Today, rap is on the rise Monaleo star debut LP, Where flowers never die, and hit streaming services. Monaleo got to celebrate at her Houston home with someone very special — her newborn. Monaleo completed the mixtape throughout her first pregnancy and gave birth earlier this week. Although she was due on May 29, after the tape was released, she actually went into labor on May 21, a few days after her interview with Rolling Stone.
Monaleo checked in with us today. “The kid and I are doing great!” she said via email. “I had a completely normal home birth/water birth. It was an amazing and empowering experience that I shared with the mothers of my family. I am now resting in bed with the most beautiful newborn in the world, enjoying the fruits I bore both physically and musically.” Her co-parenting is Stunna 4 Vegas rapper. In her latest music video, “Wig Splitter,” today, she’s home with her belly out, awaiting her new arrival.
Where flowers never die It marks a period of significant growth for Monalio, who broke out two years ago with the single “Beating Down Yo Block” with a DJ Screw and Yungstar classic sample. She has since toured with Flo Melly and has released a few hard-hitting singles and freestyles, including “We Don’t Hump” (with Flo on the remix) and a version of Chef Keef’s “Fanito.” Before achieving success in music, Monaleo, born Leondra Roshawn Gay, was a student at Prairie View A&M University, considering a career in computer engineering. As a young girl, she had a difficult childhood, which she describes on the single “Ridgemont Baby”.
“I didn’t get much reassurance at home. It’s no one’s fault. My mom was busy with other things, so he never grew up hearing I was good enough,” she said. Rolling Stone. “I’ve always struggled just to be in people’s good graces, to accept it, and to feel that love. Because of those experiences, I created this character, Monaleo, to vent and really vent those frustrations and take back my strength and be as assertive as I feel like I want to be. Because it’s just like I let go of so much.” Of bullshit I should never have let go.”
She believes that her hard work making and launching her first project while navigating her first pregnancy—which meant depression, recording sessions, and sexy music videos that pushed her to her limits—will help her teach her baby resilience. “I think there is a lesson in that: perseverance, the ability to persevere, to really commit to a goal, to be able to commit no matter the circumstances,” she said.
