M.I.A. is curator of this year’s Meltdown (June 9-18). The fearless singer and artist had promised to ‘redefine the concept of a melting pot’ with the programming of this year’s festival.
Young who?
Young M.A, otherwise known as Katorah Marrero. This 25-year-old Brooklyn-born rapper has swapped shifts flipping gourmet burgers at Shake Shack and selling discount clothes at TJ Maxx for the road to rap stardom.
How close to being a star is she?
She’s well on her way. M.A’s gone from self-funding her own recording sessions to racking up over 113 million Spotify streams for her debut single ‘OOOUUU’. Everyone from Nicki Minaj, A$AP Ferg and hip hop royalty Remy Ma have since put out their own remixes of the trappy ode to cutting loose in the club. Lee Daniels even created a character in ‘Empire’ just for her, but she turned the role down, preferring to be known for being herself. Trust us, she’s going to be big.
Impressive, but what’s so special about her?
She’s as versatile as they come – early track ‘Body Bag’ was a fiery cut that could end any rap battle, while the aforementioned ‘OOOUUU’ is more hedonistic than heated. She’s also a rapper who’s studied her art. We don’t mean a degree in hip hop, but M.A is an artist who holds what’s come before in reverence, absorbs it and uses it to make her craft even better. That’s not even mentioning how she’s completely honest and open in her music without ever making herself vulnerable.
Where can I hear more?
She just released the ‘Herstory’ EP in the US – seven tracks of confident, cheeky and colossally cool rap – while her 2015 mixtape ‘Sleepwalkin’’ is available on YouTube. She’ll be making an appearance at this year’s Meltdown too.
As in the MIA-curated festival?
The very same. Young M.A is one of a handful of artists selected to perform by the provocateuse herself. It’ll also be her UK debut so you don’t want to miss it.