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Hip hop was similarly injected into Mala’s life throughout her childhood. Her parents were music aficionados and surrounded Mala with a musical soundscape from which she now draws from, her mother favoring hip hop, old school R&B slow jams and freestyle while her father would engage in salsa music, often playing the timbales and conga. As her love for hip hop grew, Mala gravitated toward powerhouse wordsmiths like Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Canibus, and Lauryn Hill. “I really look to these artists,” she says. “It sounds typical, but that’s what it is. I still prefer to listen to some of those artists over today’s music to this day. My favorite of all time is Jay-Z and it’s not just because of the music, but I really love his whole package. If you are going to emulate anybody, emulate the best. His business sense, the way he carries himself… I would love to be in his position in ten years.”
Though currently unsigned, Mala pushes forward with that kind of business acumen on her mind, having established her own publishing company, Scholar Music, LLC, and acquiring a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications. She is patient, noting that securing a deal can only happen if it best allows her to expand and deliver her musical offerings to the masses. Until then, the plan, and grind, continues.
For now, this includes promotion of her new single, the catchy “OMG (Dum Da Dum),” and the development of a video counterpart. Mala, a hands-on artist, is currently looking at a treatment and brainstorming about the visual direction she wants to go in.
“OMG,” with its feel good 1950’s vibe, is directed at critics and haters alike. “When you get to a certain place,” Mala says, “people hate. I have haters that I’ve never met before and they hate on me just because they don’t know me.”
Mala believes that when you start rising up the success ladder, it is important to adapt the way things are done, to ensure continued progression, but finds that sometimes, there is resistance from her peers. As an example, she has consciously decided to limit her unpaid appearances on tracks with other artists. “I’m not gonna be doing a million songs with a million underground rappers anymore, you know what I’m saying? I’m getting to a different level now. Now, it’s getting a little bit more serious. It’s no longer just a hobby. This is actually my career. I take it very seriously. It’s time to start charging people (she laughs). Now I’m getting charged for beats. I gotta pay out of my pocket every time I go in the studio. I gotta pay out of my pocket every time I put out a project. That’s all out of my pocket. Now it’s time I start charging people for verses and features and some people don’t like that. They’re like, ‘Oh she’s getting too Hollywood!’ I’ve heard that a million times. It is what it is. I’ve been hated on just for being a female rapper, period. People hate on me for whatever reason. Everybody has haters, so that song [“OMG”] is just perfect, because anyone can identify with it.”
When it comes to production, Mala runs with whatever sounds good to her ears. “Hey Love” and “Catch More Raps” were produced by Kwan Lee, a part of her team, but she is also open to experimentation with other producers, as evidenced by “OMG,” which is produced by Pyro, also from the Bronx.
Mala knows what she is looking for. “The sound for right now is that throwback kind of sound, the kind of music that makes you smile. Not some real hardcore stuff, but uptempo, good feeling music… The sample’s the throwback, but then it’s still current and still modern. The references and things I make are about things happening today.”
Insisting that she is not trying to portray herself as a gangster rapper or an oversexed vamp, Mala expresses a commitment to staying in tune with herself. “I’m me, 100%. Anybody that knows me, that meets me, will tell you the same thing. I don’t try to be that hardcore rapper, and I don’t try to be oversexed. With me, what you see is what you get. I’m short. I’m a light skinned Puerto Rican from the Bronx. I don’t really fit the image that most people expect to see, when they think ‘rapper.’ So in some ways, I kind of take people by surprise. I use it to my advantage. When they look at me they don’t expect to hear what they hear.”
