He’s a neuroscience student with two rap albums. Here’s why he’s back in Charlotte.
As a neuroscience student at Howard University who touts Toni Morrison as his favorite author, pulls poetic inspiration from Nikki Giovanni and Keorapetse Kgositsile, and creates thought-provoking, pro-Black agenda rap, Omavi “Mavi” Minder, is nothing if not wildly intriguing.
At just 21 years old he’s written and self-produced two albums, carefully and deliberately piecing together lyrics that demonstrate his self-reflection as a Black man and vulnerably sharing them with the world.
Mavi returned home to Charlotte from college at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic to write and produce his second album, “End of the Earth,” which was released in February. Now he is filming a video in the city for the album’s song “Methods.” “Charlotte is the center of my world,” Mavi said. “A lot of people may run to the glitz and the glamour when success hits, but for me, home is where I need to be.”
Raised in the Queen City
Born in Lexington, South Carolina, Mavi’s family moved to Charlotte when he was just a baby. He credits attending a variety of Charlotte schools — John Motley Morehead Elementary (now Governor’s Village STEM Academy), Tuckaseegee Elementary, Piedmont Open Middle School and West Charlotte High School — with exposing him to people from all walks of life and experiencing subcultures within the Charlotte community.
He also credits his parents, April Minder, an intensive care nurse, and Shaheed Minder, a computer programmer with a music studio on the side, for fostering his strong work ethic, relentless curiosity and innate love of music.
“My family has always supported me. They don’t give me support that comes with pressure. It’s like, ‘We are proud of you, but you don’t have to do this,’” Mavi said. “I’m an artist, a student, a friend, a boyfriend, an activist — just being able to be a son sometimes is nice. It’s a safe place.”
In ninth grade, Mavi began writing music and playing the trumpet and French horn in his high school band. He also discovered Studio 345 (now Arts +), a free, creative out-of-school youth development program for Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school students. He recorded his first song in the program’s uptown studio.
“Music gave me a feeling that I didn’t get with anything else — a way to talk about unique things I’ve been through, things I’ve seen, regional representation and subcultures,” Mavi said. “Almost like a diary?,” I asked. “Yea, exactly,” Mavi said.
Friendships have been an essential part of Mavi’s formula to making music and grounding him, both in his successes and in his life. As a teenager, he was part of the band Killswitch with friends Messiah, Ahmir the King and Sscopack! “They were my everyday inspiration. We lived side by side, experienced similar things. They sharpened me, gave me a sense of urgency and also told me when to sit back,” Mavi said.
Pulling from his experiences and his curiosity about the human mind, Mavi wrote and released his first album, “Let the Sun Talk,” in October 2019, during his freshman year at Howard University. He had no label or management, and still the album received widespread acclaim.
The Washington Post declared that Mavi was “rapping his way to the center of human consciousness,” and Pitchfork stated, “With a co-sign from the most influential rapper in his writerly, sample-heavy niche, Mavi became anointed.” The rapper they were referring to is Earl Sweatshirt, once part of the group Odd Future and now one of Mavi’s mentors.
An odd couple
The marriage of neuroscience and music may seem unlikely to most, but Mavi sees their path and mission as one and demonstrates that in his music. “Art and science are a way to test your experiences against the experiences of the whole and get validation. They are both about being human and experiencing moments,” Mavi said.
When COVID-19 hit and shut down Howard University, Mavi returned home to Charlotte to write and record his most recent album, “End of the Earth,” which he again released independently.
“My first album came out to moderate critical acclaim, and I wanted to do something that I could feel satisfied with as a second step. I came to Charlotte to make it — to get back to basics, be around friends, around family. I made a conscious effort to give it a sense of home,” Mavi said.
“Charlotte is growing, and it’s at a crossroads of what stays and what goes. It really depends on what is planted the deepest in the soil. When the treadmill starts, what will be left behind? Charlotte is a big city with a small town feel. Navigating a place like New York City or Los Angeles is really political. Here, it operates on the warmth and humility of the people of Charlotte who inspire me.”
What’s next for Mavi? Growth. “You can’t let your artistic growth outpace your human growth,” Mavi said.
“I owe it to Charlotte and to the grace people in Charlotte gave me to give back. The people who pulled me off to the side, who gave me a book — I want to work in a community garden, contribute to the lives of young artists.”
His first step to giving back to the community that he deemed the center of his world is a pop-up show. The event will take place at 128 Park Ave., Saturday, April 3 from 6-9 p.m. The show is free, and masks are required.
At the conclusion of our interview I asked Mavi if there is something that would surprise people about him. He yelled to his friend in the next room — ”Hey, what’s something surprising about me?” His friend spouted off all sorts of accolades, finally settling on: “You have all the charisma in the world.”
To that, a humble Mavi responded, “Nah. I think if you catch me around Charlotte and say hey, you’ll see I’m super nice. I’ll ask what’s going on with you. Maybe that’s surprising to some people.”
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