Young M.A. sat down with Shannon Sharpe on “Club Shay Shay” and addressed the video that stopped a lot of people in their tracks.
The clip, filmed inside a barbershop, spread quickly because of how visibly different she looked, and the reaction it got online was immediate. For the first time she spoke openly about what she was going through at the time and what seeing that footage actually did to her.
She was honest about the fact that she had no idea.
“In my mind, I didn’t think I looked like that. I didn’t see me. I didn’t see how I looked at that time. I felt like I looked like myself,” she said. That disconnect between how she felt internally and what was visible externally is something she said caught her completely off guard when she finally saw what everyone else was reacting to. “It’s almost scary to know,” she added.
The video was not something that was taken without her knowledge. Young M.A. said the barber asked permission before posting it and she gave the green light without thinking twice.
“I didn’t think nothing of it,” she said. The barber, Aaron “Fatsdabarber” Turk, later defended himself against fans who criticized him for posting it, saying the two were close friends and that she had full knowledge of the recording.  It was not until the public reaction started coming in that she saw herself the way other people were seeing her. “When it went out and people started reacting, that’s when I really seen myself through other people’s eyes. And it was a reality check for real,” she said.
When you are in the middle of something, the people closest to you often see it before you do. Young M.A.’s situation played out publicly, with strangers being the ones to hold up the mirror.
“When I seen that, it was like, whoa. Like that really woke me up,” she said.
This was not the first time her health had been a public conversation. Back in 2021, Young M.A. revealed she was seeking rehabilitation to address an unspecified addiction.  Then in March 2023, when the barbershop video circulated and fans noticed the yellowing in her eyes, she broke her silence on Instagram.
“As many of my supporters know, I’ve been dealing with various personal health issues over the last few years,” she wrote. “I was recently hospitalized and was successfully treated for several conditions. I’m doing better now, will take time but I’m on the road to recovery and look forward to the future.”  A few months later she posted again, this time with a different tone. She captioned the photo of herself simply: “Survived some shit I thought I would die from.” 
In a follow up video on her Instagram Story she also confirmed she had gotten sober, saying “I’ve been very much sober” and acknowledging that she had made wrong decisions that eventually caught up with her.  She did not go into specific details at the time, saying she wanted to bring fans along on her journey through her music and an upcoming documentary.
Young M.A., born Katorah Marrero, rose to prominence in 2016 when her breakout record Ooouuu went viral and became one of the most streamed songs of that year. She built a fanbase that connected deeply with her authenticity, and that same fanbase was the one watching the barbershop video with concern and hoping she would pull through.
The fact that she is sitting across from Shannon Sharpe talking about it openly is itself a sign of where she is now compared to where she was in that video. She is not glossing over it or reframing it as something minor. She called it a reality check and meant it.
“In my mind, I didn’t think I looked like that. … I didn’t see me. I didn’t see how I looked at that time. I felt like I looked like myself. It’s almost scary to know. Maybe that happened for a reason.” – @YoungMAMusic
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— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) May 27, 2026
