5 on it: yukmouth

A famous Chinese Proverb goes, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today." For Yukmouth his today is being used to plant the seed which is the story of JJ titled "JJ Based on a Vill Story". So without further ado, we let Yukmouth tell his story "JJ Based on a Vill Story".

When did you start rapping? I would say the 8th grade.

When did you know that rapping was for you? Ummm. Shit,man. I was in the street and shit man. And I kept going in and out of juvnile hall,  and finally got a year in juve, you know, once you sit down for a long time, you have a long time, alot of time to think. And I just focused in on rappin' and we just came up with the whole swag. My name "Yukmouth", Nums name "Numskull", thru the name of the group, the condom man with the logo, I came up with the track Ice Cream Man, when we did that I was like . ya know. This is something I knew I wanted to do. Fuck going back and forth to jail, ya know what I mean. Selling these drugs and shit. It's time to do something that's a hobby, but I could get paid for, and I love to do. And I love doing music.. so. I got out of jail and I landed.. A deal landed in my lap...So you know. The rest is history. Ya know.

Can you tell me a little about "I Got 5 On It" and how that came about? Basically. Um. 5 on it , it's crazy cause we made the song like 2 years before the shit even came out. So we made 5 on it in 1993 and didn't put the mutherfucker out til 1995 so, we knew in '93 when we (Luniz) first made it that we had a hit, so we just put that shit, ya know to the side until we got our big deal. We knew Dru Down signed to Relativity (Relativity Records), we gonna get a deal too. You know, cause we was all up under the Dru Down, C-Bo, record umbrella.. Independently...ya know, when we dropped the Ice Cream Man, so we was just waiting our turn. And when our turn came with Virgin (Virgin Records), we had presented them with "5 on It"..ya know, and they made us change it up and make it a radio version. Of course, cause the first version was damn near 7 minutes we was just rappin' for fuckin' ever. You what I mean, we didn't no nuthin bout no bars or nuthin. So we was rappin' forever, each verse was about 42 bars, 48 some crazy long ass verse so..Um when we got to the label they made us chop it up and do the 16 and make a radio version... and um.. Virgin put the push behind it and that mutherfucker did what it did, Til this day, 20 somethin years later, they still play it on the radio. So we definitely got a classic, ya know.

This is my life, this is my homies life, this is my families life that I'm talking about. So it's based on a vill story.

Getting to your new project. Why the title "JJ Based On A Vill Story"? Well um.. JJ is my nickname ya know. Stands for Jerald Jr., and that's what they use to call me in the neighborhood. ya know the Ville, the projects where I'm from, before it was Yukmouth, it was JJ. so this album is like the prequel, to "Thugged Out: Albulation", so its the before the thugged out album. ya know what I mean, so I had to take it back. A lot people do the Part 2, naw I had to do the Part 1. Huh.huh.You what I mean. The thing that even led up to Thugged out. So had to give the fans that, And um.. basically just gave them a little history lesson, about my neighborhood, about my OG's, Felix Mitchell was a famous notorious king pin and a heroin kingpin, Lil D (Darryl Reed aka "Lil D"), a millionaire at the age of 15. Um. My family, the Black Panthers, and so on, and so on. It's so much shit I talk about on this album. It's ridiculous, so much open history I touch on, ya know, it's just a history lesson basically, just giving the fans, the people like the Lil Yachty's and shit that were born in '95,'98 and shit, but really wasn't able to hear Biggie, or able to hear Pac, or able to hear the Luniz. ya know.. just giving the young boyz that history lesson. Ya know what I mean, And I'm puttin them up on game. Ya know what I mean. And they know who they dealin wit. I ain't no rapper that just rap about the shit. Ya know. Watchin movies and Gambino movies and gangster movies, and makin some shit up. Ya know.  This is my life, this is my homies life, this is my families life that I'm talking about. So it's based on a vill story. People say 'based on a true story'. So this is 'Based on a Vill story'. The vill is my projects and this is the story and history of my neighborhood.

So it's 17 tracks on this joint, do you feel like you had a lot of material you could of put out? It's 17 tracks, this is Part 1, It's a Part 2 coming out next month, but it was a double album originally, I just decided to split it up because. just the tolerance, ya know what I mean, the people got short tolerance, as far as shit come in everyday, every other day it's a new mixtape, you know what I mean, so.. Man I want to put out 30 somethin songs but that mutherfucka will damn near be old in a week. So wanted to I split up, ya know what I mean. To give people time, ya know, to live with this first album. Then boom, i'll put the 2nd album out to live with that, it's just warming up the streets right now. The first album is warming the streets up, the 2nd ones going to blow the streets up period. So ya know. Just playing chess and strategic moves, ya know what I mean. Had to put my pawns out there first, ya know, before I come with the knights and the bishops, the kings, ya know what I mean, and queen, and all of that And checkmate mutherfucka. ya know.. I had to just throw my pawns out there first.

What would you say was the difference between this project (JJ Based on a Vill Story) and GAS (Grow and Sale)? Well gas is a marijuana influenced album. ya know what I mean, So I just basically put out mixtapes every 420 and that was one of my 420 mixtapes, the one before that was "Half Baked". Ya know what I mean, so, I just started fuckin wit a little 420 mixtapes, and I got my marijuana company going, I got the glass company goin', I got smoke-a-lot-radio, so I'm just throwing some mixtapes out there, ya know, just cater to the marijuana community. Shout out to smoke-a-lot nation, everybody that get high off it. But this album is an official Yukmouth album, This is like listenin to a "Thugged out", "Godzilla"  or "Thug Lord: The New Testament", ya know, it's like those 3 albums. Cause it's taking it back to that era. Like "GAS", "Free At Last", and "The West Coast Don" those are dope albums ya know what I mean, but it ain't nuthin like this. This is the closest you goin to get to "Thugged Out". Really. Everybody sayin' "Thugged Out" and "Godzilla" are my best albums, this is the closes ur goin to get....period. And a lot of people sayin it's better. ya know. And they ain't even heard the Part 2. It's getting rave reviews. I'm glad everybody's lovin' it. ya know what I mean. And it's definetly different. Every bar even if it's a metaphor, that shit's still real life. 

Yea. I like that one metaphor you had on "ill" where you said, "I got that New Edition, no Michael Bivins". Ya. Ya. That shit was so old too. And it's crazy that everybody start playing that New Edition series on VH1 or BET, one of them mutherfuckers. So it's great that I put that out. And it's coming out this month. Ya know what I mean. But I been did ill, ill's like a year old. a year or 2 old. I been sittin' on this album for a minute, for like 2 years, ya know, me and Num(Numskull), we was doin' the Luni thang, so I was focused on that, and I put my album to the side, you know what I mean, And we tried to do that, and that didn't work so,, I got back on my bike. So ill been sittin' round for a minute. Michael Bivins, that line was like a Pyshic line, I also said somethin about Trump, I said somethin about Trump on the 2nd album, and now he's the fuckin' President. ya know what I mean, I gotta lot of bars that mutherfuckas came true on that all of a sudden. ya dig. That shit is crazy.

What's one line on this album that you think will go over people's head? Ummm. What's the one line that I think will go over people's head.. um.. Probably the Lady Gaga. The Gaga, the Pokerface. Ya know, sellin' Gaga rockin a Pokerface, like she made the song Pokerface of course, ya know.. and Gaga which is sellin' whitegirl. A lot of people wouldn't catch it, ya know what I mean. Lady Gaga. That's a Crazy line. Sellin' Gaga rockin' a pokerface. ya know what I mean. They won't catch that one. I got tricky metaphors, your gonna have to listen to a couple of times. And be like "OOOOHHH Shit".. Ya know what I  mean. I'm takin' it back to the bars. I had to go back to what I loved about myself and what the fans loved with the story tellin' and the bars. The production on the album fits the the album perfectly, you know what I mean. It ain't no super hit singles on the album, you know what I mean. I did it for the streets. I just want to shout out to everybody who got the album. Shout out to everybody who don't got it. GO GET IT. 

You have a crazy catalog. Do you have one song that's hard for you to perform because it spars emotion or brings back a memory? Um... "Revelationz" definitely. That hits me, that's too much, that mutherfucka have a nigga cryin', umm... also, "Killers on the Payroll", I had to take that off the whole playlist, cause every time I did that, mutherfuckas started gettin beat up, and mutherfuckas started tearin' the club up. So I had to take that completely off the showlist. "Killers on Payroll". So them two, "Revelationz" and "Killers on Payroll". (Laughing at his last comment) 

Don't quit, when a mutherfuckas closin a door and doubtin you, let that make you turn up more harder,

Since you been in the game for a while, and you been good at recreating yourself. What advice would you give to aspiring rappers? Umm. Just stay persistent and consistent. ya know what I mean. Ummm. Never let up, ya know what I mean. Invest in yourself. Straight up. And stay at it. Don't quit, when a mutherfuckas closin a door and doubtin you, let that make you turn up more harder, make you go harder when a mutherfucka slams the door on you and tellin you no we ain't gonna sign you or they tell you they ain't gonna give you that opportunity. Create your own opportunity. Put money into yourself and believe in yourself. When nobody else do. ya know. Prime example, nobody believed in Jay-Z at first when he use to rhyme fast. He use to rhyme faster than a mutherfucka, like Tongue Twista, and nobody believed in him back then. ya know. He put his own bag up. Him and Dame put they own bag up, he slowed his style down, and now look at him. ya know what I mean. A whole new different mutherfucka. So however you rappin' right now you gonna get better and better. So if a mutherfucka closes the door on you, so what? keep rappin', keep getting better and better. And once you ready,,, to take this shit over...you gonna know, cause your fans and everything else is going to fall into place. period, So I just say stay grindin'. Ya know. If you don't grind, then you don't shine, period.

So who are your Top 5 rappers? Umm.. it Varies. It varies, I got a top 5 from the '80's, I got  a top 5 from the '90's, I got a top 5 in the millennials, (Laughs). I come from 3 or 4 different generations of hip-hop, so I got a long list so:

The '80's

1. LL Cool J
2. Big Daddy Kane
3. Slick Rick
4. Kool G Rap
5. KRS-One

The '90's

1. Biggie 
2. Tupac
3. Nas
4. Jay-Z
5. Andre 3000

The Millennials

1. Eminem
2. Lil Wayne
3. Drake
4. Kendrick Lamar
5. and between J. Cole and Tech N9ne

Speaking of millennials, and this whole new wave. Is there anyone you look forward to working with in the new wave? Ohh man.. umm...Somebody's that's more of on my shit. Like Kendrick (Kendrick Lamar), definitely Kendrick. I always wanted to work with J (Jay-Z) or Nas, but umm.. I would say Kendrick as far as the new millennials. definitely, cause he's more  of my wave. As far as spitting them bars and shit. Cause a lot of niggas is trap rappin' and mumblin' and shit. and that ain't really my wave. Ya know what I mean. I rap, so. Definitely Kendrick or Cole (J.cole). Somebody thats in that type of realm, that's really gassin some shit.. ya know. True that.

Other than rap. What other type of stuff are you into? Right now man.. umm.. I got my Vape pen company going, Dime Vape. Um.. get that at dimevape.com.. I got the glass company comin', smoke-a-lot glass. I'm launchin that February 4th in Vegas, at the glass convention. Ummm.. I got my own jars and trays. Smell-proof jars and trays. I'm just really leanin' into that whole marijuana movement. Ya know. I got Smoke-A-Lot radio, my podcasts, I shut down. for me to be able to record the album. But as soon as this hype dies down in like April or May, we gonna get that back poppin'. ya know. Get the smoke-a-lot radio back on, it's me, Samone Taylor,, ahh,, Jay R. and mutherfuckin K Toe.

Thanks to Yukmouth for the interview make sure you check out his new album "JJ Based on a Vill Story" also check out his lead single and video below "Birds".

Check him out on SoundCloud, FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram and his website for mechandise:

smokealotrecords.com
​​dimevape.com