Elvis Presley,
the selfish MC,
back to ruin rap and destroy the industry,
single handedly
Perhaps something sociological is going on because just as, during generally good times, American culture brought us Elvis and Eminem, now in times of cultural malaise and civil war, American culture has brought us country singer / rapper Yelawolf, just as it delivered us Johnny Cash during the 1970s. Johnny Cash had the same social circle (and drug dealers) and general fan base as Elvis when he rose to prominence, just as Yelawolf now shares the same with Marshall Mathers.
Yelawolf made his rise with his Trunk Muzik series, which helped promote his music and won the ear of Eminem, who signed him and Slaughterhouse, a rap supergroup led by longtime friend Royce da 5'9, in 2011. Eminem has been quoted as describing Yelawolf's music as like "nothing I've ever heard before" and it certainly isn't. Yela, real name Michael Wayne Atha, blends electronic, rap and country in a seamless blend that defies genre boundaries.
There is a certain social dynamic that makes Yelawolf a perfect face for a white boy in hip-hop in the 2010s. When he first arose in 2011, Leah Carroll, writing for The Atlantic, called him "Alabama's answer to Eminem" and a rapper who "focuses on rural poverty, which is rarely seen or discussed in hip-hop." We live in a time where Donald Trump, catapulted to the White House by states like the one Yelawolf hails from, is not only president but has
Like Johnny Cash, who had a strong affinity with native culture, Yelawolf is half Cherokee. Yela himself seems cognitively aware of the similarities, naming one song on his album Love Story "Johnny Cash" while the lead single for that album, "Til It's Gone," was an almost obvious take on Cash's posthumous song "Ain't No Grave." He even sports a tattoo on the side of his head of Johnny Cash's wedding photo with wife June Carter:
Unlike rock music, the success of a few white rappers never stopped hip-hop from being black music. Arguably the most prominent rapper of the 2010s has been Dr. Dre protege Kendrick Lamar, whose albums have provided a soundtrack for the Obama and Black Lives Matter eras. As such, Yelawolf has had to prove himself - he went through a Benzino like feud with rapper Lord Jamar over the place of white rappers in hip-hop, which ultimately led to the song "To Whom It May Concern," in which he emphatically distanced himself from neo-confederacy and racism and a declaration that "black culture runs through my veins." Like Eminem, it's a bit unlikely that Yela's success will lead to an invasion of similar artists. Rap is black music, period.
Despite a failure with his debut album Radioactive, Love Story was a critical success. His third album, Trial by Fire, which has featured Dukes of Hazzard promotional artwork of Yelawolf watching as a vintage car is set on fire, echoes the 1970s malaise that birthed Johnny Cash in strong ways. The interlude "Struggle Speaks" depicts a fellow country rapper, Struggle, talking about riding in a federal van, echoing Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," while "Do For Love," which depicts a young father robbing a store in order to provide for his family, echoes Cash's "Out Among the Stars."
On "Row Your Boat," Yela speaks bluntly about the 2010s American malaise and the real harm it has caused:
They marchin’ up the street they wanna fight they don’t want peace
Peace of what you have they snatch and grabThey steal and runThey pullin’ guns out on policePolice they shoot and kill - they shoot at willThey will at you - they’ll execute if you don’t leaveLeavin’ the impression no one’s safe inside this dungeon in the city of the beastBeasts are on the corner, slingin’ poison to the junkies - to a junkie it’s a feast
Watch the video:
The second standout song on Trial By Fire is "Row Your Boat," wherein Yela proclaims loudly his affection for a friend who was with him during his lows. Yela expresses that, despite his commercial success, he still thinks of his times of poverty with his best friend. The simple twanging guitar riffs sound like a typical country song, while another standout song, "Son of a Gun," sounds more than a bit like Eminem's hit "Cleanin' out my Closet."
"Violin," meanwhile, echoes Johnny Cash's Vietnam era proclamations of a world gone wrong, such as "Man in Black" or "Singin' in Viet Nam Talkin' Blues," as he journeys through the mind of a veteran soldier driven mad by multiple tours of duty, with lyrics such as:
I pledge allegiance,
I left my family,
a newborn baby,
to slay the enemy,
the struggle for power,
lust and vanity,
I trusted America but it took my sanity.
Years after Everlast told us what it's like or Kid Rock told us his name (and despite Yela's boss Eminem emphatically dissing Donald Trump, Trump supporter Kid Rock makes an appearance on the Yelawolf song "Get Mine"), Michael Wayne Atha has all but single handedly solidified the country rap genre, or "hick hop" as some call it. If Yela really is like Johnny Cash, I can't wait to hear where his "trial by fire" takes us from here.
