15 February 2011 - 0 Comments

40 Days Touring are proud to announce that Australian hip-hop artist Maya Jupiter will be supporting American soul sensation Aloe Blacc for his Auckland and Wellington shows this week.

Born in Mexico but raised in Australia, Maya Jupiter was exposed to hip-hop when American rappers became a fixture on Australian radio in the '90s. In 2001 she won the Big Day Out MC Battle and appeared in the film Lantana. A year later Jupiter became the host of the weekly hip-hop show on Triple J Radio, a national radio station largely responsible for helping Australian hip-hop coalesce into a unified scene.

In 2008 Maja departed Australia to further her solo music career in the US.

In December 2010 she released the beautiful self-titled album Maya Jupiter, featuring collaborations with Martha Gonzales and Aloe Blacc.

Aloe Blacc’s 2010 worldwide hits, ‘I Need A Dollar’ (commissioned as the theme tune for HBO series How To Make It In America) and ‘Femme Fatale’ (The Velvet Underground cover), are merely the tip of a very large iceberg: Aloe Blacc is fast becoming the spearhead of modern, 21^st century soul.

The first-generation American offspring of Panamanian parents, Aloe Blacc has become what writer/activist Amiri Baraka once said of John Coltrane: he is a singular “scope of feeling...” who has found cohesion in art and life.  In the tradition of some of yesteryear’s greatest of soul greats, Aloe Blacc’s goal is to affect change by way of his own success.

“My purpose for music is positive social change,” says Aloe. “Even if the music itself does not explicitly express anything that may signify positive social change, the product of the music will.”

The stunning new album Good Things marks a shift from his 2006 debut Shine Through:the 30-year-old Aloe has transformed the inner streams of consciousness he possessed as an MC early in his career, into more disciplined, mature perspectives. Good Things resonates with the sounds and emotions of vintage soul music, but the albumis Aloe’s definitive declaration of contemporary soul and the modern world.

A record full of heart despite its sobering subject matter, Aloe refers to Good Things as a report from the front lines, where many struggle to survive:  unemployment, homelessness, the misappropriation of wealth, pillaging of resources, and the universal lack of compassion from capitalism at-large.  It is, most certainly, a modern classic in waiting…

Don’t miss your last chance to see Aloe Blacc and Maya Jupiter live at the following locations:

Studio, Auckland
Wednesday 16th February
Support from Maja Jupiter & Stinky Jim
Onstage 10PM sharp

SFBH, Wellington
Thursday 17th February 2011
Support from Maja Jupiter & Mu|
Onstage 10PM sharp

Tickets on sale now from http://www.undertheradar.co.nz/

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