Green Key 2024 Preview: Young M.A.

Who is this Young M.A?

Like many of my peers, especially the 27s, I anticipated Green Key to be an almost spiritual experience – the final respite before the grueling burden of spring-term finals.

Since the beginning of fall term, upperclassmen have been sharing stories of previous Green Keys: how bad the artists were, how professors cancel classes, etc. This highly anticipated event is so good, that upperclassmen claim that even the “grinders” and “sweats” of Dartmouth are willing to free themselves from the stacks and spend some time outside. Many few months ago, Green Key seemed to me like the last event at Dartmouth that I would need to experience to finally advance beyond the freshman label. However, more recently, I had an inkling that I may be disappointed by the reality of Green Key, especially with the artist that was expected to be invited.

The first time I heard speculation about which artist would be selected for Green Key was in January. People were floating the idea that perhaps Noah Kahan would come perform. By no means am I an avid Noah Kahan fan, but I heard Khan’s hit song “Stick Season” quite a few times during fall term and found it quite fitting for the setting. Unfortunately, reality soon set in that Noah Kahan would not be a viable option for this year’s Green Key. However, a failed attempt to convince the campus that Kahan took place in the form of student-produced, shoddily-made Green Key posters that bore Kahan’s name.

Beyond the Noah Kahan conjecture that permeated campus in the winter, I still held out some hope that the students helping to organize Green Key would perhaps come through with someone to write home about. As much as I’d have liked to see Drake, Kendrick Lamar, or Pitbull, I knew it was unreasonable. Regardless, I submitted the online survey and hoped for the best.

One day, I opened my email, like many other students, and found an email from the Programming Board outlining some “critical information” regarding Green Key. Like virtually all of my peers, I completely disregarded the information about wristbands and guests in order to find the piece of information we have all been anxiously waiting for: the artist list. By no means was I particularly excited about Shaggy, but, at the very least, he was a name that I have heard before. However, I was surprised to see the name Young M.A.

Like many of my peers, I asked myself “who is Young M.A?” Young M.A or “Katorah Kasanova Marrero” is a rapper originally from New York City. Her stage name, “Young M.A” is an acronym for “Young Me. Always.” M.A is best known for her hit single “Ooouuu,” which she will undoubtedly perform at Green Key. In 2016, “Ooouuu” hit number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. There isn’t much to be said about M.A’s personal life, but her music videos do provide quite a bit of insight.

Similar to many contemporary music videos, “Ooouuu” starts with Young M.A sitting at a table in an upscale New York City apartment with an unidentified bottle and a bottle of Hennessy. The video then cuts to a black-and-white scene where M.A states, “Yo, Bro, I think I had too much of this Hennessy, man. This Hennessy gettin’ to me,” which is a statement that many Dartmouth students may relate to during Green Key weekend. 

The music video goes on in the same fashion as any other generic rap music videos but with perhaps some more intriguing commentary about Young M.A’s sexual interactions. 

The most intriguing, in my opinion, being, “You call her Stephanie? I call her Headphanie?” which, I must admit, made me chuckle. M.A’s commentary in “Ooouuu” and her other productions are not unique for the era of Rap that we live in today.

Like other rappers of our time, M.A makes commentary that belittles women. However, most rappers today do the same. We, as a society, seem to accept these sorts of lyrics without a second thought. 

To me, this is perhaps a greater conversation that must be had as a society (which will likely never happen given the popularity of the rap genre).

Overall, Young M.A is just a second-rate rapper that will likely put on a semi-decent performance, at least semi-decent for Green Key standards. As much as myself and those around me would like some more notable names perform at Green Key, Young M.A, alongside Shaggy, will have to do.