Last week I took part in a live interview on the Pagan Centered Podcast with Pagan-friendly musician Kellee Maize.  She doesn’t play folk, there is no Celtic vibe, and she isn’t going to be asked to perform at a Ren Fair anytime soon.  Kellee is a rapper and hip hop artist out of Pittsburgh and she is one of the hottest female rappers on the East coast, ready to break into the big time.  Her youtube videos have over two million views and her latest album, Aligned Archetypes, has over 400,000 downloads.  As the Pagan Centered Podcast is a partner of PNC, I am able to share some clips from that interview with you.

Kellee Maize

Although rapper Kellee Maize doesn’t claim the label Pagan, she describes her spirituality as earthy and alternative.  It’s not that she rejects Paganism, she feels labels are too restrictive and she dislikes being placed in neat little boxes.  I hate to let her in on the secret, but that’s a sure sign you are talking to a Pagan.  Listening to her lyrics, it’s hard to see how she can avoid the ‘P’ word for much longer.

The lyrics in Something Sacred delve into protective spirits, pushing back against patriarchy and valuing strong feminine leadership, and caring for Mother Earth.  This song, with it’s eco-feminism Goddess spirituality themes, reads as if it was written by Starhawk.

Earth Mother she is fiendin’
For a break in the season
Discontent no one pleasin’
Called a cunt that is bleedin’ – Something Sacred from the Album Aligned Archetypes

To hear and read the full lyrics for the song and Kellee’s explanation of them, you can check them out on her website.  Something Sacred veers more towards hip hop than straight rap and is probably why it’s one of my favorite cuts from the album.  Big Plans, another favorite, is infectious, fun, and full of chakras.

I say this in spite of the fact that I’m no fan of rap music, but after talking with her for just under two hours, I am a big fan of Kellee.  She is an accomplished business woman (in addition to performing she owns an all female owned and operated marketing and events organization firm, Naktrunal),  socially conscious, and seeking after an ethical spirituality that she is not shy about expressing.  In talking with her about spirituality, music, and community involvement, she was so open and raw and caring that it would be hard not to like her.

In this clip Kellee talks about family and fan reaction to her spirituality, her desire to perform at a Pagan festival, and she holds her own with the Pagan Centered Podcast folks when they take issue with her portrayal of Isis in the song Third Eye.

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You can get a sneak peek at her new CD Integration by downloading two free singles from it here.

The Pagan Centered Podcast, where the interview took place, has been broadcasting for six years and between 1000 and 1700 people download their podcast each week.  The regular hosts are Dave, Amber, and Scurvy Dog (Joe) with Sam, Saturn, Barrett, Amanda, Miles Batty, Star Foster, and Peter Dybing as frequent guest hosts.  The full unedited interview is available now, here, and the edited podcast will be available for download in about 4 weeks.   PCP can be heard live each Wednesday night at 8pm Eastern, tonight’s topic is “What happens when your kids become Christian.”