We Are Scorpio is electric and empowering.
The Detroit rock ’n’ roll duo, composed of the city’s poet laureate jessica Care moore and longtime rocker Steffanie Christi’an, is preparing to release its debut self-titled album on August 16.
The “punk rock poetry record” is more than just an album; it’s an experience. The project exudes intense Scorpio energy through headbanging anthems that center Black women with political yet uplifting lyrics, offering modern rock with a Black femme edge.
Singles “Supa Dupa Star” and “Scorpio” give listeners just a taste of what’s to come.
The nine-track album features rockers Divinity Roxx and Militia Voxx, Detroit rapper Sada Baby, and award-winning trumpet player Maurice “Mobetta” Brown. Rapper Talib Kweli is a label partner of the record and Wayne Gerard produced four of its songs.
Although Christi’an and moore only began working on this project a few years ago, the pair have been friends and collaborators for almost two decades. In conversation and in music, the duo’s powerful synergy and unapologetic presence is evident.
Rock ’n’ roll is not new to them either, as both have been lifelong lovers of the genre, largely thanks to their mothers.
“My mom was a punk rocker,” Christi’an says. “She had me at 15 and she used to wear a mohawk and safety pins in her ears, and I was right there with her. She’s taking me to all of the Depeche Mode concerts and the Cure and for me, it was innate, it was the only thing that I knew, it’s not a gimmick to me. It wasn’t like I got older and I was like, ‘Oh, let me see if I can take over this genre.’ That’s just how I grew up. Rock ’n’ roll has always been in my life.”
moore adds, “My mom’s older and she loved Janis Joplin. My mother’s a hippie too, she has long brunette hair… and then I went to predominantly white Catholic schools and so I grew up listening to AC/DC, Metallica, Van Halen. Those people were what those girls listened to and I listened to them too.”
When moore moved back to Detroit from New York, she was looking for a rock singer to perform with, and her boyfriend at the time said, “Yo, my cousin is the one.” Christi’an already knew who moore was and immediately went over to her place to sing for her.
“I met her and I heard her singing. I was like, ‘Oh my God. Steffanie is the one,’ like she's one of my favorite singers in the whole world,” moore says. “I met her and I just fell in love with her in every way. I love her personality, her spirit, she’s really smart … Stefannie has been singing with me in Detroit longer than anybody else.”
“It was a combination of two storms and we’ve been a hurricane ever since,” Christi’an adds.
moore began writing the upcoming record during the COVID-19 pandemic and immediately knew Christi’an would be the perfect collaborator. Although the two had worked together musically for years, they had never officially released any music together. So when moore ran into Christi’an one day, they decided it was finally time to make it happen.
“I couldn’t have done this record without her, it would be impossible,” moore says. “She can help me figure out those melodies and that sound that Steffanie has and she’s just a powerful ass performer on stage, like I’m not gonna get close to every woman like that. I just grab her, I’ll just get on her back, wrap my body around her. She’s my sister, I feel so comfortable around her on stage. I know she’s got me.”
Aside from showcasing their own talent, one significant mission of We Are Scorpio is to spotlight Black women in rock music as a whole.
“I feel like it’s my duty to push back and say, ‘You’re not gonna silence us’,” moore says. “Me and Steffanie’s record deserves spins. Black radio should play it … I think that we have a record that can get plays. There’s some lyrics on there that can get with any rap record that’s out right now. I got bars.”
The first track on the LP, titled “I’m From Detroit,” is an anthem for the city, fittingly featuring rapper Sada Baby.
“Sada Baby is Detroit and he brings in a different audience that we want,” moore says. “He’s a rock ’n’ roll energy, we like him.”
While the duo has love for many musically talented men, We Are Scorpio hopes male artists who degrade women hear this album, as some tracks, such as “Quarterback,” respond to misogynistic language in music.
“I’m exhausted from male artists talking about their little dicks getting sucked. I’m sick of it,” moore says. “I’m sick of them talking about women as if we’re these subservient kinds of objects in songs. I’m sick of the ‘bitches.’ I don't want to be called a bitch. I’m not on my knees sucking your little penis. So, this album is the opposite of that. It’s saying, ‘Fuck you, I’m the shit, I got bars, I’m a Black woman.’”
“And I don’t have to degrade you either,” Christi’an adds.
moore emphasizes that this record is important to show that “Black women have something to say,” but the lyrics are empowering for all women and girls.
“The music industry is so male-dominated, still, in a ridiculous kind of way, so we’re taking our mics back,” moore says. “Everytime I listen to a song it’s like, ‘Why I gotta always be a bitch and why do I gotta be on my knees?’ So this record is saying ‘I’m off my knees.’”
Coming up on August 7, We Are Scorpio is playing a free concert at Dequindre Cut as part of the Black Bottom Live Music Series, and the duo urges Detroiters to show up and support.
“Rock ’n’ roll artists are so hot,” moore says. “So me and Steffanie are also sex symbols, we know that and so we want to make sure everyone comes out to our Dequindre Cut show … We want people to come out and gush all over us on the 7th and then on the 31st it’s gonna be like a super sexy event in general. Rock ’n’ roll, there’s some energy inside that music that’s just visceral.”
On August 31, We Are Scorpio will be playing at the Fillmore during Black Women Rock!’s 20th anniversary show – their biggest stage as a duo yet.
“We’re relying on people actually showing up for us. It should be an easy sell, the show should be sold out because just Steffanie alone should sell it out, just me alone should sell it out, but I’m bringing like 20 women to the stage,” moore says. “It’s gonna be phenomenal. If I can’t get people to buy a $50 ticket, or a $75 ticket, to see the baddest rock ’n’ roll show they’ve never seen, then I don’t need to be in Detroit anymore.”
After their upcoming live shows, We Are Scorpio’s biggest goal is to win the spoken word Grammy.
“We’re coming for heads, we’re confident,” moore says. “We're going to push for the nomination and we want some Black girls from Detroit to go bring home a spoken word Grammy.”
“That would be amazing,” Christi’an adds.
Until then, when the project comes out, the duo encourages everyone to “get the record, play the record, share the record… put it in your playlist.”
We Are Scorpio, the album, will be available on all streaming platforms on August 16. For updates on shows and music releases, you can follow @wearescorpio on Instagram.
