Above is the first episode of Tatiana‘s newest web-series which will include interviews and occasionally a game of connect four with various artist(s). Yelawolf was the first artist to be featured in the web-series. In this episode, Tatiana sat down with Shady/Interscope’s latest signee to discuss his skateboarding days, how skateboarding ties into his music, and his debut album “Radio Active” with the new label.

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A couple of things:

1. I really wish the original version of this track would have taken off more than it did. Gucci’s verse was entertaining and fit the song damn near perfectly.

2. Rich Boy’s first album is still criminally slept on. At least, that’s what I chose to believe.  Hopefully we can get the long awaited follow up this year.

3. Rich did his thing on this even though the title can be sort of misleading. It’s just his verse.

4. Expect to find this as well as other exclusives on DJ Smallz’s I Got The Internet Goin’ Nuts! Vol. 3 set to drop Valentine’s Day.

5. Yelawolf is dope. But you already knew that though.

Vibe Magazine caught up with new Aftermath signee Yelawolf, he discusses keeping the deal a secret, breaking the news to his mom and recording with Eminem.

On how he got signed:

“Keeping quiet was the hardest shit in the world, honestly. I was just so excited for a while. And everyone from my team who did know was really responsible about not letting it out. But I met with Eminem about four to five months ago in Detroit. Paul and Em flew me and my manager out to just kick it and get acquainted. From that meeting, I had no idea it would turn into this situation. I remember Paul was asking me about the meth problem in Alabama and I told him that I wrote ‘Pop The Trunk’ based off that issue. Next thing I know, Em starts rapping some of my lines from the song. I can’t even describe how that felt, I actually got super nervous. Em’s a real hip-hop fan, he knows about everything that’s going on.”

On breaking the news to his mother:

“When I called my mom to tell her—she straight started ‘boo hoo’ crying, she was just so happy for me. She knows how big Eminem is and she never imagined that I would get to this level. My team actually even surprised me with the news and literally just said ‘the Shady deal is done’ one day. I remember five years ago sitting in my cousin’s car and asking him ‘would Eminem get this, would he sign me?’ We even went through what the meeting would be like and all that. So I can’t say that I never thought about it. Then, a few years later when we were shopping my demo to different labels in New York, I told KP lets take this to Marshall and he just kind of laughed at me. But I always had a feeling he would fuck with it.”

On recording with Eminem and his upcoming album:

“We kicked it a couple times but we haven’t laid anything down yet. But I think we’re supposed to go to Detroit next week, so it’s coming. Just wait. I already know the pressure is there but if I let that shit get to me, it’ll affect my music. A lot of rappers have this obsession with staying underground, but I want to take it to the stadium level. We’ve been sitting on records for like four years that we knew were too big for a mixtape. So I’m just focused on writing a great album right now. That’s why I’m calling it Radioactive because I want to personally challenge myself and the industry. It’s a metaphor for my version of radio records. Now, it’s just time to put out a major album and let everyone know why I’m Shady.”

Rap supergroup Slaughterhouse and budding superstar Yelawolf have been signed to Eminem’s Shady Records it was announced today.

“Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse, it’s kinda phase two of Shady,” says Eminem.  “It’s the new generation of Shady Records and as we’re trying to rebuild our label, it’s exciting for hip-hop and with all of these forces coming together and with what everybody’s capable of on the mic, it’s gonna be fun.”

Bringing together the East Coast, West Coast and Detroit in the middle, Slaughterhouse consists of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5’9”.  Most recently, Slaughterhouse was featured on “Session One,” a bonus track on Eminem’s 2010 blockbuster Recovery album.  Eminem is expected to be personally involved in Slaughterhouse’s sophomore album scheduled for release in 2011.

Late last year, Yelawolf released Trunk Muzik 0-60, a compilation of select tracks from his critically acclaimed 2010 mixtape Trunk Muzik, along with six previously unavailable songs.  The Alabama native is currently in the studio recording his full length major label debut.

“Considering where I’m from and the shit I’ve been through, it’s hard to put into words what partnering with Shady means to me, my team at Ghet-O-Vision, and my state of Alabama.  I can tell you that when you’re willing to give your life up to see a dream through, the reward is great.  And now that I’ve become an apprentice to one of the greatest artists in the world, my potential reaches beyond anything I ever imagined. Let’s kill this shit.”

Complete Story Told Exclusively In The March 2011 XXL Magazine On Stands Nationally February 8^th

It’s looking I’ve got quite a few albums to purchase next week. One them will definitely be Alabama’s own Yelawolf with his debut project Trunk Muzik: 0-60. It’s been about a year since I was first put on to Yela’s music (which is still late IMO), but since then it’s been like a snowball rolling downhill as far as my appreciation for his grind and output is concerned.

Through my homie DJ Burn One, I actually got a chance to meet and kick it with Yela during the DC stop of he and Wiz’s tour earlier this year. Much respect to everyone that tour, too, by the way. They were real down to earth people who just enjoyed talking Hip-Hop, both what you see on TV and the internet and stuff you don’t.

Sirius XM’s Hip Hop Nation recently went “Inside The Studio” with Catfish Billy opening up in regards to a list of topics surrounding his name at the moment. Some of it is stuff we’ve heard before in the past, but that’s the penalty of promotion at times. Through it all though, buddy has remained humble and appreciative. And I respect that. Yela touches on:

-Releasing Trunk Muzik
-Getting cosigns from Raekwon, Bun B & Slim Thug
-Filming the “Pop The Trunk” video
-Performing at SXSW
-Getting signed to Interscope
-Living in the “blog era”
-Releasing his major label debut Trunk Muzik: 0-60 and more!

Kudos to eskay for this.

Shunned by XXL, yet praised by everyone from Slim Thug, Juelz Santana, Raekwon, Bun B and Big Boi, Yelawolf has been on a mission this year to make sure every lover of Hip-Hop knows his name. And he’s doing it one city, cypher and performance at a time. A few days ago I had the opportunity chop it up with Yela. We touched on a variety of topics including his upcoming tape with Big K.R.I.T., dropping on the same day as Kanye West and Jay-Z, why not being one of XXL’s “10 Freshmen” was a blessing in disguise and more.

Can you give us some insight on your upcoming mixtape with Big K.R.I.T.? Will he be producing the whole thing? Will it drop before or after your album?

Download:

As of now, it’ll probably be after. My project comes out on the 23rd of November and I’m on tour until the middle of November. I wanted to be able to get in the studio. We got like four in the bag already and we’re tossing back and forth a few records off each others’ mixtape. So he’s going to get on “Stage Lights,” he wants to get on “Love Is Not Enough.” So basically I’ll just shoot him the instrumentals and he’ll do whatever he wants to.

I’m going to jump on “Country Shit” and “Touched Down” and do my version of those records. Then we’ll do some original shit on there also. But yeah, K.R.I.T. will definitely be producing a lot of the records and [my producer] Supahotbeats is going to have some music on there. From there, I couldn’t even tell you who’s stepping in, but anybody who’s coming in is going to have to bring it cause it’s a cold ass team as it is. K.R.I.T. is one of the dopest up and coming producers – not only just a rapper – his beat game is ridiculous. I’m not sure if they’ll be room to fit anybody else on this.

Yela was none too pleased this slipped into the wrong hands. And truthfully, I can’t blame him. In return, however, he vowed to let go of the final version of the video soon, but since it’s already out, you may as well check the video out now. This is what I presume to be the lead single off Yelawolf’s Interscope debut Trunk Muzik 0-60, the visual for his “Wanna Party” featuring Gucci Mane is here.

Truthfully, this has been getting spins since I first heard it in early August and I hope on everything this gets the push it deserves. Catfish Billy’s flow is as unique as they come and La Flare delivers a quality guest verse. All the while, you can get as inebriated as you can while rapping along the song’s hook. You can’t ask for much more out of a lead single other than positive results. Cameos from DJ Burn One, Big Boi and others are all throughout the video as there is plenty of smoking, drinking and dancing to go around this house party.

2010 has been good to Catfish Billy. On the first day of the year, he dropped Trunk Muzik along with DJ Burn One. And as we prepare to head into the tenth month of the year, it is still one of the better projects (album or mixtape) to drop this year. Touring alongside part-time renaissance man/full-time weed smoker Wiz Khalifa has exposed the guy to an entire new legion of fans.

The flow is one of a kind and from meeting the guy once, he’s one of the most humble people in the game. With all those compliments, it’s great to see Yela land on the cover of FADER alongside East London group Trash Talk for the 70th issue.

To both of these artists, place has been an important theme in their careers, Alabama especially figuring into the career of catfish rapper Yelawolf, an undeniable force whose quick diction and mudflap haircut are going to worm their way into the hearts of many, many different types of people. As you may know, rap is the new pop (by new, we mean the last 20 years minimum), and that’s basically the time folks like Yelawolf have grown up, this self-proclaimed redneck running through his tracks with a predilection for gross glamor, Chevys and Xanax. We didn’t fish him up from the bottom of the swamp, he came up for air himself, but he knows where he’s from. That’s why we went there.