![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Chhoti-Maa_144web.jpg?quality=89&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Chhoti Maa\u2019s rap alias is also a layered story. She coined it while living in Richmond, Virginia and binging on Bollywood films, borrowing it from a film with the same name. \u201cChhoti is Hindi for little. I liked the sound, because in Spanish we have many words with \u2018ch,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI also like that it held two h\u2019s for hip-hop. And Maa is \u2018Ama,\u2019 \u2018Ma,\u2019 \u2018Mamita.\u2019 Maa is universal. It is a reminder to myself to mother myself and my art.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chhoti Maa began writing poetry to deal with the confusing transition of moving from Mexico to the United States. But it was only later that she realized it was more than just moving from one country to another. It was about understanding the complex place she now lived in from the perspective of a person of color, which consequently layed a foundation for her creative work.<\/p>\n
Through that immigrant experience, the 30-year-old MC from Guanajuato finds creative freedom in managing herself and not being constrained to anyone else\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n
She just finished the recording her latest album, \u201cCaldo de Hueso,\u201d which explores themes about love, politics and community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI pull a lot of references from the past from Mexico,\u201d Chhoti Maa says of her music. \u201cIt\u2019s like really deep vibrations coming out from my body, and really soft high pitch vocals.\u201d<\/p>\n
She expects that \u201cCaldo de Hueso\u201d will be released in the fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was made possible through the support of Women\u2019s Audio Mission,\u201d she said of the San Francisco nonprofit dedicated to advancing the presence of women in music production and recording. Women\u2019s Audio Mission contacted Chhoti Maa last year, awarding her a grant that included studio time, mixing, mastering as well as a small stipend.<\/p>\n
The experience is new for Chhoti Maa. She\u2019s accustomed to working on her music alone, but she said collaborating with other artists like Women\u2019s Audio Mission engineer Victoria Fajardo has made the production faster and smoother. \u201cI think this album shows my growth as a writer and musician,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The beginnings of that musical career are rooted in her upbringing in Mexico. The song \u201cGimme tha Power\u201d by the Mexican band Molotov was something that Chhoti Maa heard frequently growing up, a song that analyzed the corruption and political crisis that Mexico was experiencing. Inspired by the lyrics, Chhoti Maa credits the song with getting her interested in different types of hip-hop.<\/p>\n
Chhoti Maa\u2019s family first migrated to the United States in 1999 as part of the post-NAFTA exodus, but returned to Mexico due to an economic crisis. They eventually moved again from Guanajuato to Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n
That period of transition in her life was a tough one, exacerbated by the language barrier and lack of comprehension to the sudden change of circumstance. It was listening to hip-hop that helped her to learn English. Chhoti Maa says that her grandmother was a missing piece of the puzzle early on when she was living in the United States. Missing her grandmother immensely drew her to R&B music, for which she developed a love.<\/p>\n
She recalls the time when her grandmother watched her perform live in Guanajuato for the first time. Her grandmother\u2019s face, full of pride and excitement, is something she\u2019ll never forget. She still gets nervous before shows sometimes, especially when performing for small crowds or in front of family.\u00a0 <\/span>But all that all changes when she takes the stage. \u201cOnce I have the mic in my hand it all melts away,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Chhoti Maa has constantly moved throughout her life. In 2011 she was in Trujillo, Peru, where her style broadened and she was taught to freestyle by Peruvian B boys.<\/p>\n Her most recent collaboration was with Cuban rapper El Cepe MC, their song, \u201cEl Reflejo,\u201d is soon to be released. It\u2019s a song that is heavily influenced by the complexities of one\u2019s soul, the harms of social media and the moments of inner reflection.<\/p>\n