Generating a powerful blast of sculpted noise and purposeful rage, Moor Jewelry is an uncompromised collaboration between artists Moor Mother (aka Camae Ayewa) and Mental Jewelry (aka Steven Montenegro). Adapting the lyrical free association and atmospheric soundscapes of rap to the no-frills attack of punk rock, Moor Jewelry makes music that embraces the freedom of both styles while generating a moody chaos that's street smart and liberating. The project's debut EP, 2017's Crime Waves, was a sinister amalgam of hip-hop, dub, and experimental music. Their first full-length album, 2020's True Opera, was a dramatic stylistic shift, constructed from noisy guitars, fractured rhythms, and purposeful rage.

Camae Ayewa began making music under the Moor Mother banner in 2012, combining socially conscious rhymes with music that was informed by hip-hop, jazz, and dissonant atmospherics, releasing her debut album, Fetish Bones, in 2016. The following year, Ayewa launched a studio collaboration with Steven Montenegro, a multi-instrumentalist who had worked with the group Drgn King and the hip-hop act Mark Deez and also performed under the name Mental Jewelry. Adopting the handle Moor Jewelry, the pair created a six-song EP, Crime Waves, that was steeped in hip-hop and doomy electronic textures. Both Ayewa and Montenegro had cut their musical teeth playing punk rock, and in the early 2020s they started jamming together, exploring their musical roots. With Moor Mother on guitars and vocals and Mental Jewelry on drums and bass, they cut a session where they interacted live in the studio, embracing the spontaneity and power of punk. Shortly afterwards, they returned to the studio to record more music, this time with Philip Price, touring drummer with Kayo Price, on percussion. Showing off a raw, forceful side of their music, Moor Jewelry brought out their first full-length album, True Opera, in April 2020. The album quickly sold out its limited edition vinyl pressing, and a second run of LPs arrived in September 2021. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi