Yelawolf Has No Place In Country and Roots Music
Here at Saving Country Music, we have put ourselves squarely on the front lines of opposing the infiltration of hip hop into the country genre, or possibly, the takeover of country by hip-hop, that seems to be pervading the current mainstream country music landscape. Unlike many others that flee from this fight, I am willing to take the charges of racism and closed-mindedness to fight for the preservation of diversity and contrast in music.
At the same time, the way we can counter accusations of racism and closed-mindedness is by attempting to seek out the artists that are actually being creative and respectful in their attempts to bridge the two genres as opposed to simply increasing a target audience by appealing to the least common denominator. And since I have seen Alabama-based rapper Yelawolf promoted by many different roots-based entities, including The Soundland Festival in Nashville and Shooter Jennings’ XXX, I thought he would be a good start.
My first observation about Yelawolf is that he is not country, in any way. This isn’t a guy trying to bridge country and hip-hop, like Colt Ford or The Moonshine Bandits, he is a hip-hop artist, plain and simple. Sure, some of his songs may have what could be considered country themes, but each would be balanced out with a half dozen misogynistic and self-absorbed songs that offer no real contrast from mainstream hip-hop whatsoever. So what makes him country or roots, the fact he’s white and from Alabama? Well then you’re just giving into stereotypes.
My second observation is that Yelawolf is in no way unknown, underground, independent, or otherwise in need of material support from anybody. He is a major label artist signed to Interscope, on Eminem’s Shady Records imprint. In fact, not only could you use him to make the case of how hip-hop is infiltrating roots infrastructure, you could also use him to illustrate how major labels are doing the same thing. And not only is he well-connected, he is wildly popular. As an example, his video for “Pop The Trunk” on YouTube has nearly 7 million hits. Another video, “I Just Wanna Party”, has over 6 million hits, “Daddy’s Lambo” has nearly 5 million hits, and he has 3 more videos with over 1 million hits, and 3 more with over 500,000.
To put it in perspective, Hank3, arguably the largest underground country artist, only has one video over 1 million hits. Shooter Jennings’ biggest video has just over 500,000, and Justin Townes Earle, who was supposed to be the headliner of Nashville’s Soundland that Yelawolf played at, doesn’t have a video with over 200,000 hits. Granted, this is an anecdotal measurement, but it is hard to argue that Yealwolf is anything short of a mega star. Why independent roots entities feel the need to extend him support is beyond me, and smacks of pandering to his fan base to drive numbers.
However, just because an artist is not country or roots-based, or is on a major label, or is popular, doesn’t mean that artist is bad. So I decided to give some of these Yelawolf tunes an honest listen to try and discover what the appeal is in certain roots circles.
I started off with “Pop The Trunk”, his highest ranking video on YouTube, and a song I can see someone making the case for having country themes. Strictly from a lyrical standpoint, this song is not terrible, and I can can see where the appeal would be. The song offers a glimpse into a socioeconomic trend where very poor white people from the deep South reach out to hip-hop and urban culture as an escape, and for identity. This trend is what is fueling the country rap movement. It’s also the trend Eric Church highlighted from the opposite perspective in his song “Home Boy”, whose positive review on SCM drew the ire of some, but was based on Eric highlighting the very root and very real problem of rural culture destruction.
As family farms are sold off, either from foreclosures or the encroachment of suburban housing tracts, rural land owners cling to smaller and smaller assets while their rural culture and sense of community disappears, isolating them from modern society, and sometimes, causing them to turn to drug production and/or abuse, as their children turn to the most dominant culture available as an escape from something they are raised being ashamed of. Yealwolf does an excellent job capturing this scary and subversive trend in the first verse of “Pop The Trunk”.
But then in the second verse Yelawolf reverts back to the same old misogynistic and materialistic themes that pervade and pervert what might be otherwise good music when he starts talking about “bitches” and “Monte Carlos”, while images of pimped out sedans and immature pot use fill the screen with shallow and all-too-predictable imagery.
Without question, the song is real, and is filled with truth, and I don’t want to discredit that. Like Yelwolf says in the 3rd verse, “This ain’t no figment of my imagination this is where I live, ‘Bama.” From a sociological standpoint, I understand that Yelawolf is a product of the declining rural landscape, but at the same time, though at times he may be raging against these trends, or at least chronicling them in the traditional troubadour sense, he’s also helping to fuel them with the all-too-predictable mysogeny, materialism, excessive drug references, and just a general lack of subtly or values found in most mainstream hip-hop music, and by perpetuating stereotypes.
It was all downhill with the other Yelawolf songs I checked out. “I Just Wanna Party” was just a pathetic and predictable hip-hop party song with no redeeming value, and reminded me why I never want to birth a daughter into a world where a bunch of greasy assholes with no game have to turn to alcohol to get girls to pass out so they can rape them. It is the hip-hop version of Toby Keith’s awful new song “Red Solo Cup”, and honestly erases any value of any other Yelawolf song. “Daddy’s Lambo” was not much better, and at that point, for my health, I bailed out of the Yelawolf experiment.
I’m not saying the guy has no talent. There’s many Music Row artists that are very talented too. But just like them, Yelawolf has decided to use that talent for evil, and so I have no use for him or his music, and anywhere Yelawolf is penetrating into roots infrastructure, it should be dealt with as an infection. The first rule to art appreciation is that if you like it, that’s all that matters, and so if you like Yelawolf, don’t let my or anyone else’s opinions sway you from the enjoyment of music. But this will likely be the last time you will see Yelawolf be talked about here, because somewhere there is a roots artists that deserves and needs the attention much more. And if all roots-based entities would adopt that rule, I would’ve never needed to talk about him at all.
October 18, 2011 @ 9:37 am
Dead On! To me, Hip Hop could be seen as the purest roots music of our day. The sound began in the inner city with people who simply couldn’t afford guitars, amps, drumsets, etc. but could afford turntables and old records. The problem is, the franchise was bought up by the corporate profiteers in the late 80s/early 90s. I believe the negative themes you discussed are where the actual RACISM lies. These themes are promoted to young kids who lack real role models. It’s intended to drive them to behave like the [n-words] that corporate America wants them to be.
If I could see someone like Grandmaster Flash or KRS-1 at a roots festival, I’d be fine with that. These major label artist being pushed on us is another matter.
October 18, 2011 @ 10:46 am
Chad, I agree with pretty much everything you said. I can barely bring myself to listen to any rap, and that’s a shame, because there’s so much potential, as an alternative style of music. It has become so embodied by image, that it’s become a parody of itself. Rap is going through the same issues as country, but even fewer people notice/care.
I’ll be honest, I ended up liking that “Pop the Trunk” song a lot more than I had anticipated. It’s refreshing to hear a rapper that doesn’t use autotune and mimic every other song on the top 40 to make a few bucks. Which causes me to wonder how much of his party songs come from himself, as opposed to pressure from his label. I’m just hearing him now, so I really don’t know enough about the kid to know.
October 18, 2011 @ 12:33 pm
KRS-1 performing right after Justin Townes Earle or Scott H Biram would be a little strange, but seeing as I have a deep seated love fot good hip-hop, that would actually be awesome.
October 18, 2011 @ 10:29 am
Roots in what? Sand and decay?
The old guitar was a way out for past generations of roots musicians. It was/is a soulful machine that must be mastered.
There can be no valid comparison between the instrumental qualities of roots music and hiphop/rap.
And whiggerdom is no alleviation of the dying rural culture.
October 18, 2011 @ 1:53 pm
“Roots in what? Sand and decay?” Possibly. There is a lot of decay in Memphis. There is a lot of art that clings to it. The banjo is of African origin. Therefore, “whiggerdom” is as much a part of our culure as anything. I could certainly compare the “instrumental qualities of roots music and hiphop/rap.” How many instrumentalists strum the same 3 chords in song after song? How is that inherently better than skillfully rhyming and spinning 2 turntables? If 2 kids grow up in the suburbs, one buys an old arch-top guitar on eBay and wears ‘vintage’ clothes, the other buys two turnbtables and a microphone ands wears Rocawear, which one is the real deal?
October 18, 2011 @ 2:28 pm
Hear hear. I can totally get on board with most (of what I hear) of hip-hop being garbage, but I fault myself for not investigating the genre further, rather than faulting the genre as a whole.
“There can be no valid comparison between the instrumental qualities of roots music and hiphop/rap.” In my experience, blanket statements like that about ANY subject tend to be wrong.
As far as this whole hip-hop/country discussion, as much as I dislike everything I’ve heard of the “genre” thus far, we shouldn’t be so resistant to change. Likely, nothing any of us can do will stop the genre. But take solace in the fact that, just as likely, nothing anyone else can do will give the genre any longevity. Think rap/metal. Rage killed, maybe one or two other groups, but the genre as a whole died off pretty quick.
Thank God.
October 18, 2011 @ 3:14 pm
In your experience counts as anecdotal evidence.
Would you like to offer some comparisons to demonstrate how a rapper/hiphop artists talents are equal to that of any kind of real instrumentalist?
October 18, 2011 @ 4:50 pm
Sav ”“ I gleefully accept your challenge!
* Assuming you accept the human voice as an instrument, here”™s a history of hip-hop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_2vmkTmf0
* Rapping is also an art, especially when you have something to say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVtpXvzzXiA
It”™s not as easy as it looks.
I have a different POV than Chad. Here in NYC it wasn”™t as much about money for instruments, it was about being on parental lock down. If you grew up in a rough neighborhood, you weren”™t allowed outside to play because it was too dangerous. So many kids holed up in their apartments with their parents”™ records. A lot of sampling came from 70s soul and RnB because that”™s what everybody knew. When hip-hop was forming, all those music nerds took to the streets with their record collection (two turntables and a microphone) and began MC-ing. It was a way for the guys that weren”™t tough enough to be in a gang to get by without becoming a statistic. Most of them talked smack because they wanted to be perceived as tough but most of them were doing it because they weren”™t tough. Perfect example is Mos Def and Talib Kewli (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5aVI2zsFE filmed in my neighborhood!)
As for Yelawolf, I agree with Triggerman. I view him as part of the pop hip-hop that’s out and I”™m just not into it.
(I hope this doesn’t get spammed ’cause of my youtube links!)
October 18, 2011 @ 6:04 pm
Uh, dude, maybe 90% of what’s posted on this site (and probably 99.9% of what’s posted in the comments) is anecdotal evidence.
Gillian really made any point that needs to be made, but I’ll take it a step forward.
Many (most?) people are not instrument, in that they can’t play a single instrument. However, most people CAN sing (not necessarily well). Point being, the vocals are what they identify with. There’s a reason you don’t hear a ton of instrumentals on pop radio, and a reason you don’t even hear that many solos these days. Not saying pop radio is God of music, but it’s probably a pretty good representation of what the masses are listening to.
If you’d like to argue that rapping isn’t singing, you’d be making the same mistake as someone saying a drummer isn’t a musician.
It’s all opinion, sure, but most open-minded people would agree that rap is music, whether good or bad. Music is made with instruments, and the voice is an instrument.
End rant.
October 19, 2011 @ 3:25 pm
That beat boxing was incredible, but there were times that I couldn’t help but laugh because it just sounded so goofy to my ears. And thats how I feel about rap in general; no matter how much talent is in it, it’s still gonna sound sound like shit to me. But I could see how people would say the exact same thing about sweep picking. Or this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4ouPGGLI6Q&lc=IBDsASx1NVmbSeDygp8_3I9rayUOgs2I9TXFkB-T2zo&feature=inbox.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:23 pm
The banjo and guitar are both of European
The banjo was often strummed by blacks in minstral shows, and in vaudeville.
It became a staple in bluegrass and country when musicians began to finger pick it.
The banjo comes from the European lute family and derives its name from such instruments as the Italian bandora.
please let us know what the African equivelent of the mandolin is/was and where it is currently employed in African roots music.
“If 2 kids grow up in the suburbs, one buys an old arch-top guitar on eBay and wears ”˜vintage”™ clothes, the other buys two turnbtables and a microphone ands wears Rocawear, which one is the real deal?”
One of them might learn the pentonic scales. There is no hiphop equivelent.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:28 pm
Gillian, if you want the real roots of rap, it started in the 19th century by caller/fiddlers at both black and white dances and social events.
Real folk/roots tradition there. And everyone knows about Charlie Daniels homage to it.
Problem is, most musicians aren’t talented enough to play and sing, let alone play and spontaneously call at the same time.
October 18, 2011 @ 7:27 pm
Completely incorrect. Banjo is of African NOT European origin. Thomas Jefferson wrote of his slaves playing “banjar”. The most visually obvious of this is the Akonting which not only looks just like a banjo but is played it much the same as a clawhammer player would pick their 5 string.
Mainly whites in black face picked banjos in Vaudeville and minstrel shows. Classical banjo is also mainly fingerpicked not strummed. Strumming is associated with tenor and plectrum in Irish and Jazz.
The predominant “country” banjo playing was “clawhammer” (Stringbean, Uncle Dave Macon) not finger picking although forms of 2 finger (Wade Mainer, Charlie Poole) and 3 finger (Dock Boggs, Mac Woolbrightt, Snuffy Jenkins) were popular in some regions. The banjo isn’t a staple in Bluegrass its a requirement. The music was born on that Ryman stage with the 3 finger banjo and MUST have the 3 finger banjo in at least one of its forms (Scruggs, Melodic, Singe String). If it doesn’t it’s country music.
October 18, 2011 @ 7:43 pm
Son of a bitch. I meant to say Charlie Poole played 3 finger not 2 finger. Misspoke I guess.
October 18, 2011 @ 11:48 pm
Savrola, I’ll buy a tuba, eat a pound of beans, and play a pentatonic scale out of my ass. I challenge you to play a guitar to an urban black crowd and tell them why your music is better than theirs.
October 19, 2011 @ 8:15 am
Anytime.
you are obviously unfamiliar with urban blacks, so I’ll give you a brief background.
Urban blacks who can count past ten without using their fingers, are usually also reggae fans.
lot of rappers have interests in other types of music, hence Snoop Dogg’s duet with Willie Nelson.
the descendents of old bluesmen have been mixing rap and blues for twenty years now.
Start with Chris Thomas King and work your through.
black males, like males of most other races, appreciate the guitar as machine. Like the motorcycle its a universal symbol of cool.
Unfortunately, most do not have either the patience to learn it, or the outlets to perform guitar music.
October 19, 2011 @ 8:24 am
FoF,
The reason that there are no instrumentals on the radio is that average indivdual’s attention span can longer handle any song over 2 minutes in length.
And yes, the vox was man’s original instrument, approximetely a billion years ago.
Then some enterprising caveman started beating on things, and fashioning instruments.
It went from there to the symphony and apparently back again.
October 19, 2011 @ 8:31 am
The ultimate origin of the banjo is unknown. It may be an adaptation of a Portuguese guitar, the banza, brought to West Africa in the 1600s.
It’s fairly certain that Jefferson, though many things, was not an authority on banjos.
The original minstral shows featured black performers. These were phased out in the late 19th century, in favor of whites in black-face, which was more socially acceptable at that time period (the beginning of vaudeville)
James Asborne was the first to ad frets to the banjo, as the original creation lacked both frets and a fingerboard.
Some background on the subject.
http://www.hicklerbanjo.com/articles/article/4600666/80714.htm
May 17, 2024 @ 2:03 am
The banjo is a Portuguese instrument. It does not come from blacks at all.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:03 pm
While a lot of the current rap/hip hop is pure garbage, don’t deny talent when it exists. I guarantee you that few country artists have such a command of language as many of these artists do. Their ability to modify words at a moments notice and rhyme as quick as they talk and doing it rhythmically is stunning. If you dig deep enough there is some really fascinating discourse going on in this genre. I would compare their lyrical ability to playing an instrument. As much as I love Townes Van Zandt, if his lyrics weren’t good I probably would have never listened to his guitar alone. I personally haven’t heart of any great “scratchers” alone, at least not without the ability to sing/rap (though they may exist). Rap has its roots in traditional African music and I would consider that legit.I don’t like mainstream rap but I don’t like much mainstream period.
October 18, 2011 @ 7:59 pm
I agree. Saying hip hop is not music and rappers are not musicians doesn’t get you anywhere. It is the most dominant style of music in American culture right now. That doesn’t mean it’s good, but just because 90% of it might be garbage, it doesn’t mean it’s all bad. Think if you we’re an underground hip-hop fan and looked at Rascal Flatts and Sugarland. It would be pretty easy to be dismissive of the whole genre too.
October 20, 2011 @ 12:58 pm
That is one of the most astute statements I’ve ever read on this site. Two guns up, Trig.
October 18, 2011 @ 11:08 am
I hope you’re prepared for the possible comments pointing out misogynist themes in country music, haha. Anyway, I’ve noticed people with a decent sense of good music knocking the country/hip hop blending. I’m not just talking about country fans, either. People who don’t listen to country or hip hop have been shocked and laughed their ass off when I show them “Dirt Road Anthem” or some other video. It honestly reminds me a lot of nu-metal. Does anyone else remember that? Crashed and burned.
There is more I want to say, but I am drugged up for my sinuses, and I think I am about to drift into a lurid state. Thanks for the article Triggerman, and I hope this comment was clear.
October 18, 2011 @ 12:49 pm
Thanks Trigger. My thoughts exactly. I like how you tackle head on arguments from your readers. You are appreciated.
October 18, 2011 @ 1:12 pm
“…reminded me why I never want to birth a daughter into a world where a bunch of greasy assholes with no game have to turn to alcohol to get girls to pass out so they can rape them”
Which scares the hell out of me given that I will be bringing a daughter into such a world in a few short months. If you want a scary exercise, sit down and try to create a list of POPULAR positive female role models for your child. Honestly, that little exercise alone has given me a new found appreciation for Taylor Swift. Sorry to derail…
I go to the Grassroots Music Festival every year. While it isn’t necessarily SCM’s demographic, I think there is usually a nice blending of roots hip-hop, reggae, rock, and country. A few years ago, one stage transitioned from Arrested Development to Bela Fleck and not too many people changed spots in between. Good music is good music.
October 18, 2011 @ 2:45 pm
We can hate all day but if it sells it will exist. The audience will be the same overweight dumb white trash I see at my family reunions. Wallmart in musical form. I wouldnt spend too much energy worrying about it. Like Vanilla Ice this to shall pass.
Funny that heavy metal by Hank 3 is accepted here but not this stuff…why does that crap get a pass?
October 18, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
I don’t know if you mean here on SCM or somewhere else, but first Hank’s metal is inspired by Wino, Mastadon, Pantera, and Sleep. Any metalhead worth his/her weight should know and at least respect those bands. Also mentioned in an early article on here is how metal listeners often listen to country. I don’t think anyone here has really talked about his metal. I thought it was pretty good live but it lost some quality in the record. Plus, it seems to me Hank is firstly inspired by metal and he clearly infuses it into country. Rap and hip-hop, on the other hand, have yet to be successfully incorporated into country. I had the displeasure of reviewing Gangsta Grass and it was awful. Essentially there was a bluegrass band and a rapper and they were each doing their own thing. It might be possible to actually pull this off but the two worlds are so different. Some stuff doesn’t work and there’s a reason for that. Also worth mentioning is Hank’s metal isn’t mainstream metal while it’s clear to me Yelawolf is a mainstream performer.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:20 pm
Interesting to read what you said about Gangsta Grass Jukebox. I had been wondering about them since hearing them on the opening credits for Justified. That song is okay, and I’d wondered what the other stuff was like.
October 20, 2011 @ 1:00 pm
I couldn’t disagree more, Carla. That opening theme is the only thing I don’t like about Justified.
October 18, 2011 @ 8:06 pm
Hank3 works in two different genres, one of which is country. Yelawolf works in one, hip-hop. That was the very first point I made in this article. I have also said many times that I wish Hank3 would keep the lines between country and metal more defined. I also have never reviewed any of Hank3’s metal projects, or commented or promoted them much at all. If he was calling his metal music country, then this may be a concern of mine, but he’s gone out of his way to call metal, metal, and even made a specific point with his last album to warn his country fans there wasn’t much country there. Two completely different situations.
October 18, 2011 @ 4:12 pm
Good lord this is terrible. It reminds me of the Insane Clown Posse. the chorus was perhaps the worst I have ever heard in a rap song before. I dont see the country in this though in any way.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:06 pm
I feel your pain. I felt the same way about rap/metal and jazz/funk fusion. And I realize that they didn’t let drums on the stage of the Opry for a long time.
But I can’t help think of the irony that what we think of as traditional country music is really a fusion.
Scottish/Irish/English folk ballads traveling down the Appalachians and Mississippi, and smashing into African music coming up from the Delta. Hell, the guitar is Spanish, the fiddle Italian, and the banjo is African. And till the day he died my Daddy always said “Hawaiian Guitar” not steel.
As a regular reader of this site, I’m more interested in what you think we should hear, not what we shouldn’t. The best way to make ugly music go away is to drown it out with better stuff.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:10 pm
1. The song is god-awful. Sad. I can only chalk it up to this guy not being able to let go of his teens/early 20’s. You are 30 dude, and your not Eminem or Kid Rock, they can barely pull it off.
2. Trigger- I get your point this guy has more exposure and backing than a lot of underground artists, but he is not near a megastar. Lets not confuse youtube hits with record sales. He’s a couple quick dollars for Shady records.
3. This hiphop/country thing won’t last. Like mentioned above, even those that don’t follow either hip hop or country laugh this off. The kids that like it will look back on it like we (white and in my mid/late 30’s) look back on Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg. WTF were we thinking. Oh yea, we were young and dumb.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:13 pm
Also, black folks, and real rap/hip-hop artists, have to laugh at this dork. jesus. Vanilla Ice could kick this punks ass.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:17 pm
what a joke… this guy is as much country as simon & garfunkel are metal what the fuck is this crap.. it’s not even good rap or hip hop whatever the fuck you want to call it…
October 18, 2011 @ 5:17 pm
Oh dear, this is annoyingly catchy. I considered myself fluent in American English but I can’t actually understand much of what he’s saying. He sounds like he’s rapping in an comedic Australian accent, like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6cvOBCBVug&feature=related
At 1:08 does he say ‘sambos’? NOOOOOO! Really? And what’s a Monte Carlo?
Gotta say he is ROCKING that rats tail though. I would like to pull it.
October 18, 2011 @ 5:22 pm
Yelawolf, please please please go pop that trunk on me. I’d love to see your skinny ass try and lug that shotgun out. Aim and fire and that thing would kick you back to a time when white people could rap well… oh, never.
What a fucking punk.
From Alabama eh? Jamey Johnson’s from Alabama. Would like to see what his gang of roadies would do to you if you “rolled up.” haha.
October 18, 2011 @ 6:06 pm
Really? Kinda seems like your starting to reach for articles now.
October 19, 2011 @ 8:56 am
Every day I have probably 20 different topics for articles swirling in my head, and the ones that get published involve two main factors: 1. how much time I have to devote to them. 2. What I am passionate about at that moment. I was very passionate about this topic, so I wrote about it. Reception by readers is a factor, but very far down the list, just like a musician who follows his heart and passion with no regard for reception. This topic may not be down your alley, but trust me, I am never stretching to find things to write about, in fact, I’m usually stretching myself too thin because there’s so many topics I feel need to be covered.
October 19, 2011 @ 5:32 pm
Totally understandable. You write what you want to write about. In all honesty I kinda thought an article like this would be coming out, especially after the XXX vol. 3 had a track he helped with. Maybe I’m ignorant but I haven’t really seen a push trying get Yelawolf labeled as a “roots” or “rap-country” artist.
October 20, 2011 @ 4:13 pm
There were two things that motivated me to write this article. The first was I a vow to attempt to seek out the artists that were actually doing country rap and doing it well, while respecting country traditions. I made that vow in this article:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/country-rap-is-here-a-survivors-guide
Then when writing about The Soundland Festival on Nashville a few weeks back, a traditionally Americana/Indie Rock fest that booked Yelawolf and other major label hip-hop bands this year, his name came up, with numerous people saying he was good. So I decided to check him out. Honestly, I was hoping to have some more positive things to say about him.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/hip-hop-infiltrates-nashville-through-soundland-2011
October 18, 2011 @ 6:57 pm
Hip Hop as Roots Music:
We just passed the 10th anniversary of 9-11. Ten years doesn’t seem like a long time now does it? Let’s say it’s the early 80s, only about 12 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the end of the civil rights era. The pain of April 4th 1968 is still very real in Black America. About that time, crack cocaine finds it’s way to black neighborhoods.
Waylon jennings is infamously known for putting thousands$$$ a day in cocaine up his nose. Musicians are generally very close to underground/drug culture. It makes sense that the destruction wrought by crack would decimate the musician population very early on. This leaves youngsters without neighborhood musicians to mentor them. Forget guitar lessons. Dad and big brother are in prison if they’re alive at all.
Amidst the chaos and destruction, there is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There are house parties but few if any musicians to do the entertaining. You can listen to records, but after a while you’ve heard them all. What to do? Improvise. Disc jockeys begin to “scratch” records. Masters of Ceremony (MC) begin to “rap”.
These events unfold beginning in the late 70s. TV show “Yo! MTV Raps” began in 1988. By the early 90s we were being sold on the gangsta idea. That’s barely a decade for the artform to evolve before it began to be steered by the same forces that bring us the mainstream garbage we have now.
Hip Hop began as organic in nature as anything we call ‘roots’ today. The main difference in ‘country’ roots music is a longer history and a deeper well from which to draw inspiration. Even today’s Blues music is starkly contrasted in black and white cultures. The ‘folk revival’ era Blues music is a historical re-write in a sense. Many of the artists from that era (even those with careers beginning in the 20s and 30s) were sort of cherry-picked by aficianados who were seeking and portraying an desired image.
It’s completely understandable that people reading SCM would just not like Hip Hop/Rap as a style. All I’m saying is that Rap does have some claim to Roots. Reading this article it was clear to me that Trigger Man’s aversion to Yelawolf isn’t about Rap as much as coroporate infiltration. If the corporate labels are interested in the roots market, sign some roots musicians and allow them to exist and grow as artists, not just as products.
October 18, 2011 @ 9:05 pm
Well said.
October 19, 2011 @ 8:52 am
I think you can make the case that any type of music is roots music, because all music is derivative of something done before, even techno. But I think one important requirement for music to be considered roots is if it has spawned a derivative. Country has spawned many. Blues and folk and bluegrass have spawned many. Hip-hop I think may still be the original form, though country rap may be it’s first derivative. Eventually hip-hop will be a roots genre, not sure it is there yet. And don’t read too much into my use of the term “roots” in this context, I’m obviously meaning string-based singer/songwriter type music, not music that simply has roots in something that came before it.
I also want to say I am not simply opposed to putting hip hop and country artists together in the same format or festival. My big opposition, and the inspiration for looking further into Yelawolf is that he’d taken the place of a roots or indie rock performer who had helped build the Soundland Festival in Nashville a few weeks ago.
October 18, 2011 @ 10:43 pm
For me there is soul in stringed instruments. From ultra simplistic stuff like Black Sabbath or rudimentry blues licks to the most technical death metal. Stringed instruments and piano speak to my soul. Not record scratching and drum loops. Vocals are indeed an instrument – just listen to Whitmore’s “Cold and Dead.” Some of Tupac’s brightest moments and even the first Bone Thugs album would be to my ears the best example of soul within hip-hops mainstream… I’m no expert. Johnny Cash has plenty of songs where his vox are basically just rapping… It’s generally the music that leaves me cold when it comes to hip-hop. Also, any music that relies so much on vocal style and rhyme scheme is gonna grow tired to me. But like Triggerman said above it’d be pretty easy for hip-hop fans to dismiss country music if all they heard was what they’re offered on mainstream radio. What I don’t know about underground hip-hop could fill many books. But Yelawolf sucks.
October 18, 2011 @ 11:54 pm
i LOVE me some Bone Thugs n Harmony! On “The Art of War” double album they did “Thug Love” with 2pac. That’s one of my all time favorite tracks ever! Don’t know why, don’t care why. I LOVE that song and that album! Highly recommended!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPtwFMOo-9M
October 20, 2011 @ 7:30 am
Not to oversimplify, but hip hop has morphed from lyrics about personal realities to lyrics about masking insecurities. Country music, soul music and rock music have always been about baring your insecurities, using music to expose your pain to the light of day. Hip Hop hides the insecurities of the lyricist under layers of bravado.
To me, that is the biggest complaint against hip hop.
October 20, 2011 @ 4:31 pm
I concur. If vocals and lyrics are supposed to be the focal point of the genre then why are they so shitty? There is a running gripe on this web-site about how so many pop-country acts have been name dropping and reciting a laundry list of things that make them “real” country. Rap and hip-hop have been facing that problem for much longer. That’s just refering to the mainstream though cause that’s all I am aware of. If the rythyms and instrumentation of the hip-hop genre weren’t also boring and soul-less to me I might be willing to dig deeper but that just isn’t the case.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:46 am
Again, I come to SCM completely unawares of the infectious spores leeching off the soul of country music, only to find a new name added to the list.
TriggerMan, I applaud you for your research efforts. I couldn’t make it halfway through “Pop The Trunk.” In fact, I could actually feel myself getting dumber. You sir, are an oak.
That being said, I’ve always been a fan of hip hop as well as country music. Sadly, the last time either of the genres was any good in the mainstream was about 1996 — and that’s pushing it for country. There was talent on both sides, but they stayed on their respective sides of the fence. The mega talents of the day had more respect for their own genre, and arguably for the other guy’s genre, than to make a mockery of both. Hip hop lost its sense of self when 2Pac and Biggie died, and country lost its sense of self when … well, there’s a myriad of reasons.
I just thank God we never had to suffer through a 2Pac/Garth Brooks duet.
October 19, 2011 @ 9:42 am
I have two points to throw out there. 1) Wanting to keep hip hop out of country music does not make you a racist, it makes you a purist. Hip Hop has completely strangled soul music and if you’re a fan of country music, it is completely understandable if you don’t want to see the same thing happen to your favorite artists. 2) Hip hop maybe have begun as an authentic American roots music but has become the musical equivalent of fast food. There is no substance. There are no long term record sales nor “oldies hip hop” stations. It is music for a fleeting moment.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:16 pm
To your two points…Hip hop (rap) is already in country music albeit horribly done. Rap has been around since at least 1972 when DJ Hollywood started rhyming over disco records and that’s nearly 40 years.
I love lots of the musicians and their music which is supported so rightly here on SCM but none of them have ever delivered an album as substantial as Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back or Fear of a Black Planet. That’s not a knock on anybody but just giving credit where credit is due.
October 20, 2011 @ 7:26 am
I must not have made my point well about hip hop. Yes, it has been around for a while, but when was the last time any song from It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back or Fear of a Black Planet was played on the radio, in a jukebox, at a party?
I am not trying to detract from Hip Hops relevance, I am just stating that individual hip hop songs have no longevity. They are, in essence, pop music. You can still hear Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder or Curtis Mayfields socially conscious 70s soul on the radio, but you will not hear old hip hop unless it is party music.
What I was trying to say is that gaurding Country music or any style of music from the influence of hip hop is not racist, but just protective and people shouldn’t feel guilty about being protective of something that means something to them.
October 19, 2011 @ 1:30 pm
Did I miss Snoop Dogg in this discussion? Worked with Willie Nelson and dedicated a song to Johnny Cash. Speaking of whom, I downloaded a cd called “Johnny Cash Remixed”, and that’s a good listen. Cash inspired people from all walks of life, so why not hiphop-kids and dance-freaks. Maybe the ultimate hiphop-real country-song hasn”t been recorded yet, one that could even get the approval of some Hank3-fans. You could even say that there’s a lot of extremely brilliant rapping on the Cattle Callin’ cd.
It could happen. Why not? Hiphop will stay, there’s no question about that. I saw Run DMC and the Beastie Boys in 1987, and nobody knew back then if it would be there to stay, let alone how big it would become. Since then I’ve learned to listen to it, and I really like some. Here in Holland the hiphop-scene has a lot of real creativity, and gets a lot more media-attention than roots-orientaded musicians. I am okay with that, because I appreciate creativity. But I’m not a fan. Just love good music….
Andre “Bacon Fat” Williams recorded an album with The Sadies: Red Dirt. Also pretty good was Tom Russell with Barrence Whitfield (rhythm&blues-shouter with the Savages) as the Hillbilly Voodoo trio. The best music is when you can hear that it comes from the heart.
October 19, 2011 @ 6:29 pm
In all fairness, this could have been a much better song than it is, while I give it to him that it has alot more guts than I thought it would before pushin’ play. Too many ‘don’t make me’s’ and not enough musical chops. I guess I should say, “Don’t make me push pause”.
October 20, 2011 @ 8:05 am
My Afroamerican music professor, Ray Charles’ band leader, explained that the Banjo came from Africa. them folks dug a hole in the ground, stretched a animal hide over the hole and beat on it as a drum or added animal gut strings and plucked.
The first commercial “RAP” hit was by Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues..
Don’t care much for “RAP” , But sure like the attitude.
Not big on any kind of spoken word poetry.
October 20, 2011 @ 9:15 am
Spoken word and rapping are two completely different things, and it’s insulting to both to say they are the same. This is one of my pet peeves, and apparently I need to write an exclusive article about it because it is such a common misconception. So many folks think they know what the first rap song is. It was Bob Dylan, it was Aerosmith, it was Charlie Daniels, it was Jimmie Rogers. No it was the Sugar Hill Gang.
October 21, 2011 @ 4:03 am
I have a 45 of Red Sovine (featuring Skooly D) doing Apartment #9.
October 20, 2011 @ 9:11 am
I have a problem with the infiltration of punk into country music just as much as i do with hip-hop.
October 20, 2011 @ 4:43 pm
I like the punk tempo that has been infused with country. I also think that the DIY vibe works well with the two genres. I’d have to say that my favorite you-tube video is of Hank3 doin’ “Alone and Dying”. But I like it when songs of that ilk are book-ended with some crazy fast shit. P.F.F. is a song that I always play when I hit up the local pool hall. To me the contrast works beautifully. On the whole though I don’t care for punk music, but I do like when it mixes with country.
October 20, 2011 @ 5:50 pm
shadegrown, i think i understand what youre saying about the diy element, but the way i see it, country musicians, at least the ones i listen to from the 50’s through to the 80’s (at least some of the 80’s like dwight yoakam) were really really good technically as well as emotionally. you can pick up something like ‘night life’ by ray price or ‘red headed stranger’ by willie nelson or ‘longhaired redneck’ by david allan coe or whatever & youre gonna hear some top notch guitars and pedal steel etc etc…i think thats just one of the things that is missing from these upstarts who are combatting the horrible mainstream ‘country’ these days – a lot come from punk or indie-rock backgrounds and just arent very good(in my opinion) – one singer ive recently discovered who has it all together is lucas hudgins, he has great vocals, lyrics and a great band behind him.
October 25, 2011 @ 4:06 pm
Lucas Hudgins is great I don’t understand why he isn’t signed after two great records! I think that the only labels looking for REAL country music is Bloodshot, etc small and underground, and even they want punky tonk not good honest country music!
pretty sad.
October 27, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
I agree about Lucas. Its funny now because all of a sudden ”real” country is hank 3 or biram…and no one notices Lucas???
October 27, 2011 @ 5:21 pm
There is no way for one person or even a group of people to know about all the music that is out there these days. There’s just too much music, and too many local artists with national aspirations. If there’s an artist out there you think needs more attention, be proactive about it, bring them to my attention, use the contact forum, send links, tell the artist to send me their music. Most of the time it is nothing against a specific artist when they are not mentioned here, it has more to do with time and availability.
November 1, 2011 @ 3:32 pm
Good Point trigger man!!
Spread tha word!
http://youtu.be/EsWx7fC-2mM
http://youtu.be/9wcc1dBL9PY
October 23, 2011 @ 2:43 am
I think a certain demographic of people in the South are responsible for this. They think what is relevant in country US played on the radio and what is relevant in hip hop US played on the radio. And they play both along each other in the ‘cowboy’ bars and dance clubs. And whatever US relevant in their eyes US ‘cool’ so their US a market there. Thus the crossover begins. And it isn’t a flash in the pan. It’ll get worse and worse. Thus the point of this article:.
October 23, 2011 @ 5:38 pm
Music is about evolution, and what one artist does can greatly impact another. Apparently some people cannot handle change. Just because you dont like a specific type of music or the artists style doesnt mean that you have to disrespect what that individual or group has created. Yelawolf has done a lot more in his life then the writer of this article as well as the other closed minded commentators.
October 24, 2011 @ 2:02 pm
I totally agree music is about evolution. I also agree some people cannot handle change. But I’m not sure what this has to do with this article, unless you are making a judgement based on an assumed stance you think one with a negative opinion about Yelawolf who happens to also be a country fan would make. But the substance of that argument is not here, because it does not exist.
“Yelawolf has done a lot more in his life then the writer of this article.”
How do you know that? Do you know me? I would never make such a brash statement about Yelawolf, because I don’t know him personally.
December 2, 2011 @ 3:26 pm
You are ignorant as fuck… Yelawolf was on the indepent grind for a long while before he got signed. Who the fuck are you to say he doesnt belong in a certain genre. I hate you, hate a stong word and i meant it!!!
December 28, 2011 @ 9:04 am
You’re wrong on many levels. Listen to his songs “Kickin'” “Back to Bama” and “that’s what we on now”
January 22, 2012 @ 1:00 pm
I am sorry but I am going to have to disagree with you on that. There is nothing wrong with a rapper actually telling it the way it really is in real life for a change. It’s a good chance to see a rapper actually wrapping about real life instead of fancy cars girls in money. I like his original sound.
August 1, 2014 @ 12:00 am
I’m sorry, have you even heard,”Catfish Billy?”
April 22, 2015 @ 9:37 am
Funny to read now, considering the webpage that this is being broadcasted on also has two advertising banners for his “Love Story” album. The author was obviously not looking for the country in his work, but rather pinpointing why the hip-hop in his work overshadows it and thus discrediting it based on the stereotypes the author was trying to avoid. Fail!
April 22, 2015 @ 10:28 am
First off, this article is 4 years old. Secondly, Google picks advertising it hopes will appeal to readers based off their browsing habits. I’m not advertising Yelawolf, you’re seeing those ads because you’re searching for information about him—the same reason you found this article. I’ve not heard the new album, so please don’t make any assumptions about my opinions about it because I don’t have any at the moment.
April 22, 2015 @ 12:54 pm
First off (to come back in a rude tone as you do), I did not make any assumptions regarding your reviewing his NEW album. Secondly, Yes, I knew that this article was 4 years old, I know how to read and is why I stated “Funny to read NOW” and I just found it entertaining that the banners being blasted on the page were for his album. Currently it is for Metlife and I have never searched for metlife, so i’m not sure your point is completely valid.
I am all for keeping country, country, and half the crap I hear labeled as country these days, is not. I respect your opinion and did not relegate it. I think you just referred to the wrong songs to review based on clicks/hits/view popularity. His genre is Hip-Hop, not country, so of course the songs that have the most popularity are geared more towards the hip-hop crowd and what they find entertaining. He would be stupid to go advertising it to a country crowd, because it is not country. However, he grew up in the south, and tells stories of growing up in the south, so why can’t he take those influences and use them to make his music? Just because he is attempting to do something you don’t understand or like does not warrant a headline as ridiculous as “Yelawolf has no place in Country and Roots Music.” IMO, you need to get off your high horse and learn to accept change and be honored that your music is influencing other genres instead of trying to kick them out and degrade their interpretation and art.
July 8, 2017 @ 10:00 pm
Dam right dude! yelawolf has basically created a new genre unlike anything I have ever heard before. I like to call his creation southern rap. He has nearly combined two genres together to form something completely new and unique. The man who wrote this main article was prolly smoking dat crack rock when he wrote it. he is straight retarded when it comes to determining weather or not yelawolf has any country related lyrics and instruments used in his songs. Tho he did have a couple of decent comments, I’ll give him that?.
May 30, 2015 @ 6:29 pm
Listen to American You.
Do do do do do do, **** you too 🙂
May 30, 2015 @ 6:34 pm
This article is four years old.
Read this one:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/why-yelawolfs-love-story-is-important-to-country-music
February 20, 2019 @ 10:02 am
Coming from a bunch of nobody’s, promoting fag country like hootie, Luke Bryan who actually wears women’s jeans, Kane brown who trained himself to have a deep voice, when 5 years ago he couldn’t fill delgrossos park in Tipton pa, …
Pop country? Really? Fuck this article, Hank 3 and yelawolf need to do a fucking record to shut you pussy ass pop country, guess Jean wearing, homosexual breeding cunts the fuck up. Y’all wouldn’t know country if you got slapped by every wheat field in the Midwest. Y’all need to blow some oil down them tight ass jeans and go buy real music. Fucking guppies. Your bitch should be ashamed her “man” listens to pop country radio. Come get yourself a real man who understands where outlaw country began and the ones who are gonna wear that flag with pride. Y’all sissies. Get some fucking balls back in those skinny jeans and listen to real music. Make me sick, probably the same fags who voted for Hillary and can’t decide what gender they are this week. I know this won’t post, because this site is clearly ran by Luke Bryan fans boys. With Chevy’s lifted 18″ up with runflat tires . And stacks out the bed on a gasoline burner. Cock feelers.
February 20, 2019 @ 10:32 am
1) Just because you don’t like Yelawolf doesn’t mean you immediately like Luke Bryan and Kane Brown.
2) Just because you like Luke Bryan and Kane Brown does mean you’re a “fag.”
3) You’re incredibly uninformed, thinking this site promotes Kane Brown, and commenting on an article that is 8 years old, when newer ones would set a better context, like this one:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/why-yelawolfs-love-story-is-important-to-country-music/
March 10, 2019 @ 9:22 pm
I just want to say the hell with everyone. Listen to what you want and don’t listen to what you don’t want to. Its pretty fucking simple. I think yelawolf is a talented genius and we have not heard the last from this great remarkable talent. Looking forward to hearing more from Mike.
May 8, 2019 @ 4:36 pm
Yelawolf is very much country on some tracks ,but he’s also a part rock n roll and hip-hop. Educate yourself on tracks like devil in my veins etc. Oh yea and stop jerkin off yer cousins in the barn. You thought nobody saw!!!
August 25, 2019 @ 11:17 am
You realize this was written in 2011 right?
November 9, 2020 @ 5:50 pm
The love for degeneracy and thug culture will be the death of this nation. Mark my words people this is only the beginning of cultural destruction.
September 23, 2023 @ 1:01 pm
You do realize when guys like Yelawolf, preform they have either a DJ or a live band. Look at Jelly Roll…. yes Yelawolf crossed over into a heavier blend of rock, country and rap but he is bringing attention to the fact that not all of us are the same just because we are “white”. He is from the country, his new songs are much more country oriented and blended with with old school and new school rap/hip hop. Seeing Jelly Roll this year in Milwaukee was really an uplifting experience. It’s time for all races to come together and bond over our cultures of music. Put the ignorance and bigotry aside and recognize people for their character and moral obligations.. nothing else. Old country talked about lots of inappropriate things, drugs, alcohol, murder and sex. Stop acting like this watered down pop country about your dog running away or your Ford breaking down is anything different than Yelawolf.. trying to indoctrinate the masses into roots/country music… that being said I am a huge fan of Yelawolf but he is not a country artist just because he crosses into the genre.. Jelly Roll on the other hand speaks about addiction, love and hard times growing up in the middle of nowhere where the only thing to do is hit the bar and catch a buzz.. I still enjoy Cash and old Hank as much as the next country fan but am from the sticks right outside the city… our cultures are blending and there’s nothing we can do about it but to try to stay genuine and wholesome. Ignorance is ignorance.. we are adults and we listen to music with adult content in it especially if you have struggled. I also realize this was written in 2011 and alot has changed. At the end of the day, love thy neighbor and keep on truckin.
April 1, 2024 @ 3:10 pm
Yelawolf comes from a Christian and country background and I appreciate that I just found out because I first thought he came from a city atheist background, the first song I heard from him was tech n9ne and others which would be worldwide choppers but eventually switched to country and later on in life heard of hick hop.
June 27, 2024 @ 11:02 pm
While I can appreciate your attempts to look at things from another angle. It’s also a rather narrow minded view of society, to believe that everyone was raised with the same beliefs and value system as you. I can list plenty of country music songs, that are HUGELY popular. Which offer much of the same viewpoints you attack Yellawolf about. What I like about him, he’s not ashamed to talk about the real things in life, he has own/unique style of music, not one single song of his sounds much like the others. In the flip side, I can’t stand listening to some country music songs/singers, cause every song they seem sounds the same – tired old sad/depressing and un-intellectual redneck babble. My two cents.
June 27, 2024 @ 11:10 pm
This article is 13 years old. I would suggest looking at some more recent coverage of Yelawolf on this website. There is not much of it, but it’s more relevant than this.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/?s=yelawolf