534-538 Congress St
Portland, ME 04101
USA
The Metamorphosis Fest headliner returns to SPACE! Oompa is a nationally-acclaimed, Boston-born, poet, rapper, and educator.
OOMPA is a nationally-acclaimed, Boston-born, poet, rapper, and educator, who is forever representing the queer, black, orphaned, hood kids n’ them. She was named one of NPR’s 2020 Slingshot Artists to Watch and her engaging, interactive performing style won her the Boston Music Award for Live Act of the Year in 2019, following her 2018 Unsigned Artist of the Year victory among an unprecedented 12 total nominations. In a 2019 feature, WBUR’s the Artery describes the lyric-focused rapper as having a “natural tenderness with language” and calls her verses “funny…incisive and memorable.” Oompa showed this poetic prowess as the winner of the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam and a finalist in the 2016 National Poetry Slam. Following the release of her second album, Cleo, in August of 2019, Oompa sold out The Sinclair and a number of other Boston venues. Since then, she has shared the stage with renowned artists like Charli XCX, 24KGoldn, Tinashe, UMI, and Rico Nasty. Most recently, she headlined the Paradise Rock Club in Boston for her album release show on October 8, 2021
Her latest album, UNBOTHERED was released independently in October 2021 to popular and critical acclaim. This album is joy incarnate. What it feels like, what it sounds like, what it looks like, who it’s for, and, most importantly, how to find and make joy a reality in this life even when presented with so much constant sorrow. This album is Oompa expanding as a human and as an artist. Free of boxes, free of expectations, and free of rules except for those she has laid out for herself.