Background and career
Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name Yelawolf, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Gadsden, Alabama, and raised in Antioch, Tennessee, he embarked on his recording career in 2005, releasing four mixtapes to positive local reception. His fourth mixtape, Trunk Muzik (2010), earned him wider recognition and led him to sign a recording contract with Interscope Records. He re-worked the mixtape into his first major label release, Trunk Muzik 0-60 (2010). He entered a joint venture deal with Eminem's Shady Records to release his second studio album, Radioactive (2011), which peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200. His third album, Love Story (2015) peaked at number three on the chart and spawned the single "Till It's Gone", which received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His fourth and fifth albums, Trial by Fire (2017) and Trunk Muzik 3 (2019), both saw moderate commercial performance and critical praise; his sixth album, Ghetto Cowboy (2019), served as his first independent release following his major label departure.
Michael Wayne Atha was born on December 30, 1979, in Gadsden, Alabama. He has described himself as "[representing] the people that are the core of America". Yelawolf said his stage name was inspired by his father. Throughout childhood, Atha moved often. He spent much of his time in Antioch, Tennessee, and attended Carter Lawrence Middle School in Nashville, which is located near the Edgehill Homes apartment projects. He says that during that time, "hip-hop started making sense to me. That's where hip-hop made sense culturally." Regarding his stage name and persona, Yelawolf has said that his father is Cherokee, but also that he's "always been … just white." He says he constructed the name "Yelawolf" from the word "Yela" (which Atha claims is Cherokee for "sun") and the English word "wolf" because it "represents the duality between his intellectual 'light' side... and his aggressive, survivalist 'dark' side."
In 2005, Yelawolf appeared as one of 13 contestants on the UPN Network reality series The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott. After his shocking elimination from the show (he was the third contestant to be sent home), he released his independent debut album Creekwater in 2005; later the same year, he released his debut mixtape Pissin' in a Barrel of Beez. Two years later, Yelawolf signed to Columbia Records and released the single "Kickin'" from the album Fearin' and Loathin' in Smalltown, U.S.A.. The album was never released, and Yelawolf was dropped from the label later that year. Yelawolf released two mixtapes following his release from Columbia, titled Ball of Flames: The Ballad of Slick Rick E. Bobby and Stereo: A Hip Hop Tribute to Classic Rock, both of which went mainly unnoticed, although Stereo is often mentioned by fans as some of his best work. In 2009, he signed with Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment and released his debut extended play Arena Rap.
In 2009, he began to work with Ghet-O-Vision producer, WLPWR, on his 2009 breakthrough mixtape titled Trunk Muzik. Released in January 2010, the mixtape created a substantial online following for Yelawolf. Later that year, Yelawolf signed a major record deal with Interscope Records, and began to work on a re-release of the project, titled Trunk Muzik 0-60. It was released on November 22, 2010, under Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment and Interscope Records, which became his most acclaimed work at that time. In 2010 and 2011, he raised his profile by making guest appearances on albums by rappers Big Boi, Paul Wall, Tech N9ne, Travis Barker, Gucci Mane, and Big K.R.I.T., among others. In March 2011, after speculation of a joint record deal with Eminem, Yelawolf was featured on the cover of XXL's March 2011 issue, with Eminem and fellow new Shady Records signees Slaughterhouse, with the issue confirming his record deal with Shady Records. Yelawolf was also featured among the XXL's Top 11 Freshmen of 2011, releasing several songs on the magazine's yearly Freshman mixtape, along with Kendrick Lamar, Cyhi Da Prynce and Big K.R.I.T., among others. On April 14, 2011, Yelawolf announced the title of his debut Shady release Radioactive with a release date that aimed for September. On May 18, Yelawolf announced his album's first single, titled "Gangsta of Love", produced by Jim Jonsin and featuring Cyhi Da Prynce. The song was leaked in early July, although it only featured unfinished vocals by Cyhi da Prynce at the end of the song. The song was later scrapped and no longer appeared on the album. Yelawolf partnered up with the video game Driver: San Francisco to release a music video for the song "No Hands" which was supposed to be included in Radioactive, but was later scrapped. On August 8, 2011, Yelawolf released the first official single from his album, titled "Hard White (Up in the Club)", which features guest vocals from Southern hip-hop producer Lil Jon. The album's release date was moved down to October 2011, and later had a final release date to November 21, 2011. On October 30, 2011, Yelawolf released the second single off Radioactive, titled "Let's Roll", featuring guest vocals from Kid Rock. Anticipation for the album increased when hip-hop magazine The Source gave the album a rare 4.5 out of 5 mics, meaning the album was "near classic". Radioactive was released November 21, 2011, under Interscope Records and Shady Records, debuting the following week at No. 13 on the Billboard 200. The album featured production from Eminem (who is also the executive producer for the album), Jim Jonsin, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Diplo, The Audibles, Pooh Bear and WLPWR of SupaHotBeats, and features from Eminem, Kid Rock, Lil Jon, Fefe Dobson, Mystikal, Shawty Fatt, Rittz, Killer Mike, and Gangsta Boo among others.
On January 24, 2012, Yelawolf released a promotional track with British singer Ed Sheeran titled "You Don't Know (For Fuck's Sake)". The track was for an upcoming collaborative extended play (EP), titled The Slumdon Bridge. On January 31, 2012, a trailer for the EP was released, featuring both artists in a studio recording the EP. In the video Yelawolf revealed the EP was recorded in 10 hours, and included 4 tracks.The Slumdon Bridge, which was released as a free download on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2012, marking Yelawolf's second EP, and his first collaborative project. On June 16, 2012, to commemorate Father's Day, Yelawolf released a song titled "Happy Father's Day", produced by Alabama producer M16. With the track, Yelawolf announced his fifth official mixtape Heart of Dixie. In August 2012, Yelawolf announced the long-awaited joint EP with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, titled Psycho White. The EP's lead single, titled "Push 'Em", features background vocals by Transplants members Skinhead Rob and Tim Armstrong, and was released as a free download on September 12. After several push-backs, the EP was finally released on November 13, 2012, debuting at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 15,000. Yelawolf stated that all the tracks on the album will have a music video and during an article with Rolling Stone, both he and Barker hinted at a sequel to the EP. In December 2012, the EP Dogs Eating Dogs by Blink-182 was released, with the song "Pretty Little Girl" featuring vocals by Yelawolf.
On March 20, 2012, Yelawolf announced that recording sessions for his third studio album began in June 2012, titled Love Story. Due to a stage diving incident which caused a ruptured spleen, Yelawolf decided to delay the album's recording process. During an interview with DJ Skee, he revealed that a sequel to his 2010's mixtape Trunk Muzik, titled Trunk Muzik Returns, would be released in August after "the dust settles on the Heart of Dixie" but was afterwards delayed. In December 2012, Yelawolf addressed the status of all of his projects in an interview. He also spoke on his upcoming second release, Love Story, and how it would be different compared to his debut effort Radioactive. "With Radioactive, I gave up a lot of creative space, and like I predicted would happen, there were some records that didn't translate to my audience." He stated he would record the album in Nashville and go to Detroit so he and Eminem could finish the album. Yelawolf also said that Trunk Muzik Returns would hopefully be released in February 2013, with the date later confirmed.
