Interview: Yelawolf – (8/18/10)

Last time we spoke to Yelawolf, he was gearing up to release, the now classic mixtape, Trunk Muzik.

The twelve track project, largely produced by Willpower and hosted by DJ Burn One, helped the Alabama emcee get nationwide attention and eventually sign a deal with Interscope.

HipHopAtLunch.com met up with Yelawolf last night, to grab some food before his New York show with B.o.B. Yelawolf spoke to us about working with Big K.R.I.T. on the Trunk Muzik Wuz Here project, how his Big Boi and Paul Wall album features came about, and what we can expect from his debut album, Trunk Muzik: 0-60 Off To Neverland.

Shout out to Grade A Muzik who produced the “Alien Love” track spoke about in the interview.  The southern producer has been on his grind as of late, producing a number of hits for emerging artists, including Sean Falyon’s “Running” and Pill’s “Trap Goin Ham” and “OK Denn.”

It’s pretty hilarious that a scalper interrupted our interview to see if we needed tickets to the show!  However, just like Yelawolf said above, it wasn’t too long ago that the now internationally known Bobby Ray Simmons was rocking crowds of people fifty deep.  Hard work pays off, and having said that, the Alabma emcee’s time to shine seems to be just around the corner.

One of the upcoming projects that will help Yelawolf expand his own fan base is the collaboration effort with Mississippi’s Big K.R.I.T., Trunk Muzik Wuz Here.

Big K.R.I.T. – “Hometown Hero” Remix (Featuring Yelawolf)

Download – “Hometown Hero” Remix.

Yelawolf  jumped on K.R.I.T.’s “Hometown Hero” for the first leak off of the upcoming project.  Here’s Yela’s verse about his hometown of Gadsden, Alabama:

“Alabama homie, I wear it like a hat,
I’m a small town boy, I’m so proud of that,
Some people leave it, they ball till they fall flat,
I just want to bring it home, and give it all back,
Cause given all that, what’s been given to me,
A successful rapper, huh?, I might as well hit the lottery,
So instead of becoming a diamond wearing novelty,
I rock beads and buy my momma some property, yea,
Tell them white boys in the pick up truck, that Yelawolf is coming home,
For the chevrolet dunk riders in the projects and the trailer park zones,
You might have seen my face in a couple of pages in the XXL,
But if I can’t walk around in my own neighborhood, then leave that shit on the shelf,
Took the keys to the old Chevrol, cause if I’m in a boat by myself, then everything I catch will go bad,
see all I want to do is share,
Give it away, give it away, everybody come take what you can hold now,
Gadsden I love you, let me introduce the world to my hometown.”

As mentioned in our interview, Big K.R.I.T. has been killing the production game as of late, and he even self-produced this stand out track off of his K.R.I.T. Wuz Here project.  I can’t wait to hear that “Happy Birthday Hip Hop” track the duo made for this project.  The title alone has me expecting greatness!

Paul Wall – “Live It” (Featuring Jay Electronica, Yelawolf, Raekwon, and Travis Barker)

iTunes – “Live It”

Travis Barker laid down a smooth beat for Paul Wall, Raekwon, and Jay Electronica to reflect on, as Yelawolf tied the impressive verses together with his melodic hook:

“I deserve to play and spend a few days showing off,
Go outside and breath, roll down my sleeves and have a ball,
Still got these bills to pay and a family, I’m working hard,
But I got a life too, so I lower my shoes and I live it ya’ll.”

The song came together well, just like Slim Thug’s “I Run” and Juelz Santana’s “Mixin’ Up The Medicine,” where Yela also took control of the hook.

Big Boi – “Your DJ Ain’t No DJ”

iTunes- “Your DJ Ain’t No DJ.”

Thank God Yelawolf insisted on putting together a rap record with Big Boi, because this Andre 3000-produced track goes hard!  Keep an eye out for the song’s video, which judging from the behind the scenes footage, should be dropping soon.

Be sure to pick up Yelawolf’s debut album, Trunk Muzik: 0 to 60 Off to Never Land, when it hits stores this March.  The project will have 5 tracks from the Trunk Muzik mixtape, as well as seven exclusive songs, including “I Just Wanna Party” featuring Gucci Mane (Stream Below).