I Was Bit By A Radioactive Wolf

Hard White (In The Club)

Yelawolf has been the most played artist in my iTunes for a year and a half.

As soon as I heard his part on Big Boi’s You Ain’t No DJ, my ears perked up and then back, like a dog when it’s all “Huh?!” Then I came across Juelz Santana’s song, Mixin’ Up The Medicine. I was hooked.

I started tracking down all his stuff. Every song was better than the last. Stage Lights. Trunk Muzik. I Wish. And, of course, the crown jewel of the Trunk Muzik mixtape...

Pop The Trunk

Then he came to Fortune Sound Club. It was one of the most exciting live performances I saw last year. Fuck skin colour: he had an intensity, presence, charisma, and skill level that reminded me of young, hungry Eminem. In fact, I had not been THIS excited about a new artist in hip hop SINCE The Slim Shady LP.

He was my artist of the year in 2010, and his aforementioned mixtape, Trunk Muzik (both versions), was my album of the year.

The most exciting music news of this year for me (next to learning that I was GOING TO SEE PRINCE LIVE of course…) was Yelawolf (and Slaughterhouse) being signed to Shady Records, home of, you guessed it, Eminem. Something about the whole thing felt full circle. Like the art form that NaS declared dead a few years back was about to get mouth-to-mouth and a defibrillator. And that feeling was validated with what is my Hip Hop Moment Of The Year (so far): The Shady 2.0 Cypher at The BET Hip Hop Awards…

Shady 2.0

And every new track seemed to further solidify the track record. Daddy’s Lambo. Gangster of Love. Oh, and I somehow missed this one until this last Saturday…

No Hands

Basically, Yelawolf has been the best thing in rap for a year and a half. And it all culminates now. It’s all been building to this: his major label debut, Radioactive.

Today we find out if Yela can keep his monopoly on rap’s radar, grab new turf on the mainstream charts and, most importantly, maintain his iron grip on my playlist. He has yet to disappoint me, but it could go either way, I guess. I mean, you’re only as good as your last one, right? Rap is ‘ride or die’, isn’t it? Well, based on his driving for the last year and a half…

Shotgun!

– Nuv

Yelawolf – Radioactive is available now.