The Creators Series w/Boston Female Rapper Oompa - It's Giving Undefeated
“I gotta go to sleep next to me, [and] with me, I am who God made me.”
-Oompa
Oompa’s energy is soul brass. Branded by the nickname that was ascribed to her on the basketball court because of her height and stature. This Roxbury, Boston native - inspired by Eve, Left-eye and Jadakiss is a marriage between soul and rhyme. When talking about artists who really rap, Oompa is definitely in that category. Southern trap meets northeast bop, Oompa’s sound is the buckle on the belt of new and influential music. Coming through swinging, straight outta Boston, rap has always been a way of life for her. Rapping in ciphers growing up, reciting lyrics from her favorite rappers, until she began writing her own music, rap sort of captivated her and helped her build on her personal image.
The evolution of Oompa’s music and life stems from pop culture and her experiences as a Black and Queer Woman living an authentic life. She expresses equal parts of all of her being in her music. However, Oompa is more than her sexuality, gender, or racial designation. She puts forth her heart, soul, and intellect into her verses. Her very first project “November 3rd” (2016), which was the bleeding of her soul - a cleansing, while her second project, “Cleo”, a 15-track album which she released independently in 2019, was a cinematic masterful expression of her life and times coming into herself while growing up in the hood of Boston. Now, just over a year later, she has been busy, with a new project set to release this fall called “Unbothered”.
Oompa Photographed by Ally Schmaling for The Doe Online, and styled by Herv Gotti. Wearing Sweater Warren Lotas, NBA Champion LeBron; Shoes Reebok Cottweiler Zig 3D Storm Hydro
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Over the Pandemic, she invested in new equipment to build an in-home studio to learn how to record herself and build the consistency of being swept up into the process of always creating. She challenged herself to practice every day. With the competitive sport of rap and female rap being almost impenetrable, she challenged herself to make music every day, even if she felt that it was trash. Creating a vibe with some palo santo, and sage, and keeping herself in good spirits helps her stay connected during her process. And making multiple songs a day.
Oompa wears Jersey NBA, custom; Shorts Nike; Shoes Nike Jordan Retro High Satin Snakes; Styled by herself and photographed by Ally Schmaling
She has been climbing the industry on a silent, but powerful climb, already having performed in connection with NPR and WGBH studios, an unplugged performance of her synth and lyrics, being named NPR’s 2020 Slingshot Artists to Watch and features in The Boston Globe and Def Jam’s Here Comes The Break. Her lane is clear, she doesn't want to feel like a conformist, so she is shaping her image in herself, “I gotta go to sleep next to me, [and] with me, I am who God made me.” On a journey to get free - and finding out what that really means, as she is on her journey, Oompa is breaking conventional boundaries that have been placed on Female Rappers. “Despite all the things trying to kill me every day as a Black Woman, I just want to make some art and be free, and assess my life through it,” she says. And in doing so, gratitude keeps her grounded. She finds it in everything and says it keeps her alive. Although on a very personal journey, she does focus on building a solid community with loved ones around her. People who support her and she can support her in their life as well. Of course, living in today’s world, it's so easy to get lumped into groups and subgroups by categories referring to race, sexual orientation, social class, and even what’s popular in culture. But Oompa remains true to herself and the evolution through her own specific life experiences.
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“I am not just a member of the LGBTQIA community, it is impossible for me to separate my queerness, from my blackness, from my body image, it's all intertwined and intersectional.” While she doesn't claim to be an activist, she does speak from her life. She is an artist, and respects activism in its raw form, but she is not just a woman or Queer, it’s less important how she is being identified, but it’s her lens through which she experiences the world. She says “I am a Queer human.” Black, Brown, and Indigenous queer people do not have the same experience as other queer people, and she thinks that is an important distinction. “My experience as a Black person is very much wetted to my experience in queerness.” Black women's representation in music is core in her life, as he cites that she has been colored long before she came out and her music is at the intersection of her legs.
Lebron, her newest single off of her upcoming album, “Unbothered” is about her letting us know that she is not to be played with, more so, about her affirming that to herself. Every song on the album is a reflection of her real-time work of healing that she has been taking herself through over several years - a true introspective of her life lessons. Lebron specifically is about the hard work that she is putting in, similar to the NBA star Lebron James, she delivers lyrical atonement to the passion and success that she has harnessed through consistent practice. “Unbothered”, set to release on October 1st, is about the light at the end of what seems to have been a dark tunnel in life. Her follow-up and third single “Outta Patience” releases this week and tickets are now on sale for her forthcoming album release performance at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston on October 8th. When asked what she wants people to take away from her music, Oompa, without hesitation says Joy. Something she hopes to embody in her music and her life. “Chase your dreams”, she says. “I’ve been through the worst parts of what it means to risk everything for a dream… You really have nothing to lose!”
Interview by Janet Igah
Special thanks to Jenna Barrott at The WMA Agency