Elysia Crampton | Artist
Elysia Chuquimia Paula Crampton aka E+E aka Chuquimamani-Condori, is an American electronic musician, producer, poet, and composer born 1985 in Riverside, California. Crampton identifies as Aymara, a native American tribe from Bolivia who were suppressed by the Inca and then the Spanish in the middle of the last millennium, but who survived to the present day. Her parents moved from La Paz, the Bolivian capital, to Barstow, California, in the 1960s. Her work touches upon themes of Aymara survival and Latino culture, LGBT and Aymara femme heritage, science fiction, references to Christian faith and ontology, and frequent utilization of samples and arrangements from varying sources. Crampton began making music under the name E+E ("And & And" in Spanish) in the early 2000s. E+E consisted of several performers and contributing writers, editors, and DJ mixes made with a keyboard, acapellas, and a sampler. 2013 saw the release of the excellent debut album The Light That You Gave Me to See You which attracted positive reviews such as the following from RYM: "Elysia Crampton’s production on this album is incredibly special as she creates such a beautifully nostalgic atmosphere amongst organised chaos.. blending multiple distinct genres throughout the album like Digitial Cumbia, Latin Electronic and Deconstructed Club in such a way that I’ve never quite heard before." In 2015 she released her first album, American Drift, under her real name which again sparked critics' interest with such positive comments as "It's a sound collage in the truest sense. And it's genuinely spectacular". Crampton has gone on to release a half dozen consistently good albums under her own name, and has released two albums under the project-name Chuquimamani-Condori, including the excellent DJE from 2023. Standout albums include The Light That You Gave Me to See You (2013), credited to E+E American Drift (2015), Elysia Crampton (2018), and ORCORARA 2010 (2020), plus DJE (2013) credited to Chuquimamani-Condori, and the debut Los Thuthanaka album. In 2025 Crampton teamed up with her brother Joshua Chuquimia Crampton (guitar, bass) to form the Latin-Electronic combo Los Thuthanaka, who released a highly regarded self-titled album in March 2025. Crampton's parents are conservative Christians and didn’t initially accept her identity as a trans-gender woman “Of course there was friction, but they grew. They grew with God. Their understanding of God changed, and they were willing to allow that to happen.” As she matured Crampton drew strength from how Bolivia has been, unexpectedly, a champion of trans identity for centuries. “you see so much presence of trans femme and trans masculine people.” The Aymara venerated the oscollo, a speckled cat whose ability to be two things, both black and white, meant it became the symbolic guardian of hermaphrodites. Crampton explained that in the 1960s and 70s, Bolivia was the home of mariposas – trans and queer people who were celebrated and took part in folkloric dances and rituals. “They were representing possibility itself in terms of the body and where it can go,” she says.
Artist Website: wikipedia/Elysia_Crampton
Featured Albums: Elysia Crampton
Related Artists: E&E, Chuquimamani-Condori, Joshua Chuquimia Crampton, Los Thuthanaka
