She’s been known to this day as Mojo Juju in the music world, but Splendour In The Grass performer Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga has announced a name change as “I no longer feel that it is appropriate for me to continue performing under this name”.
Proud of her Aboriginal (Wiradjuri) and Filipino heritage, the musician explained that she would now be referred to as Mo’Ju as a performer, because there are varied meanings of Mojo and Juju that are sacred to First Nations communities speaking particular languages.
“I’ve been doing some reading and it appears that in the Banuba Country in the Kimberlys, Juju is the word for a particular type of narrative driven dance performance,” the ARIA Award-nominated singer said in a statement released this week. “In the Kuku-Yalanji language, which is spoken in Far North Queensland / Cape York area, ju-ju is the word for blood.
“If you leave this continent and travel all the way to the West Africa, Juju is a word in the Yoruba language which means ‘to throw’. It is also a genre of music (which I do not play), and lastly but most significantly of all, it is a traditional Spiritual belief system.”
The singer said despite her connection to the words, she had decided to no longer use them “out of respect for this spirituality, it’s divine origins, connections with nature and the Ancestors, and for the people who practice them”.
She will still keep Mojo on her driver’s licence though, and added she has “no doubts that I will always be Juje to those who know me personally”.
On Wednesday the lineup for music festival, Splendour In The Grass was announced, with Mo’Ju being one of the featured acts on Sunday July 26.
She will be joining the likes of Tyler The Creator, Sampa The Great, Grinspoon and more at North Byron Parklands.
Splendour In The Grass ticket information can be found here.