When you think of a New York rapper, Young M.A. fits the mold. A young rapper from Brooklyn who rises to fame by way of amazing freestyles, a storied past and genuine fan support that then catches the eye of record labels as he/she prepare to release their debut album.

Like many other new york rappers trying to push back on the constant chatter of “Is New York Rap dead?” Young M.A. simply wants to put out good music while finding ways to break the mainstream in the most authentic way possible. Young M.A. accomplished radio success in 2016 with “OOOUUU” and again this past summer in 2018 with “PettyWap”. While the New York question still stands, Young M.A. took 2018 as a year to remind folks that her pen and ability to make club hits makes her the unsung talent we refuse to celebrate.

Young M.A. is an old soul at the age of 26, she has lived a full life of heartache, pain, and loss that she speaks about in her freestyles and her 2017 debut album, Herstory. Young M.A. has been a part of the game for 4 years now. Yet and still she is constantly seen as an up and coming artist even after her triple platinum hit OOOUU. So the real question is how long is too long? Is Young M.A’s music still too premature or do we simply make women in music prove themselves in ways we don’t ask of men?

While some people, in the music industry, have an obsession with focusing on Young M.A.’s sexuality many ignore the rapping talent that keeps her in the game and respected when it comes to staying to the strongest pillar of hip-hop, emceeing. Strip away the hits, 50 Cent cosign and features and you still have a woman who can out rap most of the folks who get more airtime than her.

The beauty of more women being given space to exist in hip-hop is that black women with various identities can be successful without having to alter their image or music for the masses. However, we don’t live a perfect world and as Young M.A’s LA Leakers freestyle caught fire on Twitter this past summer the world seemed to have forgotten that Young M.A. can STILL rap circles around most. These refusals to center women rappers aren’t new and there are countless women in rap who write, produce and rap better than many men that get undoubted support. Yet women aren’t given the Spotify backing or the same festival slots as their counterparts. We would rather see women in rap as stereotypes to mock or anomalies of talent…