Yelawolf Performing On Top Of The Standard Hotel Downtown LA

via DJ Skee TV

Yelawolf Trunk Muzik 0 To 60 on Interscope/Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment expected to drop November 9th.

Yelawolf L.A. Times Interview

L.A. Times: Being a white rapper is always going to engender Eminem comparisons even if you are half Native American. Have those grown tedious yet or have you just tried to take them in stride?

Yelawolf: I can't be mad at the comparisons because I'm still just getting my feet wet. I've got years to go before I establish a full concrete Yelawolf sound. Right now, I'm focused on saying what I have to say. I have to do Yelawolf right now and not worry about anything else. That said, I think it's a fair comparison. There haven't been many white artists in hip-hop, and there's only a handful that the average person knows about, so it is what it is.

L.A. Times: Your mixtape "Stereo" had a lot of recognizable classic-rock samples, which ostensibly would've brought you a lot of fans from people who were sucked in by the original source material. Yet it was "Trunk Muzik" that really got you traction. Why do you think "Stereo" didn't have that sort of success?

Yelawolf: Two things: The first is that not everybody in hip-hop [messes] with classic rock. The second is that there was no real element of surprise. I'm from Alabama, I'm into classic rock -- it was obvious and there was no shock-value to it.That said, I was really focused on making sure that people understood that I respected the craft and hip-hop. "Trunk Muzik" was dedicated to the trunk riders, with 808s and hard ass [stuff]. It had a dirty Southern sound, and it opened things up.

With "Stereo," we spent a lot of time digging around and trying to be really tasteful with the samples. I know a lot of people who [mess] with "Trunk Muzik" aren't into "Stereo," but I still love it -- it contains some of the favorite records I've ever done.

L.A. Times: Growing up in Gadsden and all over the South has obviously influenced your sound. Specifically, how do you think it affects your conception of the world and your music?

Yelawolf: My homies in Gadsden aren't as exposed as I am culturally, which is awesome -- that's why I love going home. I'm in the kitchen with people who don't know anything but the simple life, what's important to them, and what's dope. That's why like I'm so drawn to the culture of Alabama -- of rednecks and all that hardcore dirty South culture because I understand it. It's so simple -- it's really black and white. That's the way that life should be. We really complicate our situation.

L.A. Times: The South isn't known for its cipher culture, but you use a double-time speed rap flow that could be Midwestern were it not for your drawl. What were your experiences like learning to rap?

Yelawolf: It was always rapping in the car -- me and my boys -- freestyling and being horrible. The only time it ever became serious to me was when I would write and then flow to instrumentals in the car, and my friends would be like, "Whoa man, you got verses." It spawned from there, it eventually got more and more serious and I developed my own style.

L.A. Times: How frustrating was it when Rick Rubin came aboard at Columbia and dropped you? You'd think that the guy who produced the Beastie Boys and "Raising Hell" would have wanted to work with you.

Yelawolf: I was like, "You don’t get it, cool? Then I guess I must be extra special." I had to be arrogant because I could've been messed up thinking that if he didn't want me, I must have nothing to offer. But that's not like me. I refuse to be like that. I've always been stubborn. I have to learn things myself, but it worked out OK -- I ended up at Interscope only a few years later.

L.A. Times: Do you worry that Interscope will force you to write pop rap songs or else you'll be unable to get your album released?

Yelawolf: If you look at my discography of music, you'll know that I can go any direction – whether it's arena rap or bluegrass hip-hop. I would never assign myself one style. If I make a record that becomes a pop hit -- who [cares]. I'm always gonna have the darker edgy music in my pocket because it comes so natural to me. You’ll never stop getting records like "Pop the Trunk" and "Good to Go." The crunk South [stuff] will always be a part of what I do in some way. But I plan on evolving -- you have to.

The integrity of my music is always in mind. I'm out to make lifelong lasting records. I know what the underground is. I’ve been there for a long time. You never really know what will break or what won't. If "Pop the Trunk" had had huge marketing behind it to put it on radio and video channels, it might've become a hit.

L.A. Times: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?

Yelawolf: Willie Nelson. I really want to work with all the legends before it's too late.
(source)

Yelawolf: Maurice Garland In Depth Interview

Newly signed to Interscope, Yelawolf tells his story of how Yelawolf came to be with Maurice Garland.

Yelawolf SXSW 2010 Report From The Beauty Bar Showcase & Artist Profile

(main photo courtesy of Tom Øverlie / NRK P3)

via The BoomBox

Rising hip-hop star Yelawolf is playing eight shows over the next four days. "It's my first trip out here and my first trip to SXSW," the Alabama native tells The BoomBox following his afternoon set at Austin's Beauty Bar. "I'm definitely trying to conserve my voice. I've never done this many shows this quickly, back to back."

Yelawolf's buzz has media as far as from Norway already lining up for an interview, this before the skateboard fanatic has inked any major label deal or put out an official full-length LP. For a guy who grew up hunting and fishing in the redneck backwoods of the South, Wolf's popularity rides as much on his unusual place in hip-hop culture, as well as the release of three successful mixtapes: 'Slick Rick and Bobby,' 'Stereo' and the newer 'Trunk Muzik,' where rap namesakes Bun B and Juelz Santana are featured guests and fans include Kanye West and N.E.R.D. But by far the most attention grabbing factor is Wolf's Micro Machine Man speech delivery and nasally flow that hails comparison's to Eminem.



For most of his Beauty Bar set -- onlookers included Kid Sister and her older brother Josh Young, one part of Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus -- Yelawolf entertained with nods to Chevrolets, moonshine and the middle finger found on 'Trunk Muzik.' Classic piano chords juxtaposed the don't-mess-with-me lyrics on 'Pop the Trunk' and if his 'Mixin Up the Medicine' sounded familiar it's his interpretation of Bob Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues,' where he raps "I'm on the pavement/Thinking about the government/[Juelz] Santana's in the basement mixin' up the medicine," a short departure of Dylan's original verses.

"Sample wise we try to keep it as original as possible but still enjoy the culture of hip-hop of being able to sample," Yelawolf says. "That's what hip-hop is about to me -- just bending sounds from all over the world and making it hip-hop. Country can't be hip-hop, but you can take country and make it hip-hop."

For the rest of SXSW Yelawolf is keeping a mellow regimen. "I'm just gonna run in random spots and check out random people ... there are so many, like two-three acts an hour at each venue, so who knows what we'll run into. I wanna see Ninjasonik. I've got some homies who skateboard in Brooklyn, they've been trying to get me to see him. I'm gonna hit up some of that BBQ later though, for sure."

(video courtesy of austinbloggy)

SXSW 2010 URB Showcase Austin, TX

URB.com Presents SXSNext 100 Showcase
Light Bar
408 Congress Ave
1-7pm

Yelawolf Constructing Songs, Rapping In The Studio

as seen on Baller's Eve NYC, video courtesy of DramaBeatsTV

Yelawolf Interview With Word of South

WordofSouth.com: You have a love for old school rock and roll. How does that influence the type of hip-hop you make?

Yelawolf: I’m influenced by all music. As far as classic rock goes, my mom got pregnant for me when she was 15. She was a country girl from Alabama who was really into classic rock. I was raised on that sound. She was dating a boyfriend for years who was on tour with Aerosmith on the “Walk this Way” tour. He brought some of the road crew out to Alabama to stay with them. They brought me t-shirts and some Beastie Boys and Run DMC music. That’s actually how I got my first listen of hip-hop. To fast forward a few years, I was in Nashville just head first into hip-hop. My roots are definitely classic rock. It really is the melody that I get from classic rock. I love the concepts and story telling.

WordofSouth.com: Moving forward to what’s going on now, how did you hook up with Juelz Santana for “Mixing up the Medicine?”

Yelawolf: I have a band and my violin player Ashanti had been working with this producer named Kane [Beatz]. Ashanti introduced me to Kane [Beatz] and he’s the producer who came up with that record. He needed a voice for that Bob Dylan cover and I fit the bill. I had just recently put out my “Studio” mixtape which was a tribute to classic rock with DJ Ideal. You should check that out if you haven’t. People heard that I can pull off that sound so Kane as a producer, he just picked me out to come do it. I lucked out but there was really nobody else that could do it anyway.

WordofSouth.com: Speaking of knowing you could do it, it wasn’t the first time you were tapped to cover a predominant sample. How did the “I Run” record with Slim Thug & Jim Jonsin come about?

Yelawolf: I and Jim Jonsin became friends a few years ago when I was signed to Columbia briefly. During that time when I was there, we recorded an album and K.P. [Kawan Prather] introduced me to Jim Jonsin and he flew me to Jim Jonsin in New York to work on the album we were gonna’ put out with Columbia. We just became tight and kept in touch over the years. Fast forward a few years after working with Jim Jonsin and going out to Miami and just kicking it, being around, “Stereo” got nominated for mixtape of the year at the Ozone awards. We got 5/5 in the magazine. I was nominated for that award and I went out there for the Ozone awards with Jim Jonsin. It started getting crazy inside, people were whiling out so we went to the studio – me and Jim Jonsin. I didn’t even know what we were doing; we were just going to the studio. On the way to the studio, he was telling me had a record and was trying to work the sample in. I just put my twist on it. We went to the studio and laid it. Slim Thug came through and he loved it. That’s just how it happened.

Read the full YelaWolf interview here:
WordofSouth - Yelawolf