Las Vegas is commonly associated with tourism & casinos, fortunes lost & won, sun-cracked deserts & legal prostitution. If anything, grisly images of Tupac’s death are the first association that comes to mind when one hears “Las Vegas’ rap scene.” That was over a decade ago and those images need recasting. As one of the first voices to rep the town, Mr. Finley’s task is to not only bring attention to himself but his hometown. Read the rest of this entry »

The streets have conveyed a message that’s been handwritten in blood for the past few decades: gangs are real and not meant to be glorified. Mr. Finley has been marking his absentee ballot for the past few months, but with the hustle renewed and studio time booked, he’s ready to have presidents represent him like his hometown of Las Vegas already does. Read the rest of this entry »

YelaWolf confirmed today via the world’s new number one news source, Twitter, that he’s bringing his sound to Interscope. Truthfully, I’m just surprised it took this long. The aura that dude put off at SXSW made it seem like he’d been signed for months and had the number one record in the country. Clearly, other people took notice, too.

If Jimmy Iovine screws this one up like he did Wale – as my sweet mother would say – heads will roll.

TSS Presents Smoking Sessions With Yelawolf from The Smoking Section on Vimeo.

“My aim is to create a movie for your ears. I just want you to become a part of the music so you can feel like I felt when I love emcees for the first time. And people have lost that, in my opinion. There’s just not many artists out there that give you that feeling.”

Known to some for years as a musician with yeoman’s work ethic and a tremendous stage performance, YelaWolf has toiled under the radar for many years before now. From once being underground and unheard, his music and career have both picked up at a fast clip, thanks to the release of Trunk Muzik mixtape. With a mix of brash honesty and artistry paired with an eclectic set of influences – both music and cultural – Yela is poised to position himself as one of the new faces and voices from below the Mason-Dixon.

While at SMKA’s The 808 Experience: Vol. 2 release party, our cameras catch up with Wolf. Listen as he speaks on his career before now, the concept for the “Pop The Trunk” video and his goals for 2010.

Filmed by the incredible The SP Agency.

For more info, visit www.MySpace.com/YelaWolf.

Yela’s second wish gets a video and it’s RMF-approved to the fullest. Cameos from faces like “Tall Can” Scudda (minus the can), the homie Jonesy, Mr. Falyon, Burn One and several other ten toes down dudes that you wouldn’t want to battle rap or be caught in a barfight against.

Planning on being in or around the A this weekend? Don’t forget to check out the above three featured artists @ Fuggin’ Awesome and the homeboy Burn One should be there as well, manning the turntables. For the full skinny, click here or check the flyer below.

Pill, Yela, Prynce, Ghet-O-Vision, Educated Villians, Greg Street and other parts of our extended ATL family will be holding it down @ Lenny’s Bar on 2.12.10. If you’re in the area and you’re not there, you just may very well be lame.

And let me throw you this while we’re gathered here. Brother J Dot sent this shit over this morn.

Download — Ludacris, YelaWolf & Rock City – “How Low” (Remix)

Almost a full month into 2010 and Trunk Muzik is still on repeat. Pretty damn good taking into account today’s standards and the availability of MP3s. Browsing through Yelawolf’s catalog, one of the standout tracks is his Raekwon-assisted track, “I Wish.” This exposed the Alabama native to an entire new segment of listeners and allowed him to receive the almighty “co-sign” from one of the game’s most respected and talented names. Read the rest of this entry »

Of all the tapes that are bound to drop today, this one might be the one I’ve been most anticipating. While it may seem like he’s getting that “great White hope” pub, it’s far from it. Countless times it’s been said how captivating Yela’s presence is on stage and the mic. It’s one of one of those ingredients that’s been missing from the game for a minute. Read the rest of this entry »

Just as the new decade begins to pop off, El Dorado will jump out that Impala and pop the trunk for some good ol’ Trunk Muzik. How great is the quality of this video by the way? Imagine if all notable artists got their mixtape ads ran on daytime television to increase visibility. They even screamed out ya boy Maurice Garland. Read the rest of this entry »

For DJBooth.net’s freestyle series, young ‘Wolf takes to the mic over original work by Malay & KP. Read the rest of this entry »

Pic By D-Nice

The way R&B/Pop acts like Ne-Yo, Rihanna and The-Dream have been dominating Def Jam’s roster, it’s easy to forget that they are indeed a Hip-Hop label. Nevertheless, Mr. Finley, being a Las Vegas native, has no problems gambling against the odds to ensure his voice is heard through all the harmony.

His debut album, The Talented Mr. Finley looks to continue to prove to the world that versatility resides elsewhere than NYC as he aligns with famed producers KP & Malay on their Ghet-O-Vision imprint to display his skills. The inaugural single “For The Money” utilizes that big band sound so many neglect and shows promise that he will indeed stand out from his peers.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download — Mr. Finley – “For The Money” (Produced By KP & Malay)

Read up on more Mr. Finley on his official MySpace page.

Words By Lola P.

Pics via Hydrilla

My friend Malay introduced me to Yelawolf when I was in Atlanta a few months ago. He was different. Cool, friendly, easy going…but real different with a quiet, yet confident air all to himself. Given that vagueness, I didn’t really know what to expect from his music.

The week before I left, I got word that Yelawolf was doing a performance at Lenny’s Bar and my people and I wanted to go check it out. It was a more Read the rest of this entry »