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The Boogie Down Bronx, heralded as the birthplace of hip hop, continues to deliver MCs for those unsatisfied with the current crop of artists, and one of those promising alternatives is Mala Reignz. With an unshakable focus and unyielding dedication to her grind, Mala has made major strides in her career lately, culminating in a coveted appearance in the Unsigned Hype column in The Source magazine’s June/July issue.
Meet Mala Reignz. MC first, female second.
A proverbial “complete package,” Mala is an intelligent, confidently fearless woman with sharp lyrics who also happens to be pleasingly easy on the eyes. And it is there where she makes a concerted effort to make it clear she is not interested in selling her looks, doing whatever she can to keep her mic skills in the forefront.
Her critically acclaimed mixtape Miss Rap Supreme and more recent EP, Calm Before The Storm, certainly demonstrate those mic skills, and while her buzz is increasing, Mala is actually changing gears, consciously focusing on releasing less music rather than more. Her plan? To create well crafted songs, rather than flood the market with filler. Confident that her music will grab the listener, this “slow-it-down” approach is a part of a though-out plan, further separating the Bronx Bombshell apart from others who are not so forward thinking.
Formulating a plan of attack wasn’t always easy for Mala. Bouncing from manager to manager for years led to frustration with an apparent inability to market and properly promote a female MC. “It’s not the same thing as a female R&B artist,” she explains. “As an MC, you have to have street credibility and you have to be respected. People are so used to seeing that image. When you bring them something else, they don’t take it serious.”
Mala heaps praise on current manager Nicky “Jaaamz” Ramos. “We’re more like a team than just management and artist. We talk a million times a day, just ping ponging back and forth. Really, both of us go hard. I have a lot of respect for her and she has a lot of respect for me.” Indeed, the relationship seems to be just what Mala needed, and has clearly made a positive difference in the advancement of Mala’s career.
Born Adrienne Malave, Mala has been rhyming for roughly eight years, pursuing it professionally for the last four. Initially, she was a poetess, performing at poetry shows around the city. But with all of her poetry naturally rhyming and vocalized in a rhythmic cadence, people often thought she was simply rapping without a beat. Eventually adapting her poetry into rap, Mala spent many a late night writing, listening to music, often without the realization that she was writing to a beat she was hearing in the background.