Cinnamon Babe is a band based out of Los Angeles formed by lead vocalist, Stormi Maya, who is also an adult model and actress. She is an Independent Artist who Loves Nu-Metal, fusing together the Rap and Heavy Metal genres with a resilient attitude. Stepping onto the Metal scene about a year ago, Stormi is already making a massive impact, with only four singles released, a feature in a Banshee song, and an EP titled Fatherless in the works, to be released sometime this year.
Stormi was raised in The Bronx and Boston by a highly educated single Mother, “I lived in The Bronx and Boston, I’m a city girl at the end of the day. Growing up in the city gives us more of an abrasiveness and we’re very vocal people in Boston and New York. I’ve always been surrounded by people where we talk our shit and it’s ok. Speaking out to New Yorkers and Bostonians, talking shit is not like a foreign thing. Culturally, it’s not like we’re quiet people.”
As an adult, Stormi is empowered by Rage Against The Machine with their messages about rebelling against the system and strong beliefs taking a stand against people who’ve done you wrong. She also enjoys Linkin Park, who have immense messages speaking up about Mental Health. Whore by In This Moment is also a song Stormi connects deeply with.
Fan Facts: Straight Line Stitch is a band that inspired Stormi to heavily get into Metal!
Cinnamon Babe’s upcoming EP, Fatherless, which has a to be announced release date, is something Stormi feels she’s establishing what she stands for in this industry while making a recognizable sound for herself, “The good thing about this EP is that it’ll give people a nice chunk of that. And show that I’m very consistent in my messages.”
Being an actress, model, and Musician hasn’t always been smooth or easy for Stormi. She’s had to deal with sexual harassment by quite a few men within these industries and dealt with sometimes not being paid at all. Even with all this, Stormi continues to keep a strong head on her shoulders and stands up to the negativity, never letting it defeat her, using her Music as an outlet.
For the first time in her Life, Stormi feels like she has a voice. The logo for Cinnamon Babe is shown with a stitched mouth because for years she’s felt like she’s had to have her mouth shut and closed in order to survive. She is an abuse survivor, has been homeless and used sex work as a means of perseverance. In all of these different lanes and industries, she was silenced when in uncomfortable situations and unable to speak up in those moments.
“I felt in order to make it in the industry, I had to comply, not be a bitch, or not be difficult. For a very long time, I dealt with people disrespecting me, and I kind of just realized one day that I didn’t have to deal with that in order to be successful. And for me, Cinnamon Babe is an outlet to have a voice and say what I want to say, and I feel like it’s a space where I will not allow anyone to silence me. Cinnamon Babe is the only place I have where I have that voice. It is the place where I can attract people who want to hear what I have to say.”
In October of 2022, Cinnamon Babe released their single for the song Loose. The inspiration behind the song stems from Stormi’s work in the sex industry which began when she was around 16 years old, ranging from nude modelling, to stripping, sugaring, to being a Dominatrix. She also has many friends who do full-service sex work. One of the things that’s always frustrated Stormi when it comes to that type of work, is when a lot of men consume porn, strippers, or full-service sex workers, and then disrespect the women they’re using for their pleasure.
“I just don’t understand how you can look down on something that you’re indulging in and I also do not understand why Society has been so warped to thinking that sex work is this evil thing that should be demonized. I think that OnlyFans brought out a lot of light about how men feel about women, when women are doing these things and they’re the ones benefitting from it. I’ve noticed there’s been a huge “hate train” for women doing OnlyFans and making money from their own content.
When I saw OnlyFans threatening to get rid of new content, I would see so many men in the comments cheering, like, “yeah, these girls are going to have to go get real jobs now.” They would start being happy about the downfall of these women that were making good money on their own, at their own accord. I never see that same energy toward sex trafficking, towards women who are victims of sex crimes… But when women are empowered by their sexuality and they’re making money from it, and they’re rich from it, there seems to be a lot of bitterness.”
Stormi began working with producer Esjay Jones on Loose, right after Rock and Roll is Black came out. After reaching out to a lot of male producers and getting into weird situations where they would want more than just business, Stormi and Esjay eventually connected. Working with Esjay has helped Stormi develop her Cinnamon Babe sound more, as before Loose came out, she was experimenting with different styles of Metal and Rock. Esjay has also been a good friend and mentor to help Stormi maneuver through the industry, and not get taken advantage of.
“Working with her is great because she’s had similar experiences, we’ve talked about it. She really resonates with my messages and agrees with my messages. Rather than having a male producer’s voice in the mix, or being uncomfortable with them as some think that they’ll get an extra thing out of it, it’s a safe space working with Esjay.”
Fan Facts: You can check out our interview with Esjay Jones here!
Cinnamon Babe has a collaboration song titled “The Man” with the one and only Otep that is releasing sometime in the near future! The song is standing up for women’s rights to choose what to do with their bodies. Otep is one of Stormi’s major inspirations, especially with speaking out about LGBTQ rights, veganism, and women’s rights through her Music. She also gets a lot of the same backlash for speaking out, like Otep does.
“I feel like it’s a perfect match because we both share a lot of the same views when it comes to those things and we’re both two women who don’t really give a fuck either. We are very thick skinned, and we can handle the backlash of it.”
Stormi wrote the song in bed one day, having this idea of wanting to make a song about the benefits of male privilege and how she feels as a woman within it. She really wanted Otep on the song, and Esjay helped set it up. “I think she added a very strong element to the song. It was a perfect match made in Heaven, and we met, and we totally vibed, she’s a totally cool person, I Love her! It’s hilarious because even from the snippets I’ve posted, I’ve already had angry boys in the comments, and she’s already come at them, and it’s pretty hilarious. She has great advice with the hate I receive, maneuvering in this industry as a woman, and she’s been kind of like a mentor to me as well.”
Stormi is also featured in the remixed song, Death Of A Predator by the Fairy Metal band, Banshee, fronted by Rachel Knight. The collaboration with Banshee happened over the power of social media, finding her through TikTok one day.
“When I saw another girl doing Metal, and also the topics that she talks about, they resonate with me. She talks a lot about surviving sexual abuse, and she talks about a lot of women empowerment stuff. Her song Death of a Predator was already doing pretty well on TikTok, she has a really good fanbase, and she asked me to do the remix.”
Cinnamon Babe has more collaborations in the works, which are also to be announced as they happen, so keep on checking back for more news! And be sure to watch our full hour-long interview with Stormi Maya above!
Fan Facts: Stormi is a Limp Bizkit fan. And also is a fan of the cartoon, Courage The Cowardly Dog!
Interview & Article by Rainbow Llamacorn and The Scream Queen
