Maliibu Miitch Is the Bronx’s Next Big Rapper

Wielding rhymes sharp enough for close-quarters combat, sporting an uncompromising attitude, and holding absolutely nothing back, the Bronx MC known as Maliibu Miitch is throwing down the gauntlet. Within seven years of first picking up a mic, she’s gone from battles on neighborhood corners to prompting Pitchfork to ponder, “Is Maliibu Miitch NYC’s best new rapper?”

“I’m just blunt and in-your-face,” the artist told VICE. “My bars come from me venting. I’ve been through so much and seen so much that I just talk about it. It’s basically my point of view. I feel like our culture is getting diluted from a lot of fuck-shit. I want to bring it back to real rappers who write their own shit and keep trying no matter what obstacles they face.”

Maliibu Miitch overcame her fair share of obstacles to get to where she is today. Born in North Carolina to a Vietnamese and Filipino father and an African American mother, she moved to New York at the age of three. As the marriage disintegrated in a haze of violence and “things we should’ve never seen,” as Maliibu Miitch tells it, trouble followed. In school, fights and physical confrontations were regular, and her mother struggled to make ends meet on Section 8. At 14, Maliibu Miitch was shipped back to North Carolina to live with her dad. Then she dropped out of high school and went from “modeling” to “selling drugs” to “being in a gang” to finally finding her calling in 2011.

“Rap was a way out,” Maliibu Miitch said. “Finally, I didn’t have to do anything crazy. I didn’t have to constantly watch my back every second. I reapplied what I learned in the streets to how I move and strategize everything. The Bronx prepared me for my career.”

Inspired by 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, and Jadakiss, Miitch began uploading music online and stirring up a buzz. The year 2017 saw her drop the breakout mixtape Maliibu Miitch Top 5. As she unleashed the one-two punch of original singles “4 AM” and “The Count,” the spitter notched acclaim from Paper, The Fader, XXL, Complex, and Hypebeast, who claimed, “Maliibu Miitch is the realest rapper in the game right now.” Revolt aired a doc on her, and shout-outs came from K. Michelle and Nicki herself.

Along the way, Maliibu Miitch signed to Atlantic Records and readied her 2018 mixtape, The Count. You can check out her newest single here.

“It’s a countdown to when I blow up,” Maliibu Miitch grinned during our interview. “I’ve been putting out projects and music for so fucking long that it was all just steps for me. I’m getting closer.”

Credits:
Talent: Maliibu Miitch @maliibumiitch
Photographer: Noa Grayevsky @noagrayevsky
Stylist: Christoper Pearson @cpstyle_
Hair & Makeup: Admin Rivero @makeupbyadmin
Production: Carolin Ramsauer @carolin_ramsauer

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