Yelawolf
Nov 28, 2011
Enter Yelawolf's Alabama-a backwoods badlands of sinners and salvation. He claims Gadsden, but he's from everywhere. Born Michael Wayne Atha to an absentee father and a bartender mother, he attended over 15 schools while soaking up slang and spiritualism in Baton Rouge, Antioch, Tennessee, and Atlanta. While trying to stay afloat in a turbulent home life addled by drug and alcohol abuse, he discovered rap music in Tennesee and it soon became an obsession, along with the classic that he was raised on.
His music is a new strain of soul food, the traditional Southern cuisine that fortified the Dungeon Family, 8ball & MJG, and UGK, but infused by Yela's unique experiences as a cross-country vagabond with no place to call home. And, of course, his unparalleled ability to snap off double-timed staccato raps unlike anything you've ever heard. His manager bestowed him with the nickname Joe Dirt because his experiences are so unbelievable. Finally settling back down in Gadsden, Yelawolf hooked up with Gheto-O-Vision, who helped him land a deal with Columbia in 2007. Suddenly, the last 20 years of life as a vagabond seemed to be at an end. Yet the perpetual state of chaos soon re-emerged, before he had the opportunity to even finish his debut album or prove himself on a large scale, he was unceremoniously dropped.
The only solution was to go harder, taking his anger at being slighted and turning it into something undeniable. He dropped a flurry of mixtapes, including Stereo, which found him riffing on old classic rock cuts from Fleetwood Mac to Pink Floyd to Heart. But while he continued to build a fan base with each release, something was missing.
Trunk Muzik dropped on January 1st, 2010, and within a matter of weeks, he was the toast of every blog. The New York Times raved about a live performance, describing him as "fully ascendant" and "striking and assured." His insanely energetic performances at SXSW were the stuff of instant-legend. Songs like "I Wish" and "Good to Go" found Yela capable of going toe to toe with lyrical giants Bun B and Raekwon. While "Pop the Trunk" epitomized his 808-heavy trunk rattling sound, full of vivid pictures of rural redneck life and violence lurking around every bend. But Interscope didn't just offer him a deal only to tell stories about the South. There are a million rappers capable of doing just that. But none of them can match Yelawolf's versatility.
His first studio album, Radioactive, was released November 21st.
