Melissha Martinez (born 21 December 1978), better known by her stage name Maya Jupiter, is a Mexican-born Australian rapper, singer, songwriter, actress, MC and radio personality.

[7] At the age of 18, she adopted her stage name using her mother's advice, "to reflect the Mayan side of her heritage" and began performing in an R&B club in Sydney.

[4] Also that year, she worked with eleven-piece Latin, jazz, hip-hop band, Son Veneno, and accompanied them to The Belligen Global Music Festival.

By August 2003, Jupiter was also a regular host for shows such as Soul Kitchen and Freestyle on television video outlet, Channel V, and held hip-hop / rap workshops in community centres.

In 2006, Jupiter joined with fellow rap artist MC Trey and DJ Nick Toth to form the group, Foreign Heights.

[12] On 14 April 2008, Hau, frontman of Koolism, took over Jupiter's role as host of the Hip Hop Show, and she left Australia to further her solo career in Los Angeles.

[5][7] OC Weekly's reviewer, Gabriel San Roman described the album as "an innovative collection of songs anchored in lyrical themes of social justice and Son Jarocho vibes" and was pleased by "[t]he sample-free, original instrumentation [which] adds to her music's unique appeal.

A Latin American harp, requintos, jaranas, electric guitars, trumpets and keys round out her melodies, and there's a striking use of live percussion instruments such as the quijada, cajón, tarima and pandiero [sic] instead of MPC drum beats".