{{short description|South Korean artist and designer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Me Love Me A Lot | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |22 |2014}}<ref name=Jackson2018>{{cite magazine |last=Jackson |first=Jhoni |date=March 29, 2018 |title=Meet MLMA: The Viral Korean Artist Using Instagram to Disrupt |url=https://www.papermag.com/mlma-instagram-interview-2554279546.html |magazine=Paper |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = {{hlist|Artist|rapper|fashion designer}} | years_active = 2014-present | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''MLMA''' (acronym for '''Me Love Me A Lot''') is a pseudonymous South Korean-born artist, rapper, and fashion designer. She is known for surreal, sometimes grotesque imagery in a variety of artistic media.
==Career== MLMA began her artistic career after quitting a design job with MIXXMIX in 2014.<ref name=Ponzer2017>{{cite magazine |last=Ponzer |first=Paula |date=March 4, 2017 |title=Members Only: A Chat With Skoot Apparel's MLMA |url=https://www.mutzine.me/features/members-only-skoot-apparel-by-melovemealot |magazine=mutzine |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> Her initial plans were to develop an independent line of socks, owing to a belief that most fashionable socks were either of poor quality or poor design.<ref name=Ponzer2017 /> She began to distribute many of her artistic creations via Instagram, often using simple art supplies sourced from dollar stores.<ref name=Kim2018>{{cite magazine |last=Kim |first=Monica |date=February 27, 2018 |title=Meet the Risk-Taking Korean Artist Behind the Viral Wavy Brow |url=https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/mlma-melovemealot-korean-instagram-artist |magazine=Vogue |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> In 2017, MLMA went viral on Instagram after starting the "wavy brows" trend, a style imitated by Instagram influencers and a Snapchat filter.<ref name=Weinstock2018>{{cite magazine |last=Weinstock |first=Tish |date=May 16, 2018 |title=this instagram artist is using her body to distort our perceptions of beauty |url=https://i-d.co/article/this-instagram-artist-is-using-her-body-to-distort-our-perceptions-of-beauty/ |magazine=i-D |publisher=Vice Media |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref>
In music, MLMA is known for songs which, "while rooted in hip-hop, borrow heavily from K-pop and electronic music."<ref name=Michael2018>{{cite magazine |last=Michael |first=Michael Love |date=October 23, 2018 |title=MLMA Is Not Your 'Sweetie' |url=https://www.papermag.com/mlmas-sweetie-is-anything-but-sweet-2614619061.html |magazine=Paper |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> Her October 2018 single "Sweetie" was reviewed positively by ''Paper'' magazine as "brimming over with disaffected nonchalance{{nbsp}}... in a laconic, half-rapped tone."<ref name=Michael2018 /> In May 2020, MLMA released a new single, "You Can't Kill Me I'm Alive."<ref name=Runnells2020>{{cite magazine |last=Runnells |first=Riley |date=May 22, 2020 |title=MLMA's New Single Is 'Crazy and Chaotic,' Just Like Her |url=https://www.papermag.com/mlma-premiere-single-2646066789.html |magazine=Paper |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> She has been described as being part of the SoundCloud rap movement.<ref name=Runnells2020 />
MLMA is a lead designer at Korean streetwear label Skoot (sometimes stylized '''SKØØT'''), of which she is also a co-founder.<ref name=Kim2018 /><ref name=Allaire2020>{{cite magazine |last=Allaire |first=Christian |date=December 9, 2020 |title=Billie Eilish (And Other Stylish Artists) Love This Anime-Inspired Streetwear Brand |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/skoot-streetwear-brand-billie-eilish-musicians |magazine=Vogue |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> Her involvement with Skoot began after attracting attention at a solo art show in Toronto, Canada.<ref name=Jackson2018 /> Many promotional images for the brand were taken from house parties, with the clothes modeled by MLMA's personal friends.<ref name=Ponzer2017 /> Skoot's sometimes eccentric style features original artwork by MLMA along with heavily anime-inspired imagery, making reference to prominent franchises like ''Neon Genesis Evangelion''.<ref name=Allaire2020 /> Billie Eilish was an early supporter of the brand, wearing Skoot apparel in her music video for the song "Therefore I Am" and also during her performance at the American Music Awards of 2020.<ref name=Allaire2020 /> Since then, artists and groups who have worn Skoot include Rico Nasty, BTS, Rosalía, Blackpink, Grimes, and Jackson Wang.<ref name=Allaire2020 />
MLMA has appeared at haute couture events, often with an absurdist or whimsical style. She walked a show at Paris Fashion Week 2018 holding a replica of her own head.<ref name=Goldfine2020>{{cite magazine |last=Goldfine |first=Jael |date=February 12, 2020 |title=MLMA Serves Up Cursed Fashion in Crispy Crocs |url=https://www.papermag.com/mlma-crocs-kfc-collab-2645124936.html |magazine=Paper |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> In 2020, MLMA was the public face of the "KFC Crocs" campaign, a promotional collaboration between KFC and Crocs. MLMA appeared in a commercial promoting the shoes and personally modeled a platform version of the KFC Crocs at New York Fashion Week.<ref name=Wida2020>{{cite web |url=https://www.today.com/food/crocs-just-released-kfc-clogs-they-actually-smell-chicken-t187865 |title=Crocs just released KFC clogs – and they actually smell like chicken |last=Wida |first=Erica Chayes |date=July 27, 2020 |website=Today |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> The shoes were distributed to celebrities like Kim Kardashian before becoming available for sale to the general public.<ref name=Zhang2020>{{cite web |url=https://www.eater.com/2020/7/23/21335990/kfc-crocs-release-chicken-scented-shoe-collaboration |title=Feast Your Eyes on the Chicken-Scented KFC x Crocs Collaboration |last=Zhang |first=Jenny G. |date=July 23, 2020 |website=Eater |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref>
==Personal life== MLMA was raised in a working-class neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea.<ref name=Goldfine2020 /> She spends about half her time in Canada, where she has family.<ref name=Weinstock2018 />
In August 2020, MLMA posted several photographs of Post Malone to her Instagram account, causing hip-hop news outlets to speculate about the possibility of a romantic attachment between the two.<ref name=Dare2020>{{cite web |url=https://www.sohh.com/post-malone-and-korean-rapper-mlma-have-pretty-much-confirmed-theyre-officially-dating-each-other/ |url-status=dead |title=Post Malone and Korean Rapper MLMA Have Pretty Much Confirmed They're Officially Dating |last=Dare |first=Angie |date=August 13, 2020 |website=SOHH |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122025531/https://www.sohh.com/post-malone-and-korean-rapper-mlma-have-pretty-much-confirmed-theyre-officially-dating-each-other/ |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.instagram.com/melovemealot/ Instagram profile]
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Category:Living people Category:South Korean women fashion designers Category:Canadian women fashion designers Category:Canadian fashion designers Category:21st-century Canadian rappers Category:Canadian women rappers Category:South Korean women rappers Category:Canadian women artists Category:South Korean women artists Category:Pseudonymous artists Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century women rappers Category:21st-century South Korean rappers