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Young M.A
Music

Young M.A Is the First LGBTQ+ Rapper to Cover Out Magazine

The artist released her debut album, "Herstory in the Making," earlier this year.

At this point, making history -- ahem, herstory -- must come easy to Young M.A. After all, Herstory in the Making was the name of her debut album released earlier this year. With the Brooklyn native landing a spot on our 2019 Out100 as Rapper of the Year, she makes history, herstory, and theirstory as the first LGBTQ+ rapper to grace the cover of the magazine.

"I was like, 'Hello!'" she laughed when asked about the magazine's initial offer.

Founded in 1992, Out has long championed LGBTQ+ musicians across genres with artists of all stripes as cover stars. Rap and hip-hop artists however, though highlighted throughout the pages of the magazine and on Out.com, have often not landed such coveted print real estate. In fact, a cursory search of the Out archives shows only two other hip-hop artists have ever gotten the front page treatment -- Lil' Kim in 1999 and Nicki Minaj in 2010.

During her Out100 cover shoot and interview, M.A mentioned she hesitated saying yes to the feature, admitting that she hoped the focus of our story would not be her sexuality. The lyricist stopped labeling her identity "a few years ago," she said, but still gets asked for interviews most frequently when the media wants to talk about homophobia in hip-hop, or during Pride month.

"At first I believed in the whole identity thing," she said. "I just got to a point where I was like, at the end of the day, nobody can make no rules on what I decide to do. 'Yo listen, don't call me this. Don't call me that. I do what I want. I love who I love. I want who I want.' And I'm not the only one. There's a lot of people in this world who just choose not to identify."

"But then I was like, 'No. I get it. It's not [about] labels. [It's] expressing oneself. It's a magazine that shows your expression of who you are and what you represent,'" she added, which pairs well with where she is in her life and career."

M.A joins Sam Smith, Jeremy O. Harris, Ronan Farrow, Nicolas Ghesquiere as Out100 cover stars.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Nicki Minaj was also a cover star.

RELATED | Out100 Rapper of the Year: Young M.A Is 'Herstory in the Making'

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Karwai Tang/WireImage; Noam Galai/Getty Images for TIME; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
New Music Friday listicle including singers Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair Oscar Party 2025 Elton John performs during TIME magazine dinner 2024 Snow Wife 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards
Karwai Tang/WireImage; Noam Galai/Getty Images for TIME; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Music

New Music Friday: Miley Cyrus, Snow Wife, Elton John

New Music Friday presents new tunes from Elton John, Khalid, Haim, and more.

Happy New Music Friday!

New Music Friday listicle including singers Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Snow Wife

New Music Friday listicle including singers Miley Cyrus, Elton John, Snow Wife

Karwai Tang/WireImage; Noam Galai/Getty Images for TIME; Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

It's Friday, and we have a new batch of fresh tunes for your earholes!

The pop girls clocked in! Miley Cyrus returns with an escapist anthem on "End of the World," Snow Wife is our latest rave queen on "Bodyology," Ciara finds "Ecstasy," Kalena Zanders wants you to "Promise We'll Live Again," and Haim releases one of their favorite songs they've ever written!

Meanwhile, R&B star Khalid teams up with Rudimental for a new EDM banger, Between Friends has made friends with the "DJ," and Destin Conrad and Teezo Touchdown team up for their sensual new track.

And did we mention that Elton John and Brandi Carlile's long-awaited joint album has finally arrived?

Scroll through to listen to this week's best new bops, and follow this writer's New Music Friday playlist on Spotify.

"End of the World" - Miley Cyrus

Miley's back, and ready to pretend it's not the end of the world on this escapism anthem.

"All I Know" - Rudimental, Khalid

Khalid joins Rudimental on their new EDM track "All I Know."

"The Last Time" - Destin Conrad, Teezo Touchdown

R&B is alive and well on Destin Conrad and Teezo Touchdown's gorgeous new track.

"Bodyology" - Snow Wife

Snow Wife kicks off her new era with this dancefloor-ready banger that we can't wait to hear at the club.

"DJ" - Between Friends

Join Between Friends at the favorite place: the dance floor.

"Promise We'll Live Again" - Kaleena Zanders

Ready to dance? Kaleena Zanders delivers the vocals and the drops on her uplifiting new track.

"It's a Mirror" - Perfume Genius

Perfume Genius performs "It's a Mirror" live on the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

"Little Richard's Bible" - Elton John, Brandi Carlile

Who Believes In Angels?, the collaborative album from Grammy winners Elton John and Brandi Carlile, is out now and boasts this joyous ode to rock and roll icon Little Richard.

"I Am Going Through Hell (Bittersweet)" - Dreamer Isioma

Escape into Dreamer Isioma's world on the visually stunning music video for "I Am Going Through Hell (Bittersweet)."

"Slip & Slide" - Alex Chapman, Tommy Genesis

Alex Champan and Tommy Geneis want to see you "Slip & Slide" on this high BMP banger.

"Ecstasy" - Ciara

Pop/R&B legend Ciara gets grown and sexy on her stunning mid-temp track "Ecstasy."

"Tonight" - PinkPantheress

PinkPanteress brings the vibes to the dancefloor on "Tonight."

"Everybody's trying to figure me out" - Haim

People pleasers unite! Haim's latest is about figuring out what you want after getting lost in the noise.

Here's the playlist!

Taylor Henderson is a music contributor to Out magazine. Be sure to follow 'the alphabet mafia' playlist on Spotify!

See All 2024's Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ People
Artists
Disruptors
Educators
Groundbreakers
Innovators
Storytellers