Industry big wigs like Big Boi and Eminem have boldly co-signed Yelawolf, yet the Alabama MC constantly receives comparisons to his white counterpart. Rap’s rising star recalls coming face-to-face with Slim Shady for the first time.
“It was overwhelming at first,” he tells staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud. “I thought, ‘I’ll just be cool,’ but when I saw him it was different. This dude is like history. I felt the same when I met Big Boi and [André] 3000. These megastars and culturally-influential people, the first couple minutes you’re just in awe.”
During his long-awaited meeting with Eminem, the two chatted more about life in general rather than cranking out raps. Naturally, Em had some wisdom to share with Yelawolf, who has a hedonist edge with alcohol at times. “We talked about shows and touring and shit,” reveals Yela. “I like to drink a lot, but I sobered up. I got some advice from him about getting shit under control based on his experiences.”
Em also gave Yelawolf a chance to play new music for him and vice versa. “I just gave him my story—where I was from, how my music developed, and I let him listen to some material on the new album,” he says. “He did me the honor of letting me hear his shit before it came out and it was dope.”
Yelawolf’s upcoming album, Trunk Muzik 0-60, won’t have a Marshall Mathers feature, but he remains positive about a future collaboration. “We haven’t done any work together yet, but I got a lot of work to do, just payin’ my dues makin’ records and I think it will happen in the future,” states Yelawolf.
Jim Jonsin, another industry associate the young rapper looks up to, entered the picture when Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment founder KP Prather invited the beatmaker to one of Yelawolf’s studio sessions while recording at Columbia Records. The two white boys with a shared penchant for Southern rap hit it off quick. “We come from the same path—white boy trailer park—and we just became homies,” shares Yelawolf. “We hang out and go on motorcycles and kick it. We’ve got a record coming out called ‘Billy Crystal Meth’ and I’m sure we will be working together again.”
–Evelyn Kim