Young M.A could not be deterred last night (December 15). The rising Brooklyn-bred star wanted to give back to the community and a couple of road blocks were small things to her. She was scheduled to give a charity concert and, just a day before show, had to change venues. Twice. But M.A and her team solidified SOBs in Manhattan where all fans had to do to receive entrance was come with canned goods or other food to be donated to those in need this holiday season.

Vashtie DJ’d and hosted and Funkmaster Flex spun as well, while people such as Busta Rhymes, his best friend INTL Special, “Money and Violence”‘s Choppa Zoe, and Uncle Murda could be spotted in the crowd.

M.A has become a must-see attraction. Not only is she arguably the hardest spitting new MC, male or female, but people are buying into her as person and her narrative of overcoming the odds and making a success of herself on her own terms.

Last night, the 24-year-old wanted to see another one of her goals come to fruition. She held a food drive at her concert with the goods going to Saint John’s Bread and Life.

“I need people to understand. When you do something good, promote this,” she said. “Not the negative situations; promote something good. Tonight is something I’d been wanting to do. I’ve been wanting to do this since Thanksgiving. I didn’t have time. I’ve been on the road so much. I actually had to make time to do this.”

M.A also forecast she’ll be heavier into philanthropy in 2017.

“This is just we ending the year right. But next year y’all gonna see a lot more of this,” she promised. “Next year y’all gonna see a lot more charities and events and drives coming from me. This is going on from now on. I want people to understand this is not for no reason. This is something I want to do.”

M. A show commenced with ferocity, leveling the building with a fan-favorite: her freestyle over Mobb Deep’s “Quiet Storm.” The lauded lyricist then took a break from rhyming, commenting that it was “cold as fuck outside,” and that she wanted to take it back to the warm weather before seguing into “Summertime Story.”

She didn’t have to look any further than her own organization RedLyfe for her first guest of the night, bringing out the energetic Yerr Eli for “My Guy.” She kept it Brooklyn, also passing the mic to Uncle Murda later in the show (who teamed with M.A on “Thot,” a new staple on New York radio) and went solo for “Cam’ron Voice.”

M.A’s voice, however, was the most heartfelt of the night. The pain stained “Through The Day,” a song dedicated to her slain brother, and it resonated heavily.

Beat turned off, she rapped with fervor: “It really hurt me when they killed my brother / He was only 20 when they took his life from him / I was 17, I was happy with a dream / But when he died I realized life ain’t really what it seems / It’s a cold world, so fuck it I’m a cold girl / And I’m screaming, fuck the whole world.”

M.A also emphasized her lyrics, sans the track, when she dove into her 6-minute-plus wordsmith exhibition “Eat.” The lines were electrifying as she let off a brash barrage.

“I wasn’t gonna say nothing, was gonna hold shit / But they made it seem like I was on some hoe shit, never that / I been humble and I’m still humble / And to the ones who turned on me, I still love you / Keyz said, ‘Bro, fuck ’em, they gon’ still bump you / And all these hoes that wanna fuck you, they gon’ still want to / You know haters gon’ dickride, they gon’ still suck you.’”

M.A gave a preview of what’s next with “Get This Money,” a shining highlight from her 2015 mixtape SleepWalkin. (A brand new full-length video of the record is due at the top of the year.) Her finale, of course, was the breakout blockbuster “Ooouuu” which riled the crowd up so much, the night’s marquee performer had to do it twice.

Before M.A left the stage, she realized she still had time before the venue’s curfew and brought another friend from BK, Phresher, for his own hit “Wait A Minute.”