Blazing her own trail to stardom
Much has been said about the struggle of working mothers to achieve a good work-life balance, with some wondering if women truly can “have it all”, but when it comes to Chattanooga rapper BbyMutha (real name: Brittnee Moore), a mother of two sets of twins, her life and her art are intertwined to the point of being indivisible.
The name BbyMutha was inspired by an insult that was hurled at her as the rival of another woman in a love triangle, but by reclaiming the term, she defuses the insult; in an interview with The Fader, she clarified, “It’s not an insult to me. Some of us are babies’ mothers. Not everyone is a wife, and not everyone aspires to be a wife.”
Despite the name, there’s much more to BbyMutha than motherhood, and in response to those who declare that kids must always come first, in a Pitchfork interview she said, “Like no, that is a lie, because if you don’t have a happy, healthy mother then you can’t have happy, healthy kids”—reminiscent of the maxim “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
BbyMutha grew up in a sheltered childhood, mostly raised by a religious mother, and endured bullying as a teen before becoming a mother at 17. To pay the bills, she worked call centers and retail, and if not for her love of music, she could’ve had a different career trajectory, possibly using her certified nurse’s assistant license or continuing her study of fashion design in Nashville.
Instead, she bucked the tradition that parents must put their dreams aside and followed the creative path that made her happy and fulfilled.
Provocative and outrageous are the words that come to mind when considering both BbyMutha’s rapping style and her eye-popping, colorful fashion sense, which exude an attitude that says, “I don’t give a damn what you think.”
This writer was introduced to BbyMutha by Stratton Tingle (executive director of the non-profit SoundCorps) at a performance at Mary’s Lounge in 2017. At that show, it was nearly impossible to not notice her charisma, her distinctive staccato flow, her natural confidence...and her tampon string, on display as if it were a piece of jewelry.
Her lyrics display her sex-positive boldness and confrontational manners, especially when calling out bullshit from men, and there are times when the two combine bluntly, like in the track “F--- Me,” with the line “F--- me good before you f--- me over.”
Calling herself “The antichrist of female rap,” BbyMutha is happy to play with provocation and taboos in a polarizing way.
Take the cover photo of her EP Muthaz Day 3 from 2018, declared by Pitchfork to be one of the best rap releases of 2018, which features her posing with her children in sinister robes over a pentagram, or the “D.I.Y.” video with her dancing in a Satan’s cheerleader outfit—it’s either terribly offensive or hilariously entertaining, or possibly both, simultaneously.
“BbyMutha has something to say and she says it A LOT,” said Tingle via email. “If you’ve ever subscribed to any of BbyMutha’s multiple Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or other social media accounts, you’ll notice that she’s always on, and almost always saying something bombastic. I have no idea how she’s able to maintain this massive flow of content.”
Social media interaction, including responding directly and brutally to haters, is just one of the ways that BbyMutha has adopted a non-traditional career path in music.
“The collapse of the recording industry has been a big shift in recent music history, requiring artists to develop themselves, rather than rely on a team of A&R professionals and PR folks employed by record labels,” said Tingle. “BbyMutha seems to have embraced that change and seems comfortable taking her career (and the modern music industry) by the reins.”
BbyMutha has avoided the normal path for musicians, which was to build up a local following, record and release an album, tour to support the album, and repeat the process.
Despite having not yet released a full-length album (although apparently Muthaland is due to drop any minute now), BbyMutha has been praised and recognized by media outlets including The New Yorker, Pitchfork, and The Washington Post; she’s performed around the world in countries including Sweden and South Korea, and this last spring, she joined Earl Sweatshirt on his tour.
“It’s not surprising that she’s focused on building her fanbase on the coasts and in Europe,” said Tingle. “Those are the markets where her image, philosophy, attitude, and artistry resonate the most.”
Love her or hate her, BbyMutha is an artist in control, unapologetically audacious and—like reclaiming an insult—making her name on her own terms.