You may not be familiar with Brianna Perry yet, but your favorite artists are.

Getting approval from Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the Miami femcee is making 2013 the year of YRB (Young Rich Bandit) with the drop of her mixtape Symphony No. 9: The B Collection. She may not be as confrontational as Azealia Banks or as Freshman cover-worthy (by some standards) as Iggy Azelea, but Perry is steadily climbing to the forefront of rappers to be taken seriously.

Vixen chatted with the “9″ artist about her latest ‘tape, what event recently took her breath away and one thing her fans should know about her. — Sharifa Daniels

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VIBE Vixen: Can you give a quick synopsis of your mixtape, Symphony No. 9: The B Collection?
Brianna Perry: It’s incredible. I’m really excited about it. A lot of the fans who already are following me will be able to see the growth. For the new listeners, they will get a whiff of who Brianna is, what I represent, a bit of my history, as well as a bit of newness. There’s a lot of features and just a lot of growth.

How was your career grown since first coming out?
I’ve been able to experience so many great things: being nominated for a BET award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and being apart of BET Hip Hop Cypher. I’ve been able to travel the world and see so many different countries: Singapore, Seoul Korea, Japan, Australia and just being able to touch different people and be noticed on different platforms. 2013 is going to be a very interesting year for me.

How do you feel about doing so much but still not getting recognized the way other female artist are?
We’re in a male-dominated game, so whenever you’re a female in the rap world, you have to go 10 times harder. But when you’re having fun and you have passion for whatever you’re doing, you just enjoy the ride. I have love and so much respect for everyone else who’s trying to achieve the same great thing.

How do you feel about recent female artists beefs?
I’m a person about unity and love and having respect for the past. You just understand the rules of the game and understand we have to stick together to move forward as a group, so I’m not for the cattiness. I don’t have time. I think the sole focus should be on the music, craft and bettering yourself.

VV: You have a track called “Dear Hip Hop.” Name a moment where you had to write yourself a letter because you were dealing with so much in life?
BP: ”Dear Hip Hop” is close to my heart. The XXL Freshman [2012] cover, just feeling over looked and bypassed…It was hard to deal with those things.

Who do you look up to?
Beyoncé is my idol. I think she’s the ultimate woman. She’s a great role model. I’ve got to meet her twice and her humility is just outstanding. I think for her to be that great and be loved by so many people and still have that humility about her has really inspired me. She is a blessing to all of her fans and she leads by example.

You have the song, “Take My Breathe Away,” too. Can you name a moment that took your breathe away?
Meeting Beyoncé and Jay-Z in Miami. She congratulated me and said that she’s a fan of my work. That took my breathe away. Jay told me to never change and that I’m a star. We laughed and joked about some stuff and that was a special moment.

What’s one thing your fans should know about you, if they don’t know already?
I love them. I just want to keep giving them good music. I’m here and I’m not going to stop. They can follow me on Twitter at @BriannatheYRB and on Instagram at @BriannaPerry. Just get ready because we’re about to set it off!

by Sharifa Danielsww