By: Juliana Coe
Staff Writer
Electrifying Brooklyn rapper Young M.A. released her first album, ‘Herstory In The Making’ on September 27th. The rapper promised in a press release to be as vulnerable and honest as possible in the whopping 21 song album, and has kept fans on their toes since releasing ‘Herstory’ in 2017.
‘Herstory in the Making’ is an interesting insight into the growth and personality of one of hip-hop’s most unique rappers. Katorah Kasanova Marrero, who goes by her stage name, Young M.A., references her tough upbringing throughout the album, and highlights her struggles with racism, sexism and homophobia. The album is a must-listen, with its creativity and thoughtfulness.
The release of ‘Herstory in the Making’ on September 27th happens to be the 10 year anniversary of Young M.A.’s brother’s death. Her brother was murdered by a gang member when Young M.A. was just a young girl. Young M.A. has previously stated in press releases her brother was very important to her, as they were very close for their single mother worked 10 hour days to support them.
Young M.A. has faced many struggles getting to her fame now, including discrimination against her race, sexuality and gender. Young M.A. is one of the few rare openly gay black female rappers, breaking outdated boundaries which shows what a strong woman she is. Young M.A. released in a press statement that it was very difficult hiding her sexuality from her family and facing criticism and discrimination from the industry and the general public, but pushed through to reach her level of popularity which makes her an inspiration to many.
M.A. touches on struggles with her sexuality throughout the album, especially in tracks ‘No Mercy and ‘Pettywap. It references the hate and criticism Young M.A. faced in the past and to this day for her controversial sexual identity.
The female rapper mentions her rise from a poverty-stricken childhood to being extremely wealthy in every part of the riveting album. The boastful rapper mentions her goal of getting rich and making it happen, highlighting her hard work to get to her status today.
On top of making great strides for her own personal gain, Young M.A. has brought a lot of awareness to the struggles of people like her. Being a lesbian, black female created a lot of obstacles for the inspiring rapper. Young M.A. comments on single ‘Da come up’ that ‘I feel like Martin Luther King.’ Similar to Martin, Young M.A. is pushing past boundaries to live how she deserves to.
‘Herstory in the Making’ features an unforgettable balance between fast paced, riveting tracks to gloomy, mournful singles. Such as the song ‘Numb,’ the rapper talks about just wanting to get away from all the people, fame and hate and just be numb from it all. The death of Young M.A.’s brother was very hard on the influential rapper, and is commented on several times.
Featuring just two guest appearances from Relle Bey and Max YB, the album is extremely intriguing. Thankfully, the features did not overrun Young M.A.’s lively spirit and smoothly added to the beat. The album has catchy beats, with several songs being produced by Mike Zombie, a popular producer who has previously worked for Drake.
The one downside of the album is that certain songs tended to get repetitive very quickly, and lack meaningful content. A few songs feature the same type of lyrics, such as the song ‘Kold world’, which gets tedious and could make the listener eager to get to the next song.
Young M.A.’s debut album proved to be worth a listen. It is a catchy and creative compilation, and there was a sweet balance between hard rap songs and slower, more sorrowful songs, highlighting the rappers struggles facing hate and discrimination. The limited features made it possible to really get an idea of what Young M.A. is all about.
‘Herstory in the Making’ by Young M.A. is available on all platforms, such as Apple Music, Spotify, Soundcloud.
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