RESPECT. Interview: NY Female Emcee Anababy Discusses Working With Jadakiss and Chris Brown and Her Latest Single “Show Me Love”

Anababy: I’m bilingual so growing up the NY sound was a mix of different sounds from my Spanish and my Black culture, we listened to everything from Big Daddy Kane, Run DMC, Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan to Jerry Rivera, Selena, India, Celia Cruz, and my and my mother had me in summer camps so I heard sounds like Beatles, Shania Twain & Dolly Parton growing up.

Anababy: My icons inspire me in different ways but these people get specifically get me going like there’s no wrong in my eyes they can do lol.  Jay-Z & Beyoncé both separately and united they are represent black excellence, Lil Wayne lyrically is a genius to me I can listen to him any day anytime anywhere, Diana Ross, Cher, Rihanna especially on the visuals these women give me feminine motivation like Diane is the boss of gloss and then Cher and Rihanna bridge the gap between the eras of powerful women and they use their voice to speak up so I love that and Naomi Campbell she’s not a musician but I met her & the drip had me drenched is all I can say she will be forever legendary for me.

Anababy: believe practice makes perfect & success is  created when preparation meets opportunity. I work my ass off everyday to establish my success. There was times I was facing eviction & had to hustle to make ends meet Or I worked A 9-5 plus a 2nd job as a bottle girl and still had to perform at my shows and book the studio the next day, there were times when I would pay everyone & I go home empty handed, times I had to invest in myself , go in debt and still find a way to reinvest, still believe in myself when people thought it would be easier to create other avenues, I have to prove myself constantly as a women in general against the masses, I have to fight the stereotypes of what a female rapper is suppose to look like and who she should be, I have to be innovative to market myself, so I have to wear different hats to make a song or stay awake for 12 hours to edit 4min videos, I have to create the time to write my songs even if that means neglecting loved ones or no hanging out just to practice and it all sounds hard you would ask me, why would you do that Ana? Well for one, it’s like being an athlete u got to work on your craft and two other artists chose other routes that may be easy for them and not for me, they may be ok with f****ng for tracks, stabbing people in the back just to get ahead doing the enemy’s work but you see I make bags, I don’t carry them anymore and that’s because I’ve worked so hard to put myself in a position of power. I’m ok with doing for my team cuz my team does for me but for the opps on they team you might be the puppet & I can’t be no puppet, I’m not ok with being a sucker, that’s hard for me I’m a go getter. Some people say they work harder but they ain’t working smarter. So I can’t speak in comparison of who works harder but I can def say I work f****ng hard & I’ve sacrificed a lot to get what I got and get where I’m going plus i’m committed to my vision so like Captain America says I can do this all night.

RESPECT.: Who are your top-5 female emcees? 
Anababy: Anababy, Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim, Lauren Hill, and Missy Elliot.