To me, beauty is natural beauty. If you're naturally yourself, you're beautiful.
Young M.A
There are people who try to judge. I'm cool with that. I don't care what nobody say - the only thing that can defeat hate is love.
I don't fear nobody, and that's how I live my life. I live my life with no fears.
I'ma always stick to my roots, but whatever life brings, that's what is meant.
I don't live in a big house. I'm not real extravagant or anything. I just like to be regular.
Growing up, I never expressed myself to nobody. I never told nobody when something was wrong.
I never wanted to wear skirts or shoes, makeup, nails, dresses, or even wear my hair a certain way. I always wanted to wear sneakers, stud earrings, hair in a ponytail, and play with the boys.
I was always a tomboy. I always wanted to be around the boys, always wanted to play sports - basketball, football, kickball, whatever it was. I was real aggressive. I wanted to be around the bros!
I hear from all different people, not just people like me, or lesbians. It be straight people, it be grown men, it be grown women, people that have been sick or depressed that say, 'Oh, you made me want to go do what I want to do for myself and chase my dreams.' That's my purpose.
I wouldn't say I had a hard childhood because my mom always made sure we was Gucci, you know what I mean. Growing up, she made sure we ain't have to want for nothing. She did what she had to do; she made her money, and we was always good.
I like being humble.
I still feel normal. Like, I don't feel like I'm a superstar.
I did retail. I worked at TJ Maxx before. I did fast food at Shake Shack.
I need to just be myself, express myself.
I always knew I would be a star someday. I didn't know when. I didn't know how it would look. I just had a feeling.
I didn't want to wave the flag and be like, 'Look! I'm gay! Da da da.' I just wanted to say, 'This is my lifestyle.'
If I change people's lives, that's all that matters to me.
Music is my expression. Music is my release. Music is my therapy.
I paid attention to the music industry and watching a lot of stuff on TV, behind-the-scenes stuff on old DVDs, and paying attention to interviews from artists and rappers and just really watching a lot of stuff as a kid.
I appreciate every moment.
If I'm not driving a Ferrari or a Lambo, I'm not gonna talk about it in my raps.
My brother and I always had conversations about me being a rapper. I always used to tell him, 'I'm gonna be the hottest rapper.'
I don't care what people think. Not a care in the world.
All I do is work, work, work.
I tell people I'm from all over Brooklyn because I never stayed in one part of Brooklyn.
For the sexuality thing, I really feel like the reason I speak so blunt about it is because I held it in for so long. I never told my mom. I never told my family. I kept it to myself. Now, I'm happy with who I am. Either you accept it, or you don't. There's a lot of rappers out there that's like that, but no one's stepping up.
I always liked Drake.
I think that's why I love music so much; I think if I didn't have music, I would be in a bad position.
When I was a kid, my favorite rapper was 50 Cent. He was definitely a big influence on why I wanted to do music.
I used to listen to Jay Z a lot.
The good thing about having a hit record is you don't need too many people. Because now your record is on fire, and I already have a great team around me, so why run to the labels?
I try to make music for people to relate to, and I like to keep it realistic.
My hair is the most beauteous thing to me.
My mom used to always play hip-hop around the crib, but moreso than that, she played reggae, and I grew up on reggae music more than I grew up on hip-hop.
We are all people... don't label me as an LGBT rapper or a female rapper... I don't like to be labeled.
If I was to try putting makeup all over my face, it would look weird. People would be like, 'That's not Young M.A. That's not her style; that's not her soul.' I'd just rather be natural.
I don't like to get comfortable. I don't like to be like, 'Oh, my song is all over the place. I'm lit.' Nah, it makes me wanna keep working.
There's a lot of rappers out there, a lot of gay girls expressing themselves; I'm not the first to say it; I'm not the first to rap about it. But I'm the one who broke down those doors that everybody has been trying to break down. I did that. I'm the one who went triple platinum first.
I do want to get more involved with clothing, TV shows, movies.
I never wanted to be a cheerleader; I wanted to play football.
Black, white, Chinese, it don't matter - I've been told by multiple people that I'm very inspiring to them, and it makes them want to achieve whatever they can achieve.
I would go to sleep and dream about being onstage with thousands and thousands of people.
I held in being sexually attracted to women for so long that once I got that out of me, the music became easy.
I love changing up my hair.
In New York City, it's popular. I used to think to myself, 'Man, there's a lot of gay people out here.' And it had me comfortable: it was like, I can be myself! I used to still try to hide it, until it was really overwhelming - there were just too much girls attracted to me!
I've been a fan of BET since I was a kid, growing up watching the awards, thinking that one day I would be there.
