Hip-hop is the only music in the world where you can take any instrument and make it hip hop. It's anybody's music. It's what you make of it. That's for anything you do in life.
YelawolfIt's hard being a white rapper sometimes! When that happens you just need to battle through.
YelawolfMelody always comes to me first before words - cadence and melody. When you're humming the melody and it's incredible and words start coming out it can build into something special.
YelawolfMy grandmother, grandfather, my mom - we've always been driven by laughter. It's what held us together. Thanksgivings, any kind of family get-together, we usually end up in tears.
YelawolfPeople are not really that forgiving when they pay for tickets to come see you and you don't show up.
YelawolfI can tell you that when you're willing to give your life up to see a dream through, the reward is great.
YelawolfI equally love both, classic rock and hip-hop. I love all music, really, and I really use classic rock a lot. I'm heavily influenced by that melodically in my music. I can't really separate the two.
YelawolfI think any artist that's going to become anything in this world faces humility: with great humility comes great success.
YelawolfYou learn how to be an individual quick after 15 schools, man. After the first five or six, you realize you're always gonna be the new kid.
YelawolfTriple 6 Mafia and Mystikal in Atlanta was one of my first shows. I remember how sweaty and smashed up everybody was, and it was so punk rock.
YelawolfI don't sit under the tattoo gun unless I'm sold on it completely and it will define me as a person.
YelawolfThe way I perceive an album to sound and the way I put out mixtapes are two different energies. There's a different focus; there's a different sound.
YelawolfThe best part of performing is the people. I love interacting with people. My favorite part is the crowd. I love rocking out with the crowd, that's definitely the best part.
YelawolfFor real, some of my favorite music is Mexican. It's something about the bassline and the drumming. I can't even speak Spanish, but that's probably why I like it so much.
YelawolfAnyone can relate to struggle, whether you're European or Asian. Anyone can relate to having to get up and go to work and eat.
YelawolfMy homies in Gadsden aren't as exposed as I am culturally, which is awesome - that's why I love going home. I'm in the kitchen with people who don't know anything but the simple life, what's important to them, and what's dope.
YelawolfI'm from the South, and there's a different understanding of how to chop. There's a syllable play. It's a delicate art. Your accent has a lot to do with it. If you're from a certain area, words don't roll of your tongue as slick.
YelawolfI just want to make a classic. Classic is the standard. I'm just trying to make music that will last a lifetime.
YelawolfWhere I'm from is like 'Hustle Flow' versus '8 Mile.' It's that really grimy, box-Chevy, dope-boy, working-class music.
YelawolfI'm always gonna have the darker edgy music; it is always in my pocket because it comes so naturally to me.
YelawolfName Yellow Wolf comes from life experiences. Yellow is the color of the sun - its power, fire, and hunger. Wolf represents my fierceness and ability to survive.
YelawolfMost of my albums have a concept. They all have some kind of theme, some kind of feeling. I really take pride in that.
YelawolfI definitely prefer intimate crowds. I mean, those are always the best shows, like, a small venue. Packed to the gills. Hot, sweaty. Those are always the fun shows.
YelawolfSkateboarding is a part of Hip-Hop culture. I think it's the fifth element of Hip-Hop - emceeing, deejaying, b-boying, graffiti, and skateboarding. Skateboarders live and die on the streets. It's expression - it's everything that Hip-Hop is.
YelawolfFans are all I care about - to be honest. If they stop coming to the shows, then I will get worried.
YelawolfYou can usually tell when people aren't being authentic, but that goes for every artist, not just white artists.
YelawolfI'm not ashamed of anything that I've done because when I did it, I was passionate about it and I was doing it for a reason.
YelawolfEverybody needs a release. Sometimes people mosh at my shows. That inspired me to make records to get the people more crunk. People need a release and I enjoy being an artist that can do that for people.
YelawolfThere's no real outlet for making Hip-Hop in Alabama. You need to travel to get heard. You really need to be working though. You need to be going at it every day and getting yourself seen, getting yourself out there on the road, doing shows, making music. It's all about being on your grind.
Yelawolf