Mumu Fresh will get “Up Close & Personal” at World Cafe Live next month

You may have seen Mumu Fresh (stage name of Maimouna Youssef) on NPR’s Tiny Desk concert twice this year. In February, Fresh joined the supergroup August Greene (Common, Robert Glasper, and Karriem Riggins) to perform a jaw-dropping verse on the track “Practice.” Then just last month Fresh’s own Tiny Desk feature caught our attention here at The Key, where Roots member Black Thought joined her to perform “Say My Name.” While she may be new to many of us, Mumu Fresh is no rookie to the music scene.

In 2007, Fresh collaborated with The Roots, contributing backing vocals on “Don’t Feel Right” and earning herself a Grammy-nomination for best rap song that same year. From there she would go on to tour with an endless amount of modern day legends, from Lauryn Hill to Bruno Mars, Erykah Badu to Yasiin Bey, D’Angelo and even Ed Sheeran. But that’s not to say Fresh has been in the background her entire career. Fresh has released two albums under her own name, 2011’s The Blooming, featuring stellar DJ Jazzy Jeff produced track “I Got a Man,” and 2017’s Vintage Babies, blending hip-hop with soul and politically conscious spoken word elements.

Next month, on September 12th, Mumu Fresh’s “Up Close & Personal” run of shows comes to World Cafe Live. Find more info and tickets to the show over on XPN’s Concert Calendar. Check out Fresh’s Tiny Desk concert below.