Maasai Amewa, born Lester Curtis Ellis in Chicago, is a creator whose journey weaves together art, music, and social consciousness. His early foundation began at Helen C. Peirce International Studies School, where he performed with the African Dance Troupe, earning the Inspiring Performers Award in 1993 and gracing stages for figures such as Mayor Daley at Truman College.
At Lane Technical High School, Amewa’s athletic drive matched his artistic curiosity—excelling in track-and-field, basketball, and joining the varsity football team as a sophomore. Yet beyond sports, his soul turned toward writing. Inspired by Langston Hughes, Chinua Achebe, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, and the uncompromising voice of James Baldwin, he began crafting poetry and stories rooted in the human condition and Black identity.
Following high school, Amewa immersed himself in spoken word, performing throughout the Midwest, including Chicago’s legendary Green Mill Jazz Club. His journey led him to Louisiana, where he was exposed to Grambling State University’s renowned marching band.
A pivotal moment came when, after discovering his identity had been stolen and commodified on the black market—a fiasco entwined with governmental neglect—he chose rebirth. Shedding his birth name, he emerged as Maasai Amewa, a declaration of self-sovereignty and creative resilience.
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STYLE / MEDIUM
Amewa’s artistry is multi-dimensional.
• Musical Landscapes: Hip-Hop, Electronica, Jazz, and New Age—composed with a futurist sensibility and narrative weight.
• Visual Realms: Digital Surrealism, Photography, AI-assisted Animation—works that blend imagination and critique.
• Design & Fashion: Sneakers, bomber jackets, jewelry, and wearable art drawn from his catalog’s cover art and conceptual worlds.
Under the moniker M.S.I, he approaches art as an ecosystem—sound, story, and image united in transformative expression.
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THEMES / VISIONS
Amewa’s work interrogates and celebrates the complexities of race, identity, and liberation. His themes traverse:
• Black Identity & Social Change: Excavating history, amplifying voices, and challenging power structures.
• Redemption & Love: Narratives of healing, loss, and rebirth.
• Futurism & Surrealism: Reimagining existence, creating portals where technology and storytelling merge into new mythologies.
Through sound and image, he seeks not only to provoke thought but to summon new futures.
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ACHIEVEMENTS
• Early Recognition: Inspiring Performers Award (Helen C. Peirce International, 1993).
• Academic Honors: R.E.A.C.H. Award for Research, SIUC (2005).
• Writing & Journalism: ICCJ Award for Journalism. 2008
• Arts Leadership: Vice Chair of the Evanston Arts Council (2019–2022), where he championed equity, expanded grant access, and helped deliver record-high funding to BIPOC-centered arts organizations during the pandemic.
• Musical Releases:
• Andromeda 27 A.E. (2019) – Electronica/Trip-Hop.
• Sleeping Giants (2019) – Featuring Grammy and Juno-nominated Northern Cree, and activist Cat Brooks.
• End of Moonlight (2019). Featuring Dr. Francis Cress Welsing, and King Limitless
• Ghost of Orion (2020) – with visuals by Julius Horsthuis.
• Kingdom Clouds (2022) – Hip-Hop single.
• Ab-Spirits (2022) – soundtrack and narrative for a documentary on redemption and incarceration.
• Amber Pearls Dance / Child’s Pose (2024) – featured on CBS
• SonuMasi (2025) – New Age single.
• Flux Sequels EP (2025) – dance electronica and new age, with Afrofuturist visuals and ideation.
• Exhibitions & Platforms: Works showcased at Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, iHeartRadio, The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, Evanston Art Center, Chicago Humanities Festival, Greenhouse Theater, Feinberg Theater, UIC Pavilion; ChangeFest, Rib Fest, Bramble Art Center, joined Saatchi Art in 2024.
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FUTURE DIRECTION
Amewa’s vision continues to expand across disciplines. His forthcoming Hip-Hop album, Birth of a Universe, Death of a Dream, is set for release in late 2025 as a multi-media project, merging music, storyboards, and surrealist animations into an immersive narrative experience. Singles from the album—including:
https://youtu.be/PwzqK4QbUc4?si=W8fCCDqqoVOoLwH0
https://youtu.be/AABcXhdvyUA?si=itRCWll2UZgFdcQY
https://youtu.be/kI243Lc8jMc?si=UyIBI1I_td9zKj_M
Alongside music, his design house A.M Muse Collab produces wearable art—sneakers, bomber jackets, jewelry, and accessories—allowing audiences to inhabit his visions in physical form.
Rooted in history yet fixed on futurity, Maasai Amewa continues to sculpt portals of sound, image, and movement—an artist reimagining what it means to create, resist, and dream.
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