Marea Stamper, the DJ and producer known as The Black Madonna, has changed her name to The Blessed Madonna.
The decision to change her alias comes after Detroit artist Monty Luke launched an online petition over the weekend calling on Stamper to reconsider her original name.
Referencing ongoing criticism that has been put to Stamper for a number of years over the choice of alias, Luke described the name as "problematic" and "offensive," further adding that it was a form of "cultural appropriation." He also said that he had already reached out to Stamper twice via email about her choice of alias, but had received no response. You can read his full statement on the matter here.
Taking to social media this morning, Stamper wrote: "My artist name has been a point of controversy, confusion, pain and frustration that distracts from things that are a thousand times more important than any single word in that name. We’re living in extraordinary times and this is a very small part of a much bigger conversation, but we all have a responsibility to try and affect positive change in any way we can."
Stamper previously stated that her The Black Madonna alias was related to her devout Catholic upbringing, referencing, as she said in her statement today, the "European icon of the Virgin Mary which is dark in hue."
When asked whether she regretted her choice of alias in a 2017 interview with tQ, Stamper said that it was a nuanced issue, adding: "I am in the interesting position of having to answer for the cultural appropriation of a thing that definitively comes from my culture."
