At the age of 17 Cleo, born Nathalie Missaoui in 1987, moved from her hometown Umeå to Stockholm in order to attend an education in theatre. When asked about the music scene in Umeå she explains, “There was a certain DIY-spirit going on, Umeå was a real Mecca for Punk Rock at the time.” The Punk Rock movement was led by hardcore heroes Refused and the Do It Yourself mentality was a fact, something that was also present in the local Hip-Hop scene. “I was fascinated by the Hip-Hop sound the first time I heard it, I loved the way it allows you to express yourself” Cleo says and continues to tell me about Random Bastards, an Umeå skate and snowboard crew turned record label and clothing line.

“Today Random Bastards distributes my music, and Femtastic is my management” says Cleo. Femtastic was founded in 2010 by herself and Vanessa Marko and was born through a club event, featuring only female artists, at Stockholm’s Södra Teatern. “The clubs are still the heart of Femtastic, but we have grown so much since the start. Our two main goals are still the same though; we want to create a platform for women in music and we try to inspire young girls to raise their voices.”
Cleo carries out the latter of the goals with an urban music workshop, called Tell Dem, where she teaches women the subtle arts of rapping and performing, to boost their self esteem and to help create an equal music industry. “When I came to Stockholm from the male dominated music scene in Umeå and met other women in music, I discovered that I wasn’t the only one who had been treated badly because of my sex. What I want to do with Tell Dem is to challenge the norms of society; sometimes the desire to be free from the norms is stronger than the fear to break them.”

This kind of injustice is a common topic in Cleo’s music, one particular song that carries the message is Looptroop Rockers’ track “Hårt mot Hårt” from their 2013 album “Mitt Hjärta är en Bomb”. The song was of personal significance to Cleo, her featured verse was her very first in Swedish, after rapping exclusively in English since her debut EP “Yes, She Do” from 2010. “I hesitated at first about rapping in Swedish but Mårten [Edh, “Promoe” from Looptroop Rockers] said he could hear my voice on that track, and when I did it the verse became something of an anthem.”

Ever since the collaboration with Looptroop Rockers Cleo has made music in both languages, and her co-operations with other recording artists has continued. One such collaborative effort is the newly released single “240” that features starlet Alina Devecerski. The title refers to the Volvo 240, a popular vehicle in suburban Umeå culture, and is Cleos homage to her roots. “Being ‘real’ has always been important in Hip-Hop, and Umeå has always been my reality”. The realness of Cleo is hard to deny when you hear her speak from the heart about her true faith in a future where the music business and our society at last may be free of inequality.

”Cleo’s new club ’Cleo & Friends’ premieres 9^th of October at Stockholm club Marie Laveau and she can be seen in the Tv4 show ‘Lyckliga Gatan’ this winter”

Credits:

Words by Filip Lindström

Photography by Simon Younan

Styling by B.A.R.T.

Make-up by Maurine Tugavune

Walking down the dingy stairwell to the basement at Stockholm’s Marie Laveau bar to meet the female-run music collective Femtastic, I notice the smell of spray-paint fumes from the previous night’s party. Graffiti and beer bottles are everywhere and busboys are sweeping away the remains of the festivities, while the photographer’s crew is setting up for the day’s shoot. The light at the end of all this chaos comes in the form of the delightful characters that make up Femtastic. The girls are beautiful, mostly dressed in black hoodies and designer Caterpillar boots. They are diverse in height, age, colour and sound, but their unity is obvious and their vibe with each other is cohesive and comfortable.

Observing them as they stand around, laughing over their coffees, getting their make-up done and talking about upcoming projects, I am overwhelmed by how their sisterhood elicits all the feelings of love, support and magic you could want in a working atmosphere. From Femtastic, we have here: Aïssa (Aïssa Diene), Missdj (Jessica Wejhem), Sister Justice (Justine Balagade), Kippshu (Caroline Jansheden), May Dar (Alexandra Shanahan) and Neyney (Vanessa Marko). Vanessa is the founder. She’s a quiet leader, with beautiful, cat-like eyes and a subtle authority, who checks out the clothing the stylist brings, gets the girls coffee, talks to the photographer and says when the interview can start. They got together almost five years ago. Vanessa says, “It all started with me and Cleo hosting an event at a club in Stockholm. We called the event Klubb Femtastic and gathered a lot of female artists and DJs to perform. We wanted to show people that we exist and that we could do great shows with a feminist agenda. It was so successful that we wanted to do it again.

In the end we want to create space for women in urban music and create a structural change in a male-dominated sphere.”

Femtastic has gone on to expand its platform globally, creating tutorials, workshops and sessions to promote female entrepreneurship in the music industry. They are all about encouraging others to be earthmovers, essentially filling the clubs and steps they take with good vibrations. The collective are an inspiration for performers eager to create their own shows and sound and make that leap on stage. When I tell her this, Vanessa says, “The biggest lesson I think we are passing on to the youth and future performers is inspiration to create and to claim space. [We’re showing] the benefits and joy of being a collective force, and the importance of staying true to who you are, no matter what your sex or where you come from.”

When I ask the girls to describe their life as performers in one word, they each give a different answer. Caroline says, “Joy”, smiling contently; Aïssa mentions “Happiness”; Alexandra says, “Fun” with a sly grin; and Vanessa responds with, “Traveller.” Looking at the girls sitting together on a black leather rock’n’roll couch, amid the hustle and bustle of a magazine and television crew hard at work preparing to document their every move, the only word I think of is “strong”. Together I believe Femtastic has the strength to move mountains and they are going to do it one beat at a time.

Femtastic are at Marie Leveau, Södermalm Stockholm, every weekend. On Fridays they host Klubb Femtastic, while Saturdays become Sugarcane Saturdays.

Do you know any Earthmovers? Go on Instagram and, using the hashtag #earthmovers, tell us who you think we should feature.

Credits:

Words by Koko Ntuen.

Photography by Anti Wendel.

Styling by Fiffi Jenkins.

Hair and Make-Up by Jessica Krage

Femtastic

1. Vanessa Marko 2. Aïssa Diene 3. Caroline Janshede 4 Alexandra Shanahan 5. Justine Balagade 6. Jessica Wejhem

Special thanks to Caterpillar

Boot available at Junkyard