Dubcnn: What’s up everybody, I’m here with YB The Rockstar. What’s up Ya Boy?
YB: Nothin’. Just chillin’.
Dubcnn: Chillin’ on a Friday night. Yeah so first of all congratulations, you got recently signed to Konvict Music, tell us about that.
YB: I appreciate it. You know, just years of hard work finally paid off. You know I been grinding, I got 14 mixtapes out, I been inside hype in The Source Magazine, I’ve been wrote up several times in the XXL magazine. I done had my mixtapes featured on B.E.T., and I just been grinding man, milking and killin’ the streets since I was 16 years old, and you know it finally paid off. So shout out the tha big homie Akon, who believed in a nigga, who’s finna give me a chance to show the whole world, what the streets been talking about for so long.
Dubcnn: Definitely, so tell us what you have planned now that you finally have a major label supporting you and pushing you, what are you gonna do? What’s your next move?
YB: I’mma take over the world, like Pinky and The Brain. Nah next up, I’m in a few movies right now, I got a movie right now called The Trophy with Michael Madsen, cause I’m working on my acting career too, and my music is at an all time high right now, my music is crazy, I got a few artist under my wing too. My group is called The Black Card Boys, my label is called Black Card Music. We pushing this shit real heavy man, we got a huge buzz on the west right now, and it’s like fly nigga shit. Buncha fly niggas with fly music, know what I mean? The ladies love us, the niggas wanna be friends with us, it’s all there man, Black Card.
Dubcnn: So this isn’t the first time you’ve been offered a record deal, at least from what I know, you’ve had several offers before and you turned them down. What made you say, “Ok I wanna take this one, when you were just doing independent so well on your own?”
YB: I mean, this just seemed like the best opportunity for me. Akon is probably one of the top 5 artists in the world right now. The deals I was offered in the past, they weren’t, what’s the word I’m looking for Cap?
Cap: They weren’t efficient enough, bottom line.
YB: Yeah you heard it, what he said, bottom line.
Cap: They weren’t worth anything. So now we found something worth YB jumping on you know? That was the move right there. Niggas is signing deals to look good. Right here niggas is signing deals to make money, and this was the deal right here where we saw the opportunity to make some money. So that’s just what it was.
Dubcnn: Exactly, you know a lot of people think when they get signed to a deal they think that they’re gonna be set and shit, and that’s not really how it is, there’s a lot of work that goes into before, after and during.
YB: Let me set that straight right now, a lotta niggas think you sign your deal you just on, we on, we made it…No, nigga that could be your downfall signing that deal. Once you sign that deal you gotta work 10 times harder than you did before you signed that deal. So you know right now I’m workin’ like, I’m working right now like it’s 1999. Me I’m going in. So shit signing that deal don’t mean nothing except that you gotta work harder, and that’s what we doin’ man.
Dubcnn: You got a lot of attention for We Run L.A., a single that got a lot of radio play, got a lot of national attention. Tell us how that came about and why you think that song took off so big.
YB: Because L.A. is a beautiful city, and when I wrote the song, I was sorta doing what Tupac did for the To Live And Die In L.A.. I was paying homage to the city of L.A., I always bump into a lot of people who aren’t from L.A. but come out here to try to make it you know? A lot of models, actresses, actors, everyone comes out here. It’s like the big city of dreams, everybody come out here and try to get on, try to make it so basically me and Dr. Hollywood collabed and did the song for those people that’s coming out here chasing their dreams, and it’s showing the world how beautiful the city of L.A. is. From Beverly Hills to Hollywood, all the beautiful landmarks and sites of L.A., that’s what L.A. got to offer. So when I did that it was just, like hands down a smash, everybody took to it, the city took to it, and it just became a real big song.
Dubcnn: I think one of the impressive things about you to is that you’re able to make a song like that and you’re still able to keep it street. You know you have 2 sides of appeal. How do you balance those 2 things? A lot of people can’t do that or know how to do that.
YB: Well the key is for me is to not give a fuck what anybody thinks about me or my music. I’m not making music for any person, I’m making music about how I feel at the time. If I feel happy, I’mma make a happy sing, if I feel like robbing a nigga I’mma make a grimy song, If I feel like I wanna kill this nigga, I’m gonna make a street song. If I’m in a good mood, I’mma make happy songs, I just make songs about how I’m feelin’ at the time, and I don’t really care what nobody think about it because I’m my own self, and I’m makin’ my own music. Either people can listen to it, or they don’t have to listen to it, I’m not putting guns to niggas heads and tellin’ them they gotta listen to my music. I just do my music and put it out there, and the people respond to it. Music is all about opinions anyway so when you really don’t care and you just makin’ the music that you feel like they can’t put you in a genre. I don’t feel like I can be put in a genre. I might fuck around and make a country song tomorrow. Just ‘cause that’s how I feel, that’s just how I do it.
Dubcnn: For sure. So you just played us a couple of really really hot tracks, so are they from the album or where are they from, and are you working on the album?
YB: I mean, every song that I make, I make it for an album. I haven’t came out yet, I haven’t came out to the world so every song that I make is for the album, and if it doesn’t make the album then most likely its gonna go on a mixtape. Every song that I make is for the album, and if my team doesn’t agree that it’s hot enough to make the album, then it’ll go wherever else it got to go.
Dubcnn: So what do you have in terms of mixtapes? What is your latest one, and what’s coming out soon?
YB: I just released a new mixtape a few months ago called Tha Fixx 2, hosted by 4 DJ’s, but they ain’t doin’ no screaming and shit all over the tape, it’s crazy the music is crazy. You know I got a few features on there from E-40 to Wiz Khalifa, I got a bunch of people on that motherfucka, so Tha Fixx 2 man. It’s out right now, hotnewhiphop.com, dubcnn.com might have the link up by the time we put this out.
Dubcnn: Definitely.
YB: But it’s got a million downloads already, over a million downloads. So everybody make sure they go pick that up, Tha Fixx 2. I’m working on my first release through Konvict right now, it’s called Life Is A Movie, it’s gonna be an EP. So please make sure you get that, it’s retarded good music. If you like good music, you gonna fuck with Black Card music and anything that they got to offer. Especially that guy they got called Ya Boy out there in California, he’s a monster. Good music.
Dubcnn: Alright man, tell us where we can check you out online.
YB: You can check out my twitter, twitter.com/ybtherockstar. Hit up myspace, myspace.com/yaboy, my youtube, youtube.com/officialyaboytv. Also check me out at konvictmusiconline.net, shout out to them.
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Ya Boy Myspace
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Ya Boy // Video Interview // Dubcnn
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