Despite her laidback flow, Young M.A has a gift for making the rap world scramble to keep up. The Brooklyn MC (born Katorah Marrero in 1992) broke out in 2016 with her catchy “Ooouuu”, a swaggering taunt full of punchlines about money earned and women stolen from male rivals, which was quickly remixed and rapped on by hardened rhymers (Tink, Uncle Murda) and pop crossovers (Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent) alike. When the major labels came, she chose to stay indie. When Fox’s Empire created a character for her, she passed. And though critics hailed her as the saviour of New York hip-hop, M.A has never sought status. As she told Apple Music, music has been her therapy since the streets took her brother in 2009: “I always feel like something is missing, and then I [wonder] if he was still here, would I even be doing this? Would I been this hungry? This eager? This aggressive? This hurt? Would I deliver this much pain?” It all explains why her moves are so unpredictable. Why instead of rushing out “Ooouuu” soundalikes, M.A put the hurt on microphones in freestyles that garnered millions of views. And why, when she delivered her long-awaited debut album, Herstory in the Making (2019), it didn’t feature a single A-list persona but instead revealed more of her personality: both the lady-killer with braggadocio and the wounded hard-knocks survivor who forged her distrust into emotional shield and verbal cudgel.