A2A: EMEL

EMEL’s new album, available April 19, 2024, is titled MRA, which translates to “woman” from Arabic, and is a physical manifestation of an important aspect of her music and art. This week on Artist 2 Artist, Patrisse Cullors gets to know the narrative behind this international musician, her deeply rooted ethos of feminine power in music, and how she embraced the power of her voice to speak for those that were silenced in the oppressive climate that shaped her early life. Three years ago, Emel Mathlouthi, the New York City-based art-rock musician who simply goes by EMEL, began writing her fourth studio album MRA, a beguiling coalescence of ethereal, hip-hop, and indie-pop sounds that is, at turns, a call to compassion and to action. Created with an entirely woman-identifying team, it fully embodies the core of its title. Growing up in Tunisia, EMEL listened to everything from classical music to Art Tatum to Celine Dion. From diverse inspirations, EMEL believes that her art is the means by which she can impact the culture around her, that the artist does not choose their audience, but instead offers their voice and a revolutionary message, to anyone who may or may not know they need to hear it. Her musical narratives are rooted in the perseverance of human experience, and rouses us from complacency into empathetic action. For EMEL, presenting her music as art, is of core importance to her, reminding us that when we forget the power behind music, and its ability to highly affect the human psyche, we overlook its power to create political and social reimagination. In an intersection of art and abolition, EMEL and Patrisse offer us a reminder of the powerful impact we each hold the power to effect, simply by examining the boundaries by which we currently show up… and breaking them down, one by one. Today, as this episode releases, EMEL performs at Public Records, sharing her voice and story, and daring the women in her life to stand, fully and proud, in their power.