Minneapolis musician Kashimana sings of motherhood

[MUSIC - KASHIMANA, "ONLY HUMAN"] Hey, hey, hey, ah-ah. Hey, hey-ey, hey. I can feel the change, change in my bones. I can see the glow that's luminescence. Too early to show, but somehow I know.

INTERVIEWER: Well, that song is called "Only Human" by Minneapolis-based musician Kashimana. They have been putting out new music and playing shows this summer. They have a new album called Phantom Cries, which comes out on Friday. And they join me now to talk about it. Welcome to the show, Kashimana.

KASHIMANA: Hello, hi. I'm so glad to be here.

INTERVIEWER: I'm glad to have you. I really like that song. That's one of your most well known. It's called "Only Human." Can you tell me more about what that song is about?

KASHIMANA: "Only Human" has the sound, the subtitle title, "Hey Hey Hey Ah." And those sounds are the sounds you might hear in labor. But it's also the sound you might hear from a very excited, ecstatic baby. And so it became this rallying call-- hey, hey, hey, ah, let's go. But it's also a reminder to breathe and go with the flow of becoming this new guide called Mother, Mama. And it's about giving myself grace. I'm not perfect, and I'm learning as I go.

INTERVIEWER: I love it. That's kind of been a theme for our show today. We had meditation for parents earlier in this hour. And so is motherhood a big inspiration for this album?

KASHIMANA: Yes, this whole album is about motherhood and discovering and finding out who I am and adding different layers. We start in the labor room. We move through to a fire, which is about the love that ignites, to the sleep deprivation and the nursing blues, funky blues nursing, chestfeeding, breastfeeding blues.

And then we also talk about the health system. And we talk about child loss and dealing with that. And so it's an emotional roller coaster. We go through this journey, arriving at the other end with "Bigger Than My Body," which expounds on how we are more than just what we see and that we're expanding, not just internally but mentally, in these new roles that we take as mother, caregiver, guide, all of that. [LAUGHS]

INTERVIEWER: And now you have this-- I mean, I bet your album feels like a new baby, and that's coming out. What are you anticipating with this album release?

KASHIMANA: I, first of all, am so excited to be sharing it. And we're having a huge celebration at the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday, so there's an album release show to go with it. It's been four years in the making, gestating, which I don't even want to imagine how big a baby it would be if it had been gestating for four years. [LAUGHS]

But yes, it is another baby that has been waiting to come out into the world. And every day, I'd get a reminder, you got to record this album. I wrote the music back in 2019 for the city commissions.

And almost every day since then, I've been getting the reminder, hey, when is this album coming out? There's mamas out there that are going through the same thing. There's mamas out there that would really, really connect and feel joy with this song, also go through the emotional roller coaster that they're going with you.

So it was just daily, constantly reminded that I needed to finish this project. And the pandemic happened, other things happened, and here we are. It's finally done and ready for people to go on this journey and experience it.

INTERVIEWER: Well, then, I think we better listen to another song of yours. This one is "The Blood Will Show."

[MUSIC - KASHIMANA, "THE BLOOD WILL SHOW"] I have kingdoms to take over. I can win it all. Yes, I can. I prepared for all of my labor. I can work it out. Yes, I can.

The pressure keeps rising. And my heart keeps--

INTERVIEWER: Tell me a little more about this song.

KASHIMANA: So the title for this song is "The Blood Will Show." And when I was-- about a week after having my daughter, I was walking around Target, my first venture into the outside world. And I ended up speaking with also a new mother.

And somehow in the conversation, "the blood will show" came up. And I was like, oh, that ties into what they say when you're getting ready to also go into labor. Sometimes you have a thing called the bloody show. This is what they call it.

And so it lets you know that you're about to go into labor. And then on top of that, I was talking, and my experience, my labor wasn't that easy. I had to go in for about four days. [LAUGHS]

INTERVIEWER: Ugh.

KASHIMANA: So it was long. It was late.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, poor mama.

KASHIMANA: And so just different complications, and some of the most common complications that happen in the United States, pre-eclampsia and hemorrhage. So I didn't have the pre-eclampsia, but I did have a-- I almost needed a transfusion in my labor.

And so just wanting to put a song that would kind of let people connect with, OK, this is something that's very life-changing, and also connect to the fact that the maternal mortality is high. And there's so much pressure from the health system, so much pressure from expectations of society to all of a sudden bounce back and get back to work right away, right? Like 6 to eight weeks after your whole body has been changing for 10 months--

INTERVIEWER: [LAUGHS] Yep.

KASHIMANA: Yeah, let's go back to work. And so this whole song talks about those changes and how we have to make sure that we're listening to ourselves and taking up space in our body.

INTERVIEWER: Do you feel like, through this album, you're creating space for mothers to know they're not alone or share their experiences?

KASHIMANA: That's exactly the hope and the goal, and even further, to also talk about ways that we can make it better for the future mothers and birthing persons to have better experiences, to make sure that we're not the most developed country or country with the highest GDP that also has the highest maternal mortality. So it opens up that space to have difficult conversations and to figure out ways to move forward and make sure that we improve the outcomes.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, absolutely. And creating community conversations through song is something you've done a lot. I don't know if you remember, but the last time we spoke, I think it was back in 2019, you just finished up a year as the composer in residence for the city of Wilmer.

KASHIMANA: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: And you were leading a whole series of community songwriting events. You put together a songbook. I know you do artist residency in schools. So tell me about how-- does teaching people to create songs and writing songs with people, does that influence your solo music too? Or do they feel separate?

KASHIMANA: Yes. Oh, no, it does. And it's one of my favorite things to get people to realize, that they can write songs, and they can tell their stories through music and songwriting. So I get to gather people in community. And you can hear it in the music.

People ask me what type of genre is it. And I was like, it's soulful folk, but original folk, where you'd gather with some friends and family and sing together using your voices as the main instrument and as the backing instruments. So before you had a physical instrument in your hands, you're making sounds with your body. And this has influenced my work and influenced my writing to such a high degree that now it's almost how I exclusively write.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, well, Kashimana, we always ask musicians to share a song by a different artist that has been inspiring them recently. You were kind enough to send us one. Let's listen.

[MUSIC - BEAUTIFUL CHORUS, "STAY LUCKY"]

- (SINGING) I stay lucky. Everything is always working out for me. I stay lucky. Everything is always working out. Ooh-ooh.

INTERVIEWER: That was Beautiful Chorus with the song "Stay Lucky." What's inspiring you about that music?

KASHIMANA: Oh, it was so difficult picking which Beautiful Chorus song I wanted to share with you because all of their music is really amazing. It's these short form mantras, repeatable phrases that you can say to yourself, say while-- I do it when I get ready in the morning to just get the day started on a good note and mentally just ground and connect with myself.

INTERVIEWER: Well, we've got about a minute left. And I want to go out on the song "Bigger Than My Body." Can you tell me about writing this before we hear it?

KASHIMANA: Yeah, so "Bigger" [INAUDIBLE] my favorite songs from the album. And it's about realizing that our humanity is bigger than who we are physically. And when I was writing this song, just trying to put in all the feelings of how I was expanding spiritually, physically, as a mother, how everything's different, everything is now new, and discovering looking at the past, looking at the future, and where do I fit in all of this, and chasing this young soul around as she discovers the world. And it comes into "Bigger Than My Body."

INTERVIEWER: All right, let's hear it.

[MUSIC - KASHIMANA, "BIGGER THAN MY BODY"] Naive, focused, torn, scared, unemployed. Be silent. Nurse. Cry. Explain. Laugh and shhh. Who questions why? You, me, they, them, us, what the f-- [CHIME] Stronger than the old me, but more fragile than the old me.

INTERVIEWER: That was Kashimana, a Minneapolis-based musician with a new album called Phantom Cries coming out this Friday, with a release show Friday at 8:00 at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. This is Minnesota Now.