60 Mariah Parker (Linqua Franqa) @ The Owyhee (Treefort Music Fest) in Boise, ID (3/24/19)

I was very fortunate to run into one of my favorite current rappers, Mariah Parker (aka Linqua Franqa), at Treefort Music Festival earlier this year. And somehow I managed to keep my fanboying to a minimum for long enough to talk to her about her worst show ever. We were using the festival's press room, which was in fact reserved for someone more official, so the convo was kept short. But Mariah manages to pack in a lot in 22 minutes. Because we were rushed, I failed to give her the introduction I would have liked, so I'll just say here that I first became aware of her right after the 2018 election. I was passing through Athens, Georgia, having a burger with a friend and talking about the amazing slate of women of color who had recently been elected to congress. I think I had said something about the delight I'd felt seeing the old white Christian dudes cringe as some of the women who would later be known as "The Squad" were sworn into office on a Koran rather than a Bible, and my buddy Adam brought up the recent Athen election in which a county commissioner was sworn in on a copy of Malcom X's autobiography. He then added that this woman was also a local rapper. I had to hear the music of this person, and it wasn't long before I was a huge fan of her music and her politics. Big thanks to Mariah and her partner Deidre for the great hangs and conversations.