“She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor.” Influenced by Hip Hop, Rock, Jazz, Soul & R&B, Mae C is making her mark as an independent artist in the Kansas City music scene. A self-acclaimed black girl nerd, she originally planned on becoming an engineer and studied computer design at Lincoln University of Missouri. After leaving Lincoln to pursue her true passion of singing and songwriting, she finds that her techy side impacts how she writes music. “As a kid, I was always picking things apart and figuring out how to put them back together,” she said. “As an artist, I do the same thing – I pick apart my favorite singers to discover what made them great so I can walk in their footsteps.” Mae C is inspired by various greats from Whitney Houston and Prince to Treacherous 3, J. Cole and NWA, Jay Z, Nas to Erykah Badu, Kendrick Lamar, Tupac, and Beyonce but says Michael Jackson & Whitney Houston is who inspired her from when she was a young girl. “I would watch clips of him practicing or recording in the studio, and you could see him creating a full experience of art and music. To this day you hear the passion and drive in which he translated on every hit,” she said.