Eve Crazy & Mar Yo combines Senegalese rap, Finno-Ugric singing tradition, and the soundscape of the Finnish national instrument kantele.
The duo was formed in January 2021 when we sat down with Eve to discuss our lives. Femininity and the associated assumptions, requirements, and discrimination emerged as a unifying theme. Both’s experiences of being single parent also sparked conversations. Those conversations led us to create multiple songs.
Eve Crazy & Mar Yo’s music brings together two continents, cultures and societies, urban and traditional, and shared feminity. For us, music is a way to communicate with the surrounding world.
In April 2021 we released the first single “Jigéen ñi” (Women) that was recorded in Dakar.
In December 2021, we released a set of three audiovisual songs “Trilogy” which celebrates single parents, discusses the narrow frames of gender, and tells a touching story of women confronting violence.
The album, ”New Stories,” was released in May 2024 with a tour in Senegal and Finland. In the summer of 2024, we performed at Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in Kaustinen, Kihaus folk in Rääkkylä, G Livelab in Tampere, Etno-Espa in Helsinki, Global Club Nights in Helsinki, Afrojazz Club goes Alppipuisto in Helsinki, Joen yö festival in Joensuu, and Joen Kieku in Joensuu.
Listen ”New Stories” here:
Tradition and modern are in dialog in our music. The song Manajan fusions Finno-Ugric spelling tradition and Diola rhythms in a modern way. The Kangouran, the mystic character of the Diola people that appears in the video. The music video was released in June 2024. It was shot in Senegal in May 2024.
”The Trilogy compilation was a story about hard subjects, which nevertheless led towards a better tomorrow and boldly opened the curtains of possibilities in front of it. It was precisely that unpredictability and the power of moving from negativity to positivity that brought the duo’s work to the fore from the very beginning, and I can happily say that the long play only gets better. This is not African, this is not Finno-Ugric, this is world music in the full sense of the word.” (Mika Roth, Desibeli.net, 3.5.2024, four stars)
”A completely unique combination, which also works in a miraculous way. Urban music and tradition, two continents, two cultures, but also the similarities – universal values such as women’s rights, standing up against violence, and so on. The music here transcends everything. Mighty beautiful!” (Moors Magazine, July 2024)
Live videos from the concerts (Videos open on YouTube, click on the desired concert) :
- Live at Vibe Radio in Dakar, in November 2021.
- Duo with Joao Luis at Etnosoi! festival in 2022.
- Vuotalo in 2022, in Helsinki Finland.
- Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in 2024.
- Afrojazz Club goes Alppipuisto in 2024
- Etno-Espa festival in 2024.
- Joen Yö festival in 2024.
- Global Club Nights in August 2024, in Helsinki, Finland.
evemaryomusic(at)gmail.com
Eve Crazy & Mar Yo on Instagram