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It’s only fitting Brooklyn native Young M.A is back in NYC promoting her forthcoming Kween album on Biggie’s birthday (May 21). While she lives about 800 miles south in Georgia these days, she still feels B.I.G.’s “energy and aura” whenever the 34-year-old returns home to the Big Apple borough.
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Rocking a matching yellow sweatsuit and designer shades on a rainy day following an NYC heatwave, Young M.A is initially disappointed that she’s walking into a Billboard office meeting room for our chat, rather than a vibrant studio for an on-camera interview.
“I would’ve saved this fit,” she playfully says. “I wore yellow to get in a good, positive energy and all that. I wouldn’t have worn no yellow on a rainy day in New York.”
Kween — which she has inked above her left eyebrow alongside a crown — will serve as the Brooklyn rapper’s first project in five years and comes a decade after Young M.A shook up the concrete jungle with her Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hit “OOOUUU.”
She’s spent the better part of the time between projects out of the spotlight, dealing with personal issues and a health scare. In 2023, Young M.A was hospitalized for liver complications tied to drinking alcohol. Today, she’s sober and looking healthy, getting back to being herself again.
“I had a time in my life where I consumed a little bit too much alcohol and it put me in a bad physical state. I was on the edge, like real close,” she reveals. “I tapped with God and I got angels protecting me. I was able to fight through it.”
Young M.A returned to the stage in BK on Thursday night (May 28) for a hometown show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg hours before Kween arrived independently on Friday (May 29).
Even while recording a project sober for the first time, the bars remain razor-sharp, as the MC nestles her life story into a hard-hitting intro track. She also leans into light-hearted moments of fun that come on more melodic songs like “Dancer.” There are a few guests joining her, as Young M.A recruited Tory Lanez and G Herbo for assists along the way.
One thing’s for sure, Young M.A doesn’t want her sophomore album to be billed as a comeback. “It’s like a reset, I’m continuing on,” she explains. “This not a comeback. I don’t want people to think this is a comeback. We had a little bump in the road and we got over that and we’re driving again.”
Find the rest of our interview with Young M.A below, as she touches on Kween, rap becoming too “gossipy,” 10 years of “OOOUUU” and her real estate investments.
How was recording Kween over the course of five years since your last album?
Ups and downs, definitely a roller coaster. I had to get myself back on track to really focus on the music in itself. One thing about your personal life, it can pull you in. I just had to take all that energy and put it back into the music.
What do you think you learned about yourself these last few years stepping away?
I learned how strong I am. I always knew I was strong, confident and bold, but this was different. Taught me a lot going through what I did and being able to come out of it. It put me into a different creative creative mindset, too. I view things a little different, so it puts my music in a different creative zone.
Was it different creating sober?
Yeah, it’s definitely a difference. It’s not like I’m just a drinker all day. You drink to get the edge off and it puts you in a more bold and blunted more. You become more confident in what you doing and you might say it in a more confident way. When you’re sober, you kinda overthink and hesitate a little more and you’re not as free-minded either. I’m still me. I make music off of what I go through so I put myself in that mindset. I think I was a little more aggressive before. I feel a more mature, grown-up and disciplined stage.
How was linking up with G Herbo for “Pressure?”
That was organic. We had linked up after a show on Druski’s tour in Chicago and he was one of the people that came out. We chopped it up backstage and we were supposed to link up on a song years ago. We were talking and he was like, “What we doing?” I told him I had a track on the album that he would fit perfectly on. I played the joint for him by the car and he f–ked with it immediately.
I think “Dancer” is my favorite from the album.
That’s the one catching a lot of people’s eye when I play it for them. My real fans know when I make music, I make all types of music. I’m versatile. The people that hear it and think it’s different, it’s not. I’ve been tapped into that vibe. It’s crazy with that song, I was in the car on my way home by myself and that’s really the best time to get in a creative space. I just got the beat from my producer Mike Zombie and I’m listening and it’s got that SWV sample that automatically pulls you in. I just hear, “You fell in love with a dancer.” It just popped in my head. Just wrote it down and locked it in. In the car, I just think of lyrics. A lot of time my music came from me in the car thinking of lyrics.
On “Lasagna,” you said, “Rappers keep talking and not rapping anymore.” What are you seeing with the game right now in that way?
It’s too gossipy. It’s like a soap opera. It’s taking away from the music. It’s taking away from what the fans f–k with you for. When they start to get to know you, it takes away from the art. When you know too much about a person, it takes away from the music. I know you now. The whole dream of being a famous person is to not really know the person and just their music so when you meet them it’s like, “Who are you?” That’s why I stay [mysterious]. I don’t mind them knowing about the situation I went through, but to know everything about me too much. Nah. It’s dangerous too. You never know how people feel about your lifestyle.
What do you hope this album accomplishes? This is like your statement back.
I ain’t looking for no type of accomplishment. I just want them to understand that the music never left. There’s a lot of controversy behind me and that’s the last of what people heard about me.
How does it feel to be celebrating 10 years of “OOOUUU?”
“OOOUUU” is the baby. You can’t speak on that in a few minutes. That’s the foundation of this whole thing. I’m always gonna appreciate that record. I’ll never get tired of that record. That record makes me a lot of money to this day. It’s a blessing. I’ve known how to make fun music. That’s a part of me. We gonna have fun some more. It’s classic. It’s timeless. I made a timeless record and that’s a blessing in itself. People probably get one summer or two summers, but I still hear my record like it just dropped. Now we got the EDM version going crazy as if it just dropped. It will be here with the kid’s kids.
How do you feel like the rap landscape’s changed since then to now?
So different, the algorithm. That’s the No. 1 issue to me right now, with just social media and just promoting your music. It’s a lot of soap opera stuff going on that catches the algorithm more than anything. It’s like, you gotta do things that you don’t even want to do. I can’t do that. So I gotta put extra effort in promo to promote my album. And I’m still independent, so it’s all home base. That’s what really changed, the algorithm from the time I came out to now. It was still fun back then. I hope we can change that. It’s a drug for these people now.
Were there any collabs that didn’t make the cut for the album?
It’s one record I had sent out to Kehlani. It’s a good record. I feel like she’s perfect for it. That’s why it’s not on the album. Probably will be for a future project. I know she’s been busy, she just got a Grammy. She been on a run. We talked to her team, but it never got situated.
I heard you talking about investments and real estate on the album. How did you get into that?
It’s something I kind of always had a little education on. When I got my first big check, I bought a house. That’s how I learned a lot about real estate through my realtors. My first realtor in New Jersey got me something decent for what I got. It was like a half-a-million-dollar house, but it’s five bedrooms with a big pool on two acres of land in [New] Jersey. It’s a good deal. I think the owners wanted to leave. They left me a few things in there, it was so real.
From then, I was kind of interested in it. I didn’t start taking it serious until I bought two more houses. I’m starting to learn the flip of it. When I sold my first house in Jersey, I made a $300,000 profit from it. It really sparked my attention. My realtor now, I’m in Georgia, it’s what of them places that’s high in the market. I love it. When I chill from music, I’ll take that on full force.
What else do you want to get involved in?
I’m doing fitness right now. I got a line. It’s called KNRTH fitness (Kings and Kweens Never Rest They Hustle). I’m in a contract situation right now that we’re about to fully lock in. I’m about to go into business with someone who’s more invested in the production and manufacturing. I got a business partner that’s putting all this together. Fitness is something I jumped right into once I got out of the hospital.
Do you think there’s a King of New York right now?
Besides me, nah. I don’t think New York’s lacking, it’s just been a little quiet. We just need someone to come make some noise again. We there, but someone’s gotta wake up the beast and come back full force. We all kings and queens.
What’s your goal for the year?
To bring the music back to music. That’s it. Everything I do in my personal life, that’s something I’m gon’ handle. But for the people, me being back out in public and on the surface of things, I just need the music to feel like music again. Let’s have fun again. You know what record I like right now, it’s that Yung Miami “Spend Dat.” That’s fun and different. Let’s have this flow the whole summer. Bring more of that energy everybody. That’s how I’m coming.
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