YG first broke through with the Ty Dolla $ign-produced "Toot It and Boot It," a single that shot up Billboard and helped secure him a deal with Def Jam. With his primary producer DJ Mustard blowing up on the pop charts—he was behind smashes "Rack City" and "I'm Different," among others—YG seems to be in an ideal position.
His Just Re'd Up 2 mixtape is one of the strongest YG and Mustard have yet put out. Mustard's bag of tricks has deepened and matured, while YG sounds more confident and in control than in previous incarnations. The duo's sound is focused.
We spoke with YG, who's performing at the Knitting Factory in NYC tonight, about growing up, working with Young Jeezy, and how to build buzz in the industry.
As told to David Drake (@somanyshrimp)
On Growing Up in L.A.:
"From there I just been in the streets doing what I do. I went to jail for residential burglary, I got a strike and I was 19 years old. I came home from that and got signed three months after that. That’s when the “Toot It and Boot It” track happened, and “Toot It and Boot It” was a record I wasn’t really fucking with. This was back when MySpace was cracking, I had millions and millions of views on my MySpace. Everybody that was in high school in LA had my shit on their MySpace page. But “Toot It and Boot It” was the one that took off, and when that took off everybody thought I was a one hit wonder."
On Working With DJ Mustard:
"[Mustard's] style—he starts making beats to highlight my music, that’s how he started off and we just kept going over how I like my shit. Now it’s just a sound and Mustard is doing his shit with it."
On Working With Young Jeezy:
None
On His Favorite Rappers:
"[Elsewhere], I listen to the regular shit. Kendrick’s shit just came out hot, Meek, Nip, Dom Kennedy, Drake, Lil Wayne, Future, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Lil Boosie...free Lil Boosie. My shit, all my homies shit. Ty Dolla $ign. I fuck with Chief Keef shit, we be off that. I fuck with Wiz shit too. I like music bro, it could be an artist I don’t know but if the song is banging I’ll fuck with it."
On His Deal With Def Jam:
None
On His Mixtape, Just Re'd Up 2:
None
On Live Performances:
None
On Building Buzz:
None
