As Yelawolf prepares to drop his major label debut under the Shady Records banner, Complex jumps on the bus to find out how Catfish Billy made it from the gutter to the stars.
This feature is a part of Complex's Yelawolf Week.
āYou gotta be a tough motherfucker to be white and from Alabama and make it in this shit!ā
Yelawolf takes a moment to let that sink in. The floor at Irving Plaza in New York City has turned into a wooden trampoline. Everybody in the building is bouncing as the President Oā Bama electrifies the crowd. From the instant he took the stage he made it clear: no one puts on a live rap show quite like Yelawolf.
āHe knows where he is at all times,ā says Kawan āKPā Prather, who produced Wolfās major-label debut, Radioactive. KP knows whatās heās talking aboutāa former member of the Dungeon Family group PA, he went on to work with the likes of TLC, OutKast, BeyoncĆ©, Usher, and T.I.āto name a few. KP, who signed Yelawolf to his Ghet-O-Vision label in 2007, says Wolf āconnects with the crowd.ā
Thatās one way of putting it.
Honestly I thought that getting on Shady was going to kill the comparisons [to Eminem], but it almost amplified them. If I havenāt already proved that Iām creating my own space, then Radioactive is definitely going to do that.
Yelawolf demands a connection with the crowd, and heās not afraid of using on-stage theatrics to get it. Itās just a few days before Halloween, but Wolfās already got tricks and treats. At one point he comes out in a rubber wolf mask with a pair of Super-Soaker-toting goons in alien costumes hosing down the crowd.
A master of creating tension, heās unwilling to let his audienceās attention wander for even a second. During āLove is Not Enoughā Yelawolf pulls a chair into the middle of the stage, bums a cigarette from a fan, grabs a bottle of Jack and sits down like heās chilling on a porch in Sweet Home Alabama. Then he pops open the bottle and performs one of his rawest, most emotional songs. He sings the last few bars a cappellaāindulgent and showy, but startlingly on key. āShe said, āI know you gave me everything, but love is not enough. Love is not enough.āā
It might seem contrivedāa lilā something for the ladiesābut you canāt help but feel like what youāre watching up there is real. Especially when he talks about losing his girl to some āpunk-ass Abercrombie-wearing motherfuckerā and ending up ābroken-hearted in the Chevy.ā Sounds like the real Yelawolf, born Michael Wayne Athaājust a kid from Gadsden, Alabama who raps like a demon poet.
āI try to become those records, man,ā Yelawolf says. āTo physically manifest those records live, because I enjoy great live shows, and I hate, hate boring shows.ā
Yelawolfās live show is the opposite of boring. The hordes of screaming girls are not bored. The ecstatic fresh-faced youths who look like theyāve never seen a live hip-hop show beforeātheyāre definitely not bored. Not even the old heads, lurking in the back, watching intently with their arms folded across their chests, hats pulled down low, heads bobbing. Even the most jaded New Yorkers are not bored. Far from it.
This show is one of the last Yelawolf will play before the release of Radioactive, the record heās been working on since getting down with Eminemās Shady Records in January 2011. Radioactive is also Wolfās first official album, although it was his hard-hitting 2010 mixtape Trunk Muzik 0-60 that really put him on rapās GPS. Having been in the game for a long time, riding the undercurrents, surfacing for a BET Awards cipher, or to drop a verse on a track for Big Boi, Game or Travis Barker, Radioactive represents the moment for which Yelawolfās been patiently waiting.
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āDonāt play me for weak or underestimate me,ā he rapped back in 2005 on his independently released debut, Creek Water. āWhat you see aināt exactly what you expect it to be.ā Two years later he recorded a full-length album called Fearinā and Loathinā in Smalltown, USA for Columbia Records that was never released. When Rick Rubin was brought in to run Columbia later that year, he cleaned house, leaving KP without a job and Yelawolf without a label.
A year later, he dropped two mixtapes, Arena Rap and Stereo, both of which went relatively unnoticed. Then in March 2010 he released the lyrically dizzying opus, Trunk Muzik, through KPās Ghet-O-Vision imprint. With features by Bun-B, Raekwon, and Gucci Mane, the mixtape solidified Yelawolfās place as one of the most acrobatic rappers of this generation, and certainly the best white rapper since Eminem. Apparently Em thought so too, making him the first white rapper to join the Shady Records roster, which also includes D12, 50 Cent and Slaughterhouse.
I kept it so real, [my music] became brutally honest. Because, you know, on top of being a white rapper, I never wanted to be called out on anything.
Most of Radioactive, minus two songs, was recorded over a few weeks in Las Vegas last January. Yelawolf laid down over sixty songs in total before deciding on the final sixteen tracks. The result is a remarkably well-balanced rap album, with roots firmly planted in an eclectic range of musical soundsāfrom Southern-fried rock to electronic dance beats and power ballads.
āWe wanted it to be a little more accessible,ā KP says. If Trunk Muzik was Yelawolfās opportunity to prove himself as a rapper, Radioactive is Catfish Billyās chance to hook a wider audience. But as he casts his net as widely as possible, Wolf doesnāt want to lose the fans whoād rather see him to pop the trunk than see him go pop. But when it doubt, he just brings it back to simply telling his stories. āThis generation of MCs,ā KP asserts āno one tells a story like Yelawolf does.ā
Not so long ago storytelling was a dominant mode in hip-hop. But the great traditionāfrom Slick Rick to Ghostface and Wolfās personal favorite, Outkastāhas become something of a lost art in rapās ADD/Hashtag moment. Maybe because storytelling isnāt very well-suited for gloating. But Yelawolfās knack for storytelling is one of Radioactiveās greatest strengths, and Wolfās music is deeply steeped in his own story.
On new songs like āWrite Your Name in the Sky,ā he raps about a sixteen-year-old getting pregnant. Itās easy to imagine that he wrote the song for his own mom, but like many writers do, he maintains a shroud of fiction to allow himself some distance from the story.
āIt kind of came from like this whole ākeep it realā thing, where I kept it so real, it became brutally honest,ā he explains. āBecause, you know, on top of being a white rapper, I never wanted to be called out on anything.ā
"Iāve been lost ever since I could walk,ā he rhymes on Radioactiveās final track, called āThe Last Songā: āBut I learnt quick / That my daddy wasn't never gonna come around / And I didnāt give a shit / 'Cause me and my momma we held it down / No new kicks / First day of school I'm Goodwill bound..."
Like Rabbit in 8 Mile, Yelawolf will always beat you to the punch.
His boldest pre-emptive strike may be the three bold block letters tattooed on his neck, spelling out the word RED. āBecause of the perception, and the story that I tell, I started getting called a redneck,ā he says. āIt was empowering to be called that. You own it and you break the stereotype.ā
As much as Radioactive is an unapologetic declaration of his identity, the experience heās peddling in these songs is universal. Anybody can wind up at the bottom, or āthe gutter,ā as Yelawolf calls it. Thatās a place where we all end up at some point in our lives. One of the new tracks Yelawolf has been testing out on tour is āGrowinā Up in the Gutterā featuring his fast-spitting protege Rittz, whoās clearly thrilled to be making his first trip to New York, having recently quit his job at a Georgia BBQ spot to chase his own hip-hop dreams.
For Yelawolf, the Gutter is a trailer park in rural Alabama. Itās being raised by a single mother who had him when she was just 16. Itās riding the school bus from Antioch, Tennessee to the projects of Nashville and feeling hip-hop connection. Itās smoking weed at 11, dust at 12, acid at 13, and selling ecstasy by age 16. Itās living on the streets in Berkeley, California, skateboarding and doing what he could to get by. Itās working as a commercial fisherman on a boat off Alaska, thinking about what it might be like to jump off the deck into the freezing sea.
āI donāt give a fuck if youāre from the trailer park, the projects, the suburbs,ā Wolf hollers. āIf youāve ever been through anything at all, put your motherfucking hands in the sky.ā
After the show, on the sidewalk in front of Irving Plaza, there is a small mob of people lurking near Yelawolfās tour bus. Most of them look like desperate groupies, hoping to be invited aboard for whatever antics take place on the bus.
But Yelawolf is nowhere to be seen.
Bright and early the next morning, Yelawolf strolls into the Cherry Tavern in New York's East Village in a zombie-like state. Not just to get an early start at the bar, but for a Complex photo shoot. Six feet tall, tatted up to his ears with a face like an old-Hollywood matinee idol, heās rocking a plaid button-down, low-slung cargo pants, and big, disco-style sunglasses with his signature mohawk mullet matted across his head.
When he isn't mugging for the cameras, he's resting his head on the bar, trying to shake out the cobwebs from all those after-partys. You wouldnāt have guessed it from the show he put on last night, but his grueling tour schedule might just be catching up to him. Dudeās been on the road for nearly two years straight. He racked up over 250 shows in 2011 alone.
There were some records that I thought were just too big...and [Eminem's] like, āYour opinion is WRONG.ā What am I gonna say? Heās sold more records than the Beatles.
Cracking a cold Budweiser longneck, he starts to perk up. The jukebox clicks and a new disc drops. Johnny Cash. Black Sabbath. Slick Rick. The Beastie Boys. Yelawolf nods and mouths the words to every song. Where a different white rapper might shy away from his country & western or hard rock roots, Yelawolf embraces all the contradictions.
Heās tapped into those diverse influences on Radioactive, which is quite literally his attempt at becoming more active on the radio. āI grew up on great radio, man,ā he says. āYou think about all the greatest bands, they all had great radio recordsāall of them. I just wanted to join that club.ā
One of Yelawolfās most important inspirations, of course, is Eminemāa rapper whoās mastered the balance between a legit underground career and massive radio success. There are a few easy comparisons to be made. The artist Em called āWhite Dogā in the latest BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher (and ābeige sheepā in a recent Vibe interview) is lyrically dexterous in a way few mainstream rappers can match. Both Em and Yelawolf are brutally open about the hardship they faced coming up, their history of recreational drug use. But musically, they are very different.
While Wolf may be tired of comparisons to his label boss, itās better than being likened to any of the other legion of white rappers currently flooding the scene. On "Animal" Wolf raps, "If you wanna compare me, compare me to a legend / Don't compare me to a young fool."
āHonestly I thought that getting on Shady was going to kill the comparisons, but it almost amplified them,ā says Yelawolf. āHe signed me. Heās definitely not trying to replace himself. If I havenāt already proved that Iām creating my own space, then Radioactive is definitely going to do that. I have a long career ahead of me. Marshall is twelve years deep, with great music and a great career. Itās only fair, you know?ā
āI know at some point someone is going to be coming out and theyāll have to deal with comparisons to me,ā he says. āItāll be on down the road, but it will happen.ā
On Radioactive, Eminem served as more than just an inspiration and record exec. Beyond his work as a co-producer, Wolf appreciated the personal guidance Em offered him along the way. As KP points out, āWolf doesnāt have anyone else he can relate to being a white rapper whoās dope, who is respected by black MCs, and respects that art as black culture.ā
āHe was fully a mentor on this project,ā Yelawolf says of Eminem. āI have to trust his experience. There were some records that I thought were just too big, I was like, āMan, I donāt know if I can pull this off.ā It was completely new territory. I said, āIn my opinion, itās just not gonna work.ā And Marshall told me my opinion was wrong. [Laughs.] Heās like, āYour opinion is WRONG.ā What am I gonna say? Heās sold more records than the Beatles.ā
But Em gave his artist full control when it came to songwriting. āHe never stood over my pen and pad,ā says Yelawolf. āItās a mutual respect, honestly. He gets excited with the verses that I put out, because thatās the whole vibe. Itās that MC shit.ā
Prior to recording āLetās Roll,ā the second single off the album, Yelawolf drove to Kid Rockās house near Detroit with Eminem, KP, and Shady Records co-founder, Paul Rosenberg.
āWe were all joking around, like, āYou know how much white rap is in this room right now?ā Yelawolf recalls. Kid Rock gave them a tour of his property, including the warehouse where he keeps his carsāincluding the original General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard, Hank Williams Seniorās Cadillac, and the first Cadillac ever to roll off the line in Detroit. āI felt like I was being sworn into the elite of white rap,ā Yelawolf says with a laugh.
Those two are the worldās biggest...Iām cut from both of those pieces. The Americana of Kid Rock, the country, the rock. The hip-hop, the lyricism, the pain, the struggle of Marshall. I kinda married those two feelings in one.
āThose two are the worldās biggest,ā Wolf adds, noting that he didnāt feel the least bit intimidated chopping it up with the two veteransāperhaps because he shared so much in common with them. āIām cut from both of those pieces. The Americana of Kid Rock, the country, the rock. The hip-hop, the lyricism, the pain, the struggle of Marshall. I kinda married those two feelings in one.ā
Yelawolfās southern redneck pride is just as important as his commitment to hip-hop, and heās made it his personal mission never to compromise either one. But donāt get it twisted: heās not one of these white rappers who thinks it cute to drop the N-word. Way back on Creek Water he was a white boy putting āthe truth in my rhymes,ā like on the moody title track: āIn New Orleans they got them gators that will bite you / In Alabama we got moccasins that strike you / Sometimes they wear white hoods, even the cops do.ā
āHeās guarding a couple cultures at the same time,ā KP says. āHe will correct any fan who steps to him the wrong way.ā
One of the stand-out songs on Radioactive features Yelawolfās friend Killer Mike. āThis aināt even about race,ā the Dungeon Family affiliate spits, āIf Iām on the bottom, and you on the bottom, we the same color.ā The point rings true, considering Yelawolfās place in society. If hip-hop in its essence is an art form about overcoming adversity, then Wolfās as real as they come. The white kid whoĀ came up playing black clubs in Alabama and Georgia now headlines all across Europe, and holds down the main stage on Warped Tour.
Heās looking a bit warped right now as he tinkers with a makeshift chemistry set on the Rose Tavern bar. Star-spangled bandana wrapped over his face, a maniacal gleam in his eyes, Wolf seems to have caught a second wind. āWe need more funk!ā Yelawolf shouts, as a beaker of gurgling green liquid belches smoke all over the bar.
This side of Yelawolf is magnetic. Watching him come to life like this, you can see why heās a star. Heās having fun with it. Not taking things too seriously, and always showing tremendous amount of respect for all kinds of people.
āIām a hard motherfucker, man,ā he says after the shoot is wrapped. āIām down for the fight. I grew up in ill situations that made me tough. I cuss a lot. Iāve seen a lot of really horrible things, and experienced a lot of really horrible things. Iāve seen some motherfuckers pop the trunk, and Iāve also seen people being pulled out of a car by complete strangers, their lives having been saved. But I love people.ā
The catchy country rap song āMade in the USA,ā is Wolfās ode to the American working man, sung in the first-person plural. āI just wanted to be āwe, we, we instead of āmeā,ā he says. āLook at us, here we are. Itās not so easy to have it āMade in USA.ā It takes a lot of hard work.ā
And he should know.
The DIY chemsitry set is running out of funk, time is running over, and Yelawolfās manager, āJ-Dotā Jones is getting anxious. Yelawolf is already late for his next show in Baltimore.
Joining us on the tour bus for the ride to Baltimore are various friends and stagehands, three-time DMC Champion DJ Craze, and Wolfās signee Rittz, and Fefe Dobson, a cute Canadian pop singer with her own burgeoning career. She is featured on one of Radioactiveās strongest songs, āAnimal,ā a ferocious lyrical blitz from Yelawolf, with a throbbing dub-step beat courtesy of Diplo and Fefe providing the cool melodic hook.
I know that my days of trying to get on are over. Itās time to rock. I donāt have to prove I can rap anymore. I donāt have to try to get a deal. Now its time to write songs and make great albums.
Yelawolfās spirits are high after the shoot, thanks in part to the half bottle of moonshine heās brought along from Complexās Southern booze tasting. Iām trying to persuade him to sit down for a quick interview, but first he piles some cold cuts onto a couple pieces of bread and retires to the back of the bus.
āHeāll be much better after,ā J-Dot tells me. A big, sleepy-eyed black dude from Atlanta, J-Dot treats Yelawolf with a mixture of professional respect and āthis dude is crazyā bewilderment, nudging him along his career path and reminding him of his schedule when necessaryāwhich can be often.
Yelawolf appears back in the doorframe.
āTalk to this dude,ā he tells me. āThatās Rittz. If I donāt make it, heās not gonna make it either.ā
Everyone laughs as Yelawolf returns to his bunk.
Rittz looks a little sheepish, like he might have gotten into some unsavory activity the night before. In fact, everyone on the bus that hazy, ālast night was mad realā vibe about them. No one has slept much. Even Rittz needs a little time before he agrees to an interview. But after a shot of moonshine and a sandwich heās ready to talk.
Trollish, with long frizzy red hair tucked under a black beanie, Rittz is one of Yelawolfās closest collaborators. They met through mutual friends in Rittzās native Atlanta. āWhen we first met we were two rappers doing the same thing,ā Rittz says. āAnd as time went by, he became somebody I look up to and learn from.ā He praises Wolf for āHis passion, the way he writes, and how creative he is, just the energy he has to put into it, I admire his shit. I definitely learn from him all the time. Iām always taking notes.ā His long gold chain with a diamond medallion and his big gold watch indicate that Rittz is a quick study.
By the time the bus arrives in Baltimore, the doors are already open. DJ Craze runs off the bus with his gear to get on stage. Yelawolf hasnāt reappeared since he went to the back of the bus. J Dot goes to the back to wake him, then leaves.
When Wolf finally emerges heās groggy, but amiable. He may be due onstage within the hour, but he remains calm. Sprawled across the seats, he speaks slowly, carefully. Thereās no one on the bus now. Windows closed, shades down, we can hear the thump of DJ Crazeās opening set.
āRadioactive is like waking up in the morning,ā he says, he stretches his arms out wide. āWalking out like, āAh, yeah, motherfuckersāhere we go.ā Because I know that my days of trying to get on are over, man. Itās over, no more, and thatās a huge thing. I was trying to get a career, and itās done. Itās time to rock. I donāt have to prove I can rap anymore. I donāt have to try to get a deal. Now its time to write songs and make great albums.ā
He seems genuinely satisfied with his current place in life. And why not? Heās a kid who escaped from the gutter and now he's reaching for the stars.
āIn the grand scheme of things Iāve been doing this for a long time,ā he says before stepping off the bus to take the stage once again. āBut Iām just getting started.ā
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