Mapei

Mapei is a Swedish-American left-field pop artist — born in Providence, Rhode Island — whose hybrid style and blogosphere fan following drew comparisons to M.I.A. and Amanda Blank. Born Jaqueline Cummings, she scored her first underground hit with “Video Vixens,” whose wild video became a minor YouTube sensation in 2008. She signed with Downtown in 2009 with the label issuing her EP, The Cocoa Butter Diaries, that same year. She began work with the French house group Justice but the sessions were scrapped, and Mapei spent the next few years traveling the world. Returning home freshly inspired, in 2013 she released the single “Don’t Wait,” a hit that was remixed by Frankie Knuckles, while 2014 saw a new remix with Chance the Rapper added to the track. The album Hey Hey — the majority of which was produced by Sky Ferreira and Katy Perry collaborator Magnus Lidehäll — was issued later in the year. ~ Jason Birchmeier