Mooncha Aims For The Stars

Mooncha is the next name you need to know in local (at least for now) music.

The rapper and artist is New Haven’s answer to the alternative R&B sound becoming ubiquitous in today’s music, from fast-rising artists like The Internet to relative unknowns trending now on Spotify playlists. But only Mooncha offers a distinctive space-themed twist, an unwillingness to shy away from the political, and a fresh, DIY approach to music and art.

Those who have seen Mooncha perform know that the local rapper’s songs become explosive when channeled through her electric stage presence. Between songs, Mooncha is fun and cheerful, chatting with the audience. When the music starts, she swings from slick emcee to controlled fireball. At any moment, the petite rapper may sing while lying on the floor, dance with someone in the audience, or rap while bounding around the stage with surprisingly coordinated steps.

Mooncha’s newest project, The Electric Space EP — which she produced on her iPhone and iPad — is short, satisfying, and spacey, managing to somehow be atmospheric and danceable, psychedelic and sincere. Lyrically, it also draws on the artist’s personal experiences, growing up all over New England and coming into her own as a person and artist.

“Electric Space is very much setting the scene of the story of Mooncha,” the rapper (whose real name is Thailend Delaine Parker) said in an interview with WNHH radio’s ​“Northern Remedy” program. Each song fixates on an idea (say, unrequited love), mimicking the immediate experience one might have when trying to approach a crush. Backed by a steady beat, the hazy jam ​“WANT-2-PARTY” features chants of ​“she just want to party, she just want to party” that transform into ​“you don’t want to love me, you don’t want to touch me.” The final track, ​“ONTHEMOONAGAIN,” is slower, plodding, a comedown.

For Mooncha, space is a metaphor for escapism. ​“It’s like how do you deal when dealing with it is wrong?” she said.

Mooncha’s formation as an artist and adult are inextricable. She grew up in Cape Cod, Mass., which she describes as ​“only woods.” Relatively isolated, she spent a lot of time listening to soul music that her grandmother shared with her. She later moved to Waterbury to attend high school, where she discovered hip hop and started gathering material for an upcoming EP and accompanying short film called ​“WHTE GIRLS.”

Mooncha then came to New Haven to go to Southern Connecticut State University. ​“Best decision I ever made,” she said, crediting SCSU for introducing her to her ​“musical soulmate” and collaborator Chef (pronounced ​“kef”) the Chef. In 2014, inspired by the bands Passion Pit and Animal Collective, among others, she started making what she called ​“computer music.”

Today, the rapper lists Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Sade among her musical influences — a list devoid of rappers. She noted that this was partly due to a dearth of queer female rappers in today’s music scene. Which is where Mooncha herself comes in.

Mooncha’s music, she said, ​“goes especially to young, black, queer people because I feel like we go through a lot and it’s rarely spoken about.” In her songs, she represents identities and ways of self-making that were not available to her as a younger person. Not being able to be herself, she said, was ​“a real hell. Being young, black, queer, in love with your best friend, would have been so much better if I had had a me around.”

Mooncha’s performances are an extension of her aim to help others unlock their true selves. ​“When you act weird, other people get to act weird, and that’s super healthy.” Her live sets are so smooth that it may be surprising to hear that she doesn’t rehearse. This is intentional. ​“In world of contouring, in a world of catfish, in a world where you never know, you gotta be real. I try to be real and raw in everything that I do,” she said. Mooncha is so adamant about promoting her performances as an essential part of experiencing her music that she does not record the songs she performs live.

Her songs are overtly political.

“I will always talk about Black Lives Matter, I will always talk about social justice issues, because I’m a hugely political person,” she said. As a queer woman in a male-dominated and sometimes misogynist and homophobic industry, her very existence is politicized. The ongoing assaults on black communities, including the recent police murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, affect her approach to her art. Quoting legendary black singer Nina Simone, the rapper asked herself, ​“what is my responsibility as an artist to reflect the times that I live in?”

So the deeply personal and contemplative Electric Space EP and the developing project ​“WHTE GIRLS” explore, she said, ​“a new form of racism, white supremacy, privilege that needs to be addressed.”

A self-proclaimed perfectionist with passion, talent, and a new project already in the works, Mooncha is poised to make her name, music, and film known across New Haven and eventually, she hopes, share stages with the musicians she admires.

“I think if you knew [about me], it’d be a wrap,” she said, ​“I can take it from there.” Her ability to turn concertgoers into fans is proof.

Click on or download the above file to listen to a full interview with Mooncha on WNHH radio’s ​“Northern Remedy” program.