I started off as a straight MC. You could not get me to sing a lick,” Mystic recalls of her early days as a performer. With a little encouragement and coercion from music producers, The Angel and Shock G of Digital Underground, this reluctant songbird learned to enjoy incorporating her beautifully fluid voice into her rhymes.But do not be mistaken, Mystic is first and foremost a B-girl and an MC. Every song is like a page from her diary. Her uncensored lyrics are deeply personal and uncommonly honest.

The socially conscious 28 year-old tells tales of love, injustice, pain, joy and sorrow with the raw emotion of a blues singer coupled with the street savvy of a seasoned rap artist. On her debut album, Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom, Mystic tells intimate stories culled from her own life. “Fatherless Child” is the story of her relationship with the addict father she never got to know until her twenties. It was then she began to mend her relationship with him. He enrolled in a treatment center in 1997 and was able to stay drug-free and enjoy two good years with his daughter. However, his addiction to heroin once again took hold, and he died of an overdose in 1999.

She insists softly with a smile, “You can’t tell me any different, he could hear me when I recorded it, and he can hear me every time I sing it.” After the overwhelming response from fans, Mystic realized, “Wow, there are so many of us out here.” She goes on to say, “I think there are some people who are really in need of my music,and I say that most humbly.” The tracks on her album touch upon every human emotion. “The Life”, Mystic’s biggest commercial hit, is an uplifting song about the triumph of the human spirit. “Neptune’s Jewels” is a story of love and heartbreak. “Once a Week” promotes female sexual assertiveness. And “Forever and a Day” is a touching ode to friendship. And she is not afraid to tackle hard social issues like police harassment, drug abuse, street violence and rape. Although Mystic owns her strong political views, she resists being categorized by them, because they are just one part of her whole person.

“I’m not a political poster-child,” she contends, “I tried to make a human album. I don’t want to preach to anybody.”

Mystic’s social awareness and political beliefs are rooted in her childhood. Born Mandolyn Wind Ludlum, Mystic was raised by her mother, a young single-parent and political activist. Her mother encouraged her to be aware of the world, and often took Mystic, or Mandy as she was then called, to political rallies, demonstrations and debates... “Ronald Reagan, Guatemala, Nicaragua. I just knew about everything,” she says of her early years.

Like her music, Mystic is impossible to categorize. She is as complex and as varied as her songs. She can be funny. She can be serious. And music is not her only interest. Her other goals include compiling a book of poetry and opening a restaurant.

A former cultural arts teacher, she is currently working on a children’s book, and has an ambition to open a children’s community arts center. Mystic reveals, “There are a lot of things I want to do that have nothing to do with making records.” However, making records is Mystic’s guiding passion, and earned her a 2002 Grammy nomination. “The nomination was a trip,” she recalls. Although her song “W”, which appears on Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom, did not win its category, she was thrilled and grateful for the recognition.

The album, whose modest success is attributed to a word-of-mouth promotion, has been picked up by Dreamworks for re-release by the end of the year. Additional tracks including a collaboration with Mos Def and another with ?uestlove of the Roots, will appear on the re-released version of the album. She also hopes to include a collaboration with India Arie, whom she toured with last year. She is excited and hopes for sweeter success the second time around. Looking ahead, Mystic is currently writing songs for her next album.