Hip hop has played a huge part in shaping the person I am today. Since a young girl I've been completely obsessed with rap music and I have dedicated many days/hours/months to developing my understanding of this craft and the culture surrounding it. Something about someone so skillfully speaking to me, telling me a story as if I'm sat right there with them got me hooked and my passion grew and grew. Their words gave me pause for thought, taught me not to give a f**k about what others think and helped me drown out some seriously difficult times in my younger years. Although a lot of the music I vibed to was released before I was born in '95, I was totally an old head for many years - denying anything that wasn't well seasoned with wordplay, metaphors and complex flows. 

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Well, those days are gone and I'm truly happier for it. I love hip hop in its entirety. From Wu Tang to Ski Mask, Big L to Lil Baby. I embrace it all. But, as the music industry changes in line with the growth of social media and hip hop becoming totally commercialised, we are seeing some big and bizarre changes that can be difficult for real rap fans to swallow. So, I created Mayo. A place for me: a hip hop obsessed British girl, to share my thoughts, opinions and analysis on how the artists, consumers and genre itself have changed - for better or worse...