience behind fashion e-commerce and developing and promoting sustainable fashion models such as clothing rental services, which increases the life cycle of garments. I am not just a fashion enthusiast. I am passionate about finding solutions in a fashion that help prevent it from continuing to be the most polluting industry of the world. Language is truly my favorite of all things. I consider language to be another form of Math. I started learning Chinese at Tri-C over the summer to get my humanities credits up and fell in love with the language. I believe language bridges gaps. Right now, I am learning Arabic and French. Being a natural beauty advocate is a big part of who I am. As a 4C kinky cutie, I am all about trying new products and being a trusted voice for other beautiful girls with my hair type.

and being a trusted voice for other beautiful girls with my hair type. Ultimately, healthy living is super important to me. Of all the many hats I wear, I have to stay healthy to show up. Juicing, growing live plants indoors, etc. are all the many things that keep me and my horticulturist boyfriend busy with in Brooklyn, NY, and we hope to inspire others to adopt healthy lifestyles as well. 

I am known for making great music from inner-city Cleveland, being a fashion guru, an advocate for education, and living a full life. 

I am currently getting my Master of Business of Administration at my alma mater, CU Boulder. I am proud of this because though I didn’t have the most diverse inclusive experience on the undergraduate level, I am experiencing a new student journey on the graduate level during the “Prime Time” era. As a second-time diverse student, I have a renewed sense of pride now that Coach Prime has arrived. I live in NY, but as a Hybrid student attend class in Colorado once a month. It is not easy! I take pride in working in the fashion district in NY and actively manifesting my dreams as a creative girlie taking over music and fashion. 

I am a fashion tech guru and a lyrical genius. I believe my wordplay and ability to harmonize and connect with others is a true skill of mine. I’ve met amazing artist such as Kendrick Lamar, Anderson Paak, Papoose, Common, Wu-Tang Clan members, and so many others solely from my “gift of gab,” as many of them have said I am blessed with. I share a birthday with Tupac Shakur 6/16 and had the honor of meeting his mother, Afeni Shakur at her “Holler if Ya Hear Me Play” she produced on Broadway on my 22nd birthday, years before I knew I would someday relocate to NY. Little did I know that conversation would be my reality years later. 

We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking.
Always! I live by “I am not a ‘what-if’ person. I’d rather do it to the best of my ability and then say, ‘Oh I hated doing that’ versus ‘I was too afraid to try that”. Taking that 16-hour drive from Colorado to the Bay Area to start my career in tech was a risk. Crashing a Wu-tang show in Boulder,CO at Boulder House and freestyling for Ghost Face Killah & GZA randomly was a risk but earned me a sample on my single “The Price of P*ssy” on my Cuffing Season EP. Faking that I was a part of Kent State’s media team by rent tons of video camera equipment at the Kendrick Lamar concert earned me an opportunity to meet him and ask him about ancestry and genealogy, years before his DAMN album released. It was a risk, but I will never regret potentially getting in trouble or damaging the equipment. Jumping on stage during Anderson Paaks set at Smoking Grooves at the Queen Mary in Long Beach was risky, but he sang me happy birthday in front of thousands of people as a result. Going to Coachella with complete strangers on craigslist, losing my phone during Kid Cudi’s set, and having my parents file a missing person report for me was risky but priceless. I have done so much wild stuff, and I don’t regret any of it because it has molded me into the most fearless, ballsy individual with so much “moxy.” 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maimoxi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maimoxi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaiMoxi/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mai-moxi-540937120/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/maimoxi
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@maiMoxi/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=fqTX1rhVRZRCJV60EY6olA&utm_source=ishare
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/maimoxi

Image Credits
Photographer – Jeremiah Kobena
Stylist – Arrison Le’Moyne
Clothing Brands – SM Leathers, Dippin Donutz, ILTHY