Fifty years in the past, the sisterhood of hip-hop didn’t but exist. The style was nonetheless an toddler, and girls have been combating to have their voices heard among the many founding fathers, so competitors between them was extra inspired than comradeship. But, 5 a long time later, rising artist Maiya the Don finds herself in the course of rap’s ladies renaissance with fellow femcees supporting her at each flip. Not each up-and-coming girl rapper can say that.

“Everyone that I’ve engaged with has been nothing however candy and welcoming,” the 21-year-old tells POPSUGAR of her newfound rap friendships.

Beginning out as a magnificence creator on TikTok, Maiya did not get her first style of fame till her large second arrived final October. “Telfy,” the Brooklynite’s first hit single — a flip of Sisqo’s 1999 basic “Thong Tune” and dubbed the official Telfar purse anthem — was inescapable on social media as her designer-inspired, braggadocious bars made the rounds. “This costume look good ‘trigger I am in it / Large physique Vary Rover, not rented,” she raps with zeal. “I am in my bag, I am in my Telfy / Dripped down in Prada, sneakers is Giuseppe.” Quickly thereafter, Maiya’s title was in all places.

After her full of life arrival to the rap scene, Maiya’s fanbase virtually instantly demanded extra materials, and he or she answered again this 12 months with singles like “Dusties,” “Maintain It Cute,” and “Luv U Higher.” However practically a 12 months after reaching breakout success, the eye and fame are nonetheless an adjustment. “Typically I notice, all proper, I am unable to do that or I am unable to say this,” Maiya explains. “I do not suppose I will ever get used to it.”

What retains the budding rap star grounded, although, is her supportive ladies hip-hop tribe, whose conversations have been about “extra than simply the music,” she says. In accordance with Maiya, fellow up-and-coming rapper Monaleo is “the sweetest soul” and offers her “a whole lot of recommendation,” and Coi Leray — who gave Maiya a delicate shout-out along with her 2023 BET Awards look — has been “tremendous sort” to her. Collaborator Flo Milli, in the meantime, was “the primary feminine rapper to embrace” her. “I like [her] a lot. I think about her like a pal,” Maiya gushes. “She’s so supportive of every thing. Each time I flip round she’s there, you understand?”

From present stars like Lola Brooke to icons like Lil’ Kim, seeing “ladies supporting different ladies in any capability” is fulfilling, Maiya says, particularly contemplating their historical past in hip-hop. She shares: “Everyone has supported me in some sort of method and I actually respect it, as a result of I used to be a client of all their music simply a few months in the past. So to go from a client to see — and never solely being simply their peer however them appreciating my music and giving me props and kudos — is nice.”

Imagine it or not, Maiya pivoted to music out of boredom. Although she grew up with a deep appreciation for writing poetry and enjoying devices, her rap profession started out of angst. “Doing TikTok full time, I discovered myself feeling tremendous stagnant. I did not really feel fulfilled,” she remembers. “I felt like I may very well be doing extra, virtually like this sense of worthlessness. I used to be making folks pleased with my content material and other people loved it, however I did not really feel completely satisfied doing it. It wasn’t sufficient.”

So she discovered a brand new outlet: the studio.

Recording music for enjoyable, for her, is the “spotlight” of her week “each time.” And that zeal drives her at the same time as some might doubt her future in rap: “I genuinely take pleasure in making music. I feel that is essentially the most motivation that I would like.”

Maiya provides, “The second that I cease having enjoyable is the second that I will simply resolve to stroll away, however I genuinely find it irresistible. I feel my followers wanting extra music from me and simply that alone is all that I would like.”

Maiya’s connections with hip-hop’s OGs have been a supply of motivation, too. She remembers how operating into fellow Brooklyn native Fabolous at Vogue Week earlier this 12 months was one among her “pinch me” moments: “I simply wished to say hello as a result of I like him, and he knew who I used to be. He knew my songs. That was loopy. That was a second.” Not too lengthy after, Maiya had one other sudden encounter with a rap star — this time, a telephone name from Busta Rhymes. “He simply was like, ‘I like you and I like your track and I like your music,'” Maiya remembers. “In order that was actually cool.”

Maiya would not let these moments go to her head, although. Strolling within the footsteps of her hip-hop predecessors, particularly ladies who paved the best way for her, retains the rapper humble. “It would not be Maiya the Don with out each single individual, from MC Lyte to Cardi B. Each single one among ’em has made their mark indirectly for me to have the ability to do one thing on this trade,” she says. “So I give props to each single [one of them].”

She would not thoughts getting within the studio with any of them both, like Cardi, Lakeyah, or Brooke once more (Milli’s “Immodest” remix collab). She says, “Actually, pay attention, anyone who wants a verse outta Maiya the Don, I am a textual content away, for actual. I received a verse for all of them.”

“‘Trigger I am a extremely large fan and I like what we’re doing as ladies in rap,” Maiya continues. “I really feel like we’re actually taking up and doing our greatest one but. So camaraderie and coming collectively as one to do one large factor is absolutely vital to me. I help everyone whether or not they help me or not. Love what everyone’s doing.”

Nonetheless on her “come-up” journey, Maiya is taking her time along with her future releases as she builds her discography, so do not count on an album or EP simply but. “I am nonetheless grinding, I am nonetheless doing issues to indicate folks that I do that,” she explains. “I am nonetheless within the stage the place I am growing as a person and an artist. I am nonetheless studying. I will eternally study although. I am all the time a pupil.”

Whereas Maiya’s retaining the remainder of her strikes near the chest for now, her “greatest aim” stays making her youthful self proud. And above all, she’s targeted on “having enjoyable” — as she places it, “that is the place I am at proper now.”