Dallas is a historical place for plenty of reasons, but even with exports like Post Malone and Erykah Badu, it hasn’t witnessed a musical uprising like, let’s say, the neighboring city of Houston had. Still, there’s a lot of hip-hop history within their local scene.
Yella Beezy is the latest star out of the city in terms of hip-hop. A student of the game, he can literally list off every single rapper who’s put on for his city of Dallas, and more specifically, his hood of Oak Cliff — which he indeed does during our new interview.
“What made Oak Cliff what it was to me, was, like, shit that I seen goin’ on. From the hustlin’, to the people, the way they were dressing. The way the slang. We had like a different slang, a different type of way we dress. How we wear our haircuts. You kind of knew a person from Oak Cliff when you seen ’em, you know what I’m saying?” Yella Beezy says about his upbringing in the Dallas neighborhood.
Along with Oak Cliff, the biggest influences in his life were the pillars of the South. No Limit. The original Cash Money roster. UGK. Geto Boys. Seriously, the list goes on.
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“I always studied people. And I even studied their moves. Just how people move, bro. Just everything, just because I didn’t wanna be one of those young rappers that blew, and didn’t know about nothing,” Yella Beezy explains in the latest episode of HotNewHipHop’s On The Come Up. “In school, instead of me doing my work, I was probably on the computer looking up rappers and what the fuck they had going, type shit, you know what I’m saying? It was always important for me just to know what was going on before me, my time, and still to this day.”
The hype around his name hasn’t died down in the past few years since the release of his breakout hit, “That’s On Me.” He’s had a hit or two pretty much every year since then, and this year, he teamed up with Young Thug for the high-energy banger “Headlocc.” Apparently, he wasn’t even interested in the song at first, but with a bit of a push from Thugger, he became convinced of the song’s potential.
“We was just playing with new music that we had came about, and I played that motherfucker, and when I played it he said, ‘Boy, that hard.’ He said, ‘’I’m finna get on that right now.’ I was like, ‘What you mean, finna get on that?’ He said, ‘Get on that.’ I was like, ‘Man, I was finna give this to my lil patna. I really didn’t want this song.’ He said, ‘Nah, you trippin’, man. That’s a hit, you trippin’ like a motherfucker,’” Beezy recounted.
On the latest episode of OTCU, Yella Beezy talks about growing up in Oak Cliff, the Southern legends that came before him, his forthcoming project, Blank Checc, and more much more.
Watch the video below, or read the full unabridged interview.
HNHH: Who is Yella Beezy?
Yella Beezy: Yella Beezy…shit, I’m Yella Beezy, I’m from Dallas, Texas. Shit, going hard in the music game about two years strong now. Real, real active. I can honestly say I’ve got a good one or two hits every year I’ve been active in the game, you know what I’m saying? You know, just come down to the South with it. Dallas, Texas in the building. Third Coast repping. I am him.
What was your childhood like?
My childhood. Everything wasn’t good, everything wasn’t bad, you know what I’m saying? Went through the normal struggles like everyday people, growing up in the area that we grew up in, that I grew up in, you know what I’m saying? We had trials and tribulations. We had to overcome a lot of situations. For the most part, [I] played sports coming up. Then got into rap around 9 [years old]. Started taking rapping seriously when I got into probably like the 10th grade after I knew I wasn’t gonna play football no more. Getting kicked out of school a lot, having to transfer to different school districts. Whole bunch of high schools and shit. So, I already knew the football thing was out the way. I was getting into little trouble. Like, you know, fighting and all type of shit with the cliques and shit, so I had let that go for sports and then I just focused on the music ever since then.
What type of music was playing growing up?
Growing up, musically, we was on UGK. The original Cash Money. No Limit. Geto Boys. We was on Three 6 Mafia. 8Ball & MJG. Shit, all of that. Like, the whole Screwed Up Click Houston movement. We was on, of course, N.W.A.. Shit, Do Or Die, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, of course Biggie and 2Pac. Shit, like, that was my era of it, though. For sure, like, when I was saying UGK, No Limit, Cash Money — the original Cash Money — like, that’s what I grew up listening to.
That’s what my parents was playing in the house. Shit, all of that. That’s how I knew about all of them, you know what I’m saying, I got an old soul when it comes to music. I like to listen to a lot of older rap music a lot of times. But that’s all they would listen to. It really wasn’t just a certain genre of music, like, we listened to everything. But that’s what I remember them playing though, mostly.
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What made Oak Cliff what it was to you?
Okay. What made Oak Cliff what it was to me, was, like, shit that I seen going on. From the hustling, to the people, the way they were dressing. The way the slang. We had like a different slang, a different type of way we dress. How we wear our haircuts. You kind of knew a person from Oak Cliff when you seen em. We just have a certain demeanor. I just remember, like, the D-Boys pullin’ up in they whips. The girls flocking to them. The way they were dressing, had all the gold or whatever they were wearing. Big herringbone that was in at that time. The people that used to rock the D’s on their cars. That was like a Dallas thing for us, but like Oak Cliff, it was just a certain demeanor that you just knew about, you know what I’m saying, like a different type of swag on em, you know what I’m saying?
Talk to me about your athletic background?
Just growing up. Just looking at my cousin and them play football, that’s what got me kind of influenced me to play football. And all I did, I loved watching football — I used to just watch all the old college throwbacks replay that they used to have. I remember the Cowboys won, I think in ’94, and they had like a big ass Dallas parade. Everybody was skipping school, or people was taking their kids out of school early to go to the parade, you know what I’m saying? Like, at that time, the Cowboys — well, for one, we still are America’s team and the best fucking team in the fucking world, let’s get that straight, you understand me? But at this time, this was when we was running the Superbowl, so you know — we was die-hard Cowboy fans in Dallas? Oh man, it was just like a whole ‘nother type of level.
I remember my cousin had, they had the football stadium, they had like a little football camp, I went up there with my cousin. It was Emmitt Smith up there. Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders — it was all of them up there, under one roof. And they just had, like, a little kids camp. That was like another motivation for me, and it made me want to play football. That’s just something like, growing up in the hood, I feel like that’s something that everybody take in. Some type of sport — like, if you from the hood, you basically kind of played sports growing up. I don’t give a damn if it’s throwback tackle or touch. Any type of basketball, curveball. You was kind of influenced by somebody in your neighborhood playing football or basketball, or just being around the kids that played football. Played sports, so we took that played that how we wanna, then just kept on going as time went by. Sports, I feel like — like I said, that’s one of the cultural sports things is football and basketball, for our culture.
Is there anyone that you knew from Oak Cliff that went pro?
I didn’t know him because he was older than us, but he came out with, uh…what’s bro’s name. Yeah, Kenyon Martin. He actually from my neighborhood. He actually from Monahans. I think from Monahans Court, though. He from Monahans Court. But yeah, Kenyon Martin, he played for the — I think played for Denver Nuggets. Like I said, Dennis Rodman, he played for South. Spud Webb, he played for Wilmer-Hutchins. Who else? Uh…what’s bro name? He ain’t my Goddamn age. Dudes I’m talking about [are] way older than us, but they was basically born in Oak Cliff or around Oak Cliff type shit.
Yeah, Chris Bosh. He went to Lincoln. That’s South Dallas, which, you know what I’m saying, we just speaking on people that made it from Dallas. Micheal Crabtree. He went to Carter, that’s Oak Cliff. The last one Imma say, he played for the Rams, him and Michael Crabtree be getting into it, bruh. Aqib Talib, he from Dallas. He from North Dallas, though. It’s a lot of people– Terrence Williams. I forgot he from Highland Hills. Corey Coleman, Highland Hills. That’s probably it. It’s a lot of motherfuckers from Dallas that have made it, sports-wise, though, coming out of the Oak Cliff area.
Which specific rappers influenced you the most?
Pimp C. Eazy-E. Lil Boosie. Kevin Gates. Future. Juvenile. Mystikal. Of course, Bun B. Scarface Master P. C-Murder. Shit, Wayne. Like, most idols of mine are from the South, bro. I ain’t gonna lie to you. With the exceptions of, like I said, Pac and Biggie, Eazy-E, you know what I’m saying? But most idols of mine are the dudes who just really influence me — oh yeah, Lil Webbie– everybody from the South, basically.
Charlie Boy, too. He from… I think he really from. He from H-Town, but he influenced me on the harmonizing-wise, like, using my voice, like harmonizing-wise, hitting different notes and shit.
Where does the flow come from?
Probably, I get Pimp C. I get Boosie. How I learned to rhyme beats and being lyrical — we talkin’ ’bout the top dogs. Like the Bun B’s or the, like I said, Boosie, Kevin Gates, and Future — see, I kind of took from all of them differently. But like, starting off, it came from Dallas’s people, you know what I’m saying? It came from my manager. Gator Main, you know what I’m saying? Shit like that.
Who were local rappers that influenced you?
It wasn’t just Oak Cliff. It was Dallas, period. We had Mr. Pookie, Mr. Lucci. We had Gator Main. We had Stampede Records. That’s with Bo Leg and ’em. We had Big Chief. Dorrough had popped off real hard. You remember the Dorrough? “Ice Cream Paint Job”? Yeah, he had cracked off real hard. D.O.C.. Who else we had? He not from Dallas. He from Fort Worth, but Twisted Black. Nemesis. Quint Black. We had a couple people going crazy, fo’ sho’. Nino. Lil Star. O2. Lil Richard. Who else? That’s probably it, like, coming up-wise who was making the noise. We had like a Dallas movement, where it was kind of called it the Boogie movement, where it was like a lot of people that were making hot ass songs. It went crazy in Dallas.
Oh yeah, DSR. Can’t forget. Forgive me. They were putting out like a motherfucker. Can’t forget DSR. Big Tuck. Fat Bastard. Tum Tum. Lil Ronny. Now, if we jump back into the goddamn Boogie movement, they had Young Black. They had the Paper Chasers. They had Treal Lee & Prince Rick. It was a lot of people. The Boogie movement was like a lot of people that was coming with a lot of songs. It was a lot of folks, though, it was a lot of folks, but like you said, it didn’t peak like it was supposed to.
Oh yeah, they had Lil Wil. The “My Dougie.” His shit really got a lot of people doing the Dougie shit. They had took it. A lot of people took it, you know what I’m saying. Like, a lot of people taking shit from Dallas, and it was going crazy. But, who else they had, fuckin’ — Yung Nation, Thug Boss Nation. It was a lot of people out of Dallas that was making noise. If I forgot y’all names, not even forgot y’all names, bro. I just, goddamn, he put me on the spot. I couldn’t just think of everybody. Make sure you get everybody I just said, though, goddamn [Laughs].
You mention Young Nino & Hot Boy Star. Tell me about “Oak Cliff That’s My Hood.”
And what do you know about that? [Laughs] What do you know about that? Yeah, Oak Cliff, that’s my hood. Say, listen, that shit was like a whole fucking movement, bro. Like, it’s two songs in the club that’s fo’ sho’ that’s gon’ get the club crunk. Like stupid lit every time they play it. And the number one song, I’m not even gonna lie, it’s not even, he not even from Oak Cliff, it’s Big Tuck, he from South Dallas, but when you play that “Southside Da Realist,” I don’t give a fuck where you from, in Dallas, that motherfucker gettin’ the club dumb. And when you play it in Oak Cliff, that’s my hood, of course, everybody in Oak Cliff gon’ chuck they shit up. They started a fucking movement with that shit, bro. Like, n***as that weren’t even from Oak Cliff, they were claiming that. Like, you had to really ask people their address, and who they knew, and what school, or who they hung with. Like, you had to dig into it because everybody wanted to false claim Oak Cliff at this time, when that song came out, you know what I’m saying?
Everybody wanted to say they was from Oak Cliff. Either be their family staying in Oak Cliff, or their granny or something. Everybody then, you ask them what hood they from, cause Oak Cliff’s a big ass hood, but inside of Oak Cliff, it’s hoods. So, you gon’ get everybody wanna claim the most popular hood in Oak Cliff. Everybody looking at you crazy, you know what I’m saying? We had all types of, like, ‘Okay, what part of Cliff you from?’ ‘Yeah, okay what street you stayed on? Who you know?’ Like, we had to break it down because n***as was just false claiming so hard, but, them n***as set the bar, I ain’t gon’ lie to you. Them n***as set the bar. They made a lot of n***as in the ghetto happy being from Oak Cliff, for sure. They didn’t wanna see Oak Cliff in the club at one time, cause Oak Cliff’s like a biggest hood in that, and when you get all of us in one — like, we would be beefing with each other inside the hoods. Like, Highland Hills would be beefing with BFL, or Woodtown would be beefing with Highland Hills, or whatever. Everybody just be beefed up, beefing with each other. But when we go into them clubs, Oak Cliff is damn-near gon’ be as one when we fightin’ against the South or they fighting against The Grove, or they fighting against West Dallas. Like, we all come up as one in this motherfucker, fo’ sho’. But nah, they started some shit, bro. Shoutout to them n***as, though. We gotta give them credit when due, fo’ sho’. And I’m surprised you actually know that, that’s crazy.
“I always studied people. And I even studied their moves. Just how people move, bro. Just everything, just because I didn’t wanna be one of those young rappers that blew, and didn’t know about nothing. But me, I was already an old soul. So, I was already dug deep into music, like I really love this shit, so I was listening to damn near everybody.”
You’re a student of the game before you’re a rapper. What’s the importance of being a student of the game as you grow as an artist?
Man, I always studied people. And I even studied their moves. Just how people move, bro. Just everything, just because I didn’t wanna be one of those young rappers that blew, and didn’t know about nothing. But me, I was already an old soul. So, I was already dug deep into music, like I really love this shit, so I was listening to damn near everybody. And they kinda influenced me in certain different ways, cause I was trying to find myself when it comes to the music. I didn’t wanna sound like nobody but in order to find yourself, you gotta kind of dibble into other people’s [sound]. Just so you can, ‘Okay, I wanna be that type of rapper, but I don’t wanna sound like them, I wanna still sound my way,’ type shit. So, I was a person who always looked up, looking into rappers, where they from, doing my history on them. I was always into that shit. In school, instead of me doing my work, I was probably on the computer looking up rappers and what the fuck they had going, type shit. It was always important for me just to know what was going on before me, my time, and still to this day, so I always just make sure I just paid attention to everything.
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What do you hope the next generation of rappers can learn from you?
Man, if you gon’ learn from me, just be on our business. Take your craft seriously. Continue to be influenced and motivated, like, don’t settle and get too idle. Continue to be hungry and ambitious, you know what I’m saying? ‘Cause it’s a new rapper coming in each and every day and young ones. So, you gotta keep stepping in they face and keep yourself relevant. Don’t get too comfortable. Don’t get too cocky. And, of course, you’re supposed to always know your value, but don’t let this Hollywood shit get to you, or fame get to you real fast. You just want to be a stiff one. Learn that even though you’ve made it, there’s still a lot of shit you gon’ learn. It’s a lot of shit you gon’ learn from others, period. Don’t ever think you know too much. You gotta study yourself. Just weed out the bullshit.
Why is it important to be family-oriented in the public eye?
‘Cause without family, I don’t think — Me, personally, that’s how I grew up. Family-oriented. So, without family, I’m nothing, you know what I’m saying? I love to show the love that I got for my kids and my people because I grew up in that type of environment. Like, we ain’t ever had too much of nothing, but as long as we got each other, we was able to make a way. You gon’ need family. Don’t ever think you’re too big and too up to where you don’t need nobody. The money only gonna satisfy you to a certain extent. You still gon’ need your loved ones. They’re the ones who are actually there for you. Not the ones who are coming for handouts, you get what I’m saying? Your actual family. That’s a different type of love and different type of energy that brings to a person. When they got that family love, people praying for you. People that’s there for you when you need them. People who are gon’ be around to comfort you regardless of whether you up or down. They ain’t trying to be all in your mix, it’s just, ‘Aye, we family. Just know, we here forever,’ type shit. I always like to showcase that because that’s what I want to pass down to my kids and just keep that around me. Like, even if you ain’t blood family. Blood don’t just make you family, you can be somebody I
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