Since she stepped on the scene with her debut triple-platinum hit single “Ooouuu” back in 2016, Young M.A has been subtly applying some serious pressure in the industry. Earlier this year, she revealed that “Ooouuu” forced her to rebrand and focus more on herself because she was chasing a hit. With the success of that single intact, her creative process was hindered — but that didn’t take long to overcome that fork in the road. While it’s crystal clear that she’s not only effectively rebranded, she’s exceeded that goal with her debut album History in the Making in 2019. Today (May 21), the Brooklyn rapper delivers a promising follow-up with her new EP Red Flu.

Over time since M.A’s introduction, there’s been talks of her being throned as the current “King of New York”. While that seems like a title that many New York rappers self proclaim these days, the Brooklyn rapper doubles down on who she believes holds that label in a chat with Complex earlier today:

“JAY-Z is the king. See, people don’t understand that word is a valid word. That’s a strong word. To me, the King of New York is JAY-Z, and will always be, because of his hustle. He always brought that to the fullest. When you hear JAY-Z, you know JAY-Z came from Brooklyn. I’m going to always consider JAY-Z the King of New York City, period. I don’t know who can argue with that.”

Equipped with just seven tracks, Red Flu is almost entirely produced by Mike Zombie and literally, every record is nothing short of superior. Benjamin Lasnier and NY Bangers also contribute to the fun.

At the top of the year, Young M.A secured a feature on Eminem’s surprise album Music To Be Murdered By, making it one of the biggest co-signs of her career thus far. The New York emcee has single handedly proven that she’s worthy of her own lane in the Hip-Hop realm — and Red Flu further cements this theory!

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