FEATURE:
Spotlight
Monaleo
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I discovered the absolutely…
PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Webster for NME
magnificent Monaleo through a recent recommendation from The Guardian. Clearly, I am late to the game but, after a brief taste, I am intoxicated by her music! Compared to the likes of Flo Milli, Monaleo is part of a wave of incredibly powerful and talented women who will transform Rap and Hip-Hop in 2023. Genres where I think female artists are dominating, I think Monaleo will help bring about greater equality and recognition for women. Before getting to some interviews, I want to lead with The Guardian’s praise of a supremely gifted rapper:
“Monaleo was born Leondra Roshawn Gay in Houston. When she was a child, her grandmother would make her sing as part of a church choir; she performed in talent shows and played flute in the school band. Although she says she “always wanted to be a musician deep down”, people around her instilled doubt: “I let a lot of people discourage me and tell me that this wasn’t something that I was gonna be able to do.”
Instead, she initially pursued a vastly different career path: after graduating from Houston’s High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, she began studying mortuary science, hoping to become a funeral director. (The video for Body Bag, which features her performing to a backdrop of corpses in a morgue, was inspired by her one-time career aspiration.) Shortly after, she recorded Beating Down Yo Block, and deferred university in order to focus on music.
Monaleo says she “didn’t necessarily have any dreams to make aggressive rap music”, but the subject matter dictated the form. She wants her bossed-up anthems to inspire Black women who are being taken advantage of, whether in romantic relationships, friendships, or business relationships.
“My message is to be the voice that you need for yourself – advocate for your wants, advocate for your needs,” she says. The breakup that inspired Beating Down Yo Block made her “feel like I was like dying, or something – not to be dramatic”, she says. “I definitely never want to feel like that again – and I don’t want anybody else to feel like that”.
Someone who undoubtedly will lead a charge through this year, I am so pumped to hear a future Monaleo project. Whether that is a mixtape or album, it is going to be an absolutely red-hot release! I want to start with an UPROXX interview, where they spoke with Monaleo off the back of a successful and memorable tour with the brilliant Flo Milli. Rappers who seem to share common ground and kinship, there were some interesting insights from the future Rap icon:
“At just 21 years old, Houston rapper Monaleo has been making waves and staying relevant since her 2021 breakout hit, “Beating Down Yo Block.” The track, which samples Yungstar’s “Knockin Pictures Off Da Wall,” was more than just a good song. It was the start of Monaleo’s year-long streak (and counting) of using her personality, savviness, and talent to stay relevant — sometimes in the most effortless ways.
Next came the unforgiving “Suck It Up,” an unforgiving record that Monaleo uses to mock another woman stealing her man. However, don’t get it twisted as men are also susceptible to Monaleo’s disses and dismissals, which we hear on “We Not Humping.” The latter record was eventually remixed by Flo Milli (a perfect selection for that song), with whom Monaleo formed a tight friendship after its release. Their relationship grew into Monaleo joining Flo for her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Tour, a run comprised of 20 performances across the country.
The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Tour came to a close earlier this week, but Uproxx was fortunate enough to catch up with Monaleo earlier this month for a conversation about her relationship with Flo Milli, her recent releases, what makes her so savvy with social media, and what’s next.
How are you enjoying tour so far? Both from the point of it being your first and that you’re performing with Flo Milli?
It’s been a really good experience. As far as the actual tour itself and the people that I’ve been meeting. Being able to meet people that really support me in real life has been a super surreal experience. People have been walking up to me [and] telling me how long they’ve been supporting me and what I’ve helped them through. This sh*t is like super inspiring for me. It’s just a catalyst for me, it just makes me want to impact 100,000 million more people.
One thing I can I’ve been impressed with, besides your music, is how savvy you are with social media and how your music and that work so well together. What do you credit this social savviness to?
Just knowing what goes on with social media, being really tapped in, and always being somebody who’s kind of like a sponge, even if it wasn’t applicable at the time, I was always able to absorb different marketing strategies and different tactics. If I was never an artist, I definitely could have been a great marketing manager for somebody because I’m just very familiar with and just very socially aware of what goes on, the way people think, and what people respond better to over other things. Most of the time, it usually works, and not all the time it works but after enough time, it just starts to kind of work for itself. It works on its own because you built up that reputation, you just built up the credibility. So whenever it is time for you to drop something, people are excited and they’re anticipating it because they know it’s gonna be of quality or they know that they’re going to be entertained in some way, shape, form, or fashion. That’s what I really be trying to tap into: making sure I keep people engaged and entertained.
You mentioned in a past interview that you really wanted to sing at first, so with your transition to rap, what’s really made you fall in love with it and keep at it?
It’s a confidence booster for me. It really does instill this spirit, this attitude of “I really can’t be f*cked with.” I really get to flex my lyricism and writing skills that I acquired throughout all my years of going to school and to college – I get to apply them. All the years I spent writing super good f*cking essays, it’s kind of like the same thing with rap. It’s like writing an essay, I just pick a thesis and prove my point throughout the entire essay, or throughout the entire song rather. It’s the nerd in me; the geek in me is super into being able to articulate certain points and do it in an entertaining and funny way and do it in a way that people can laugh but still respect the artistry and the craft.
You’ve been a huge proponent of mental health since day one, how have you maintained your mental health throughout this tour and just overall as you continue to become more and more successful?
It’s definitely been a journey trying to find the balance between working hard and also giving myself the necessary breaks that I need and taking intentional breaks. I feel like I just take breaks when I feel like, “Okay, this is too f*cking much.” But even in the midst of me taking a break up, I never really give myself time to just breathe, dissect, digest, and really allow myself to calm down. It’s been a learning process for sure, but I’m definitely getting a lot better with just taking time for myself and creating boundaries with the people around me, my team, my family, and whoever else; making sure that always allot some time to myself to really debrief, meditate, breathe, [or] take a nap. Whatever it is I feel like I need to, I always allot myself that time while still making time to be on time for the sh*t that I’m supposed to be on time for – hardly, barely for real, I barely be making it. I don’t know how, it just always works out”.
A hugely inspiring artist who comes from the same Texas city as Beyoncé, I think that Monaleo can forge the same sort of career as this titan and queen! Even if Monaleo is talked about as a collaborator with Flo Milli, she is very much stepping on her own and sharing her unique voice and talents with the world. NME spoke with her last summer. Highlighting her ‘90s-referencing lyrics, she is seen very much as a fearless artist who will change Rap for the better:
“What were your dreams when you first started out as an artist?
“I wanted to be a singer. When I was young, my grandmother would make me sing in church, but I hated people looking at me – I just loved to sing. I knew I had to decide what I wanted to do: I didn’t want to go to college, but everyone expected me to because I was smart, so I went there and changed my major a lot. I was getting ready to change over to a computer engineering major, but at that time my raps were starting to get a lot of traction so I was like, ‘OK, is this the moment? Is it getting ready to happen?’ I stopped going to school and focused on music, and it worked out.
“You have these dreams and fantasies where you can visualise yourself doing something, but when it starts to actually happen, it’s a surreal experience. I couldn’t believe it was happening, and as quickly as it was.”
Was rapping initially a side hustle, then?
“[Rapping] didn’t pay me anything: it was draining my funds, to be honest, but it was a slow progression. I’d post a video and it would get 400 likes, then [post] another that would get 900. Once the response was bigger, I figured it was something I could continue with, but only because I was seeing results. It’s easier to do something that’s rewarding. I was watching my followers go up and could easily gauge whether or not people were receptive to my art, so being able to watch my follower count go up was a catalyst for me to focus on being a full-time artist.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Webster
You recently performed live at Rolling Loud in Miami. Did you have a specific routine to help calm your anxiety?
“I’m still having a really hard time getting acclimated [to performing live]. The last show I had was one of my best because I was honest with the people out there. For example, Summer Walker and I have a lot of similarities with how we deal with our anxieties. I remember when she cancelled her tour and thinking, ‘That’s something I’d do.’
“I understood why Summer felt like that, and how overwhelming it can be exchanging energies with different people that you don’t know. To see the amount of anguish she was experiencing, and the chaos that ensued after the decision she made based on how she was feeling, was scary to me. I want to be able to spark a conversation on stage and chat to the crowd without feeling overwhelmed about being the centre of attention, which is something I’ve always had a problem with.”
What type of artist do you want to be remembered as?
“I’d like to be remembered as an artist that was fearless: someone who used her circumstances as a stepping stool to be a voice to the people who have gone through similar things. Ultimately, I want to be happy, but I don’t want to attach my happiness to anything tangible or materialistic. When your core is happy, everything around you is harmonious – it all works out”.
There are some great interviews out there with the magnificent Monaleo. I am going to finish off with one from the end of last year. I think 2023 is hers for the taking. A sensational human who is going to inspire so many other women, Hypebeast chatted with her new release, Miss U Already, and the necessity of mental health awareness:
“Despite the Milli co-sign, Monaleo says she struggles to embrace her newfound popularity in the music industry, having grown up as a self-described “outcast.”
“Those experiences that you have growing up, they create the adult that you are going to be,” she tells Hypebeast. “I was an outcast of my own making. I just didn’t want to be around people, because I felt like I had difficulty fitting in. I had never been to a club, I had never been to a house party. I was very socially underdeveloped.”
For Monaleo, rapping has served as a crash course in pushing past social anxiety by sheer virtue of having millions of eyes on her at once. On top of being extremely shy as a child, Monaleo notes that the transition into adulthood – having been only 19 when she dropped her first song – is an entirely new learning curve.
“Adulting is hard, period, but just becoming an adult and then at the same time becoming a public figure are two very difficult things I’ve had to get used to,” she says. “I have personal life things going on too, things I’m learning I need to know … like staying on top of bills”
PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Image
Shouldering a major music career as she entered her twenties, Monaleo has used her experience of the stressful plunge into adulthood — as well as her own past struggles with depression and anxiety — to propel conversations on mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Vulnerability is often mistaken for weakness in the rap scene, but the artist has cut through the stigma to speak openly and honestly on social media and in interviews about being a survivor of suicide. Today, as an advocate for realistic self-care, she doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations on dealing with trauma, setting boundaries and prioritizing oneself.
“I always said to myself that if I were to ever get a platform that I would want to be able to be personable with people.”
“Growing up, I always felt like I was grossly misunderstood,” Monaleo shares. “People were judgmental of the things that I did or said, as opposed to trying to understand the place that I was coming from.”
“That’s the reason why I’m so open about my experiences now,” she continues. “It requires a lot of hard work, it requires a lot of skill, a lot of discipline and a lot of mental capacity. Sometimes I wake up and I just really don’t have it.”
Her latest release, “Miss U Already” featuring Alabama rapper NoCap, marks a peak in Monaleo’s constant pursuit of vulnerability. Eschewing rap to draw on her childhood years spent in the church choir, Monaleo flexes her vocal abilities as she reminisces the losses of those near to her.
While a full-fledged album may still be a ways away, Monaleo reveals that making “Miss U Already” has opened her up to the idea of experimenting more with R&B music.
“I love melodies. I love to sing,” she says. “I grew up singing in church. I grew up playing in the street. That is really where my heart lies.
“I definitely can see myself moving into that R&B space pretty soon – maybe not permanently – but delving into it, going back and forth between R&B and hip-hop”.
A future legend of Rap who will ascend to dizzying heights, it was a no-brainer spotlighting Monaleo as a name to watch his year! In a genre (Rap) that is still accused of sexism and misogyny, I hope that there is improvement so that women coming through do not have to fight so hard for a voice and their rightful dues! It is thanks to remarkable artists like Monaleo that things will improve. She is someone who…
IS a remarkable force.
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