MONALEO

Monaleo's music is for the bad bitches. Just anybody who's liberated. I feel like the most liberated people are the bad bitches or the niggas who just don't care.

That's definitely like a self journey, something you got to dig very deep to find. I'm still working on it, but I practice it every day. I actively practice it, so I feel like it's getting a little easier, but you got to work on that and figure out how to not give a fuck for real.

When I can play it for other people, that's when I know it's done. I'm one of those artists where until my painting is completely done and polished and garnished and everything else, I'm not showing you what I'm working on.

No, this is a made up job. I'm not a doctor. If I was a doctor I would feel more pressure, but I'm not performing heart surgery. I'm just being myself, so I don't feel a whole lot of intense pressure. I feel like people have accepted me for being me. The verses that I put out are really true to me, and I've done it time and time again. I feel like I have a very easy job. I just get to show up as me, and the minute I stop doing that is when I'm not doing my job. I feel very fortunate in that way.

When the beat comes on and automatically the words are flowing. I'm very visual, so I can see the words in my head and the sentences coming together. I rarely really feel like that, so when I get that feeling after hearing a beat, I'm really excited.

I like making candles. I feel like a chemist. I don't know who turned me loose with these chemicals, but it is so fun. I've also been working with air dry clay and making things like a tic-tac toe board, and then painting it. I can't really paint, but I think it looks fire for somebody who doesn't know shit about painting. But it's mainly music, for real. It's writing music.

I was always very musically inclined and it always was just a very freeing, liberating hobby to have. I always wanted to do something with music, but it was such a farfetched concept to explain to people growing up. I always had other things that I told people when they asked me what I wanted to be. I would tell them everything else but an artist until I got to a point I was getting close to graduating high school. That's when I was like, 'I'm a senior. It's got to happen now or it's not happening.' That's when it really started to wind up for me.

Me, me, and me. A lot of people are so close-minded. The majority of the people that I meet are not chasing their dreams. To tell somebody that you want to chase your dreams for a living…people are very closed off to that. I don't fault those people; they're not villains in my story. They are just victims of their circumstances. I knew in my heart of hearts that it was going to work out for me.

I actually do remember my very first performance. It was treacherous. It looked crazy. I was 19. The fucking microphone was way out here and I was just rapping. I truly did not know what I was doing. But I'm so emotional when I think about that girl. She was so hungry and excited to be in this space. She was so daring. It was so bold. Now, I would think twice about making a decision like that, but it was a no brainer for me at the time. It's what I wanted to do, so I went for it. I remember all the eyes on me. That's an energy that you cannot replicate. Even though I didn't have the skills and I didn't master performing while talking and breath control, I wasn't thinking about any of that. I just wanted to show up as myself. I captivated that whole room by just being myself. Shout out to her. I'm proud of her.

First of all, first class flights. With my girls, we do it big. on the schedule though. I love to eat, so we're going to eat somewhere, might do brunch or get some sushi. I love sushi. I might bring y'all to my house. My house is a vibe and I'm a chill, very simple girl. But if people want to go out when they come to Houston, fuck it, we can go out.

Oh, I'm not going to blow my spot up. I love sushi, so I don't want to see bitches in my spot. I might smack somebody. I get really possessive over my food spots. I had a homegirl… I took her to a food spot and I prefaced the food date by telling her, 'Hey, this is my spot. Nobody comes here. Don't ever bring anybody here. Forget I even brought you here. I want to share this experience with just you.' Why the fuck is she there on her Instagram story the very next week? She got her fucking mom, her homegirl, her homegirl's son. I was pissed. I was really livid. I texted her, 'Are you crazy? Why would you bring the people to my spot?' She had to hear it from me. So I won't ever make that mistake again. Just know I eats good.

I have no idea what's in the water in Houston, but it's something going on. When I first started out, it didn't take me long to realize, 'I'm from Houston. I got to kind of tighten up.' That's the energy that Houston brings, and I have no idea what it is. I don't know if it's the support that you get. The support of Houston, at least for me anyway, was so overwhelming in the beginning. How could I doubt this movement? There's so many people behind me who don't even know me. How could I ever doubt myself? The support in Houston is so strong.

Produce some of the most talented people in the world.

People think we're just down south sipping drank and nodding off. But Houston people are so productive. They're some of the most hardworking people that I know. People from Houston can outrap a lot of people. If we put all the Houston artists in a studio session, we wouldn't leave a studio for three months, dead ass. We would just go on and it doesn't stop. We just do it for fun, we do it for sport, we do it for the love and the passion.

I would tell her that I figured it out. There is so much I could tell her, and there's so much that she could avoid, but it really did build character. So fuck it, if I would tell her anything, I would tell her that you are going to be all right. I wouldn't say anything more than that.

Me. For sure. Me.

Of course there's a part of me that is worried about what's to come, but I'd be a fool to deny the facts, and the facts are that whatever I was going through, I got through them. So what is different moving forward? What will be different? Nothing will be different. If I got through that shit, this is going to be a walk in the park. I'll be all right.

Somebody who's honest and straightforward. Somebody who respects me. Honesty is the most important thing for me because so many people try to be who they feel like you need, as opposed to being themselves. I really appreciate people who just show up as their most authentic self. Whatever that comes with that, good or bad, I'm willing to work through it as long as you are just showing up as yourself.

Honestly anything pink. It has always been my comfort color growing up. My room was pink, my first car was pink, my current car is pink. Pink provides this really interesting juxtaposition because my music is so aggressive and assertive that people hear the music and expect some rough, rugged girl. And then here I am, a pink princess. People get really confused, and I'm so entertained by that.

They were some big Air Force Ones. They were red, pink, and white. I got them from this place in Houston. They were cute. I wore them out. They completely lost their shape. They were beat the fuck up by the time I was done with 'em.

Powerful.

My room.

My intuition.

"Tell Him."