Maya Jupiter

Maya Jupiter
Maya Jupiter, Orlando, Florida, November 2010
Background information
Birth name	Melissha Martinez
Born	1978 (age 38–39) La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genres	Hip hop, R&B, salsa
Occupation(s)	Rapper, songwriter, MC, radio personality
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Mother Tongues
Associated acts	Son Veneno, Foreign Heights
Website	www.mayajupiter.com

Melissha Martinez (born 1978), better known by her stage name Maya Jupiter, is a Turkish-Mexican Australian rapper and radio personality. She released her debut album, Today, in 2003. She was a member of hip-hop group, Foreign Heights, with MC Trey and DJ Nick Toth, which released a self-titled album in 2007. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007 the trio was nominated for 'Best Urban Release' for "Get Yours (Remix)". From 2004 to 2008, Jupiter hosted the national radio station, Triple J's weekly Hip-Hop Show. Thereafter she pursued her solo career based in Los Angeles and released her second album, Maya Jupiter, in December 2010.

Maya Jupiter was born as Melissha Martinez in 1978 in La Paz, Mexico. Her father is Mexican and her mother is Turkish. She has an elder sister. Her family moved to Melbourne, Victoria when Jupiter was one year old, then relocated to Sydney, when she was four. From four to twelve years old, she grew up in Busby, a suburb in South-western Sydney and then lived in Ashfield. Her parents provided a wide range of musical experience, "At home, we always had different styles of music playing ... [m]y mom used to play classical music, traditional Turkish and pop music, but she was also into jazz and soul. My father used to listen to Spanish-language music". In primary school Jupiter was a school captain, and in secondary school she became a prefect and a sports captain. At the age of 14, she wrote her first rhyme. Her sister took her to local salsa and Latin American clubs. In public Jupiter mostly used English and did not speak much Spanish until she was 17, later she reflected, "I speak more Spanish than I do Turkish! But I was raised by my Mum, so she reminds me that I should be making more Turkish music". At the age of 18, she adopted her stage name using her mother's advice, "to reflect the Mayan side of her heritage" and began performing in an R&B club in Sydney.