YID is here to represent for his hometown of Oakland, in the best way he knows how. The West Coast artist arrives on the scene with undeniable talents, spitting his truth over hard-hitting trap beats. Raised in the Acorn projects of West Oakland, the rising star comes from humble beginnings, as a child even witnessing his mother’s ex assaulting her which led to him fleeing his home with his brother.
If that’s not enough, YID lost his brother/best friend recently in a fatal car accident. When it comes to his music, the West Coast spitter injects pain, emotion, and frustration, giving fans nothing but the real. Having made his first beat at 7 years old and his first song at 12 years old, he went on to release his first project at 16 which did numbers organically.
Most recently, YID released the official music video for “ALL CAP,” another banger that calls out all the fake s### happening within the music industry.
AllHipHop: How’d you get your name, YID?
YID: I got my name in jail. That’s when I started rapping, about 2016. Really no meaning behind it. It was but then I said I wasn’t gon’ run with the meaning no more. It was the “Youngest In Dis” because I’m the youngest person in my generation of people I grew up with. That’s what it was for, but then I took the acronym off of it and kept YID.
AllHipHop: When were you locked up?
YID: 2015 to 2016. Really been a couple times. I got out when I was 17 years old. I was in a camp, Camp Sweeney, for about a year or so. I started music in there, then came out and started doing it. Started taking it serious.
AllHipHop: What were you locked up for?
YID: A couple things. For that time, it was violation really. I kept violating, then they sent me to a placement.
AllHipHop: Biggest lesson you learned from behind bars?
YID: Man, it ain’t worth it. Anybody should want to be free and enjoy their freedom. Everything on hold in jail, you can’t do nothing. It’s best to stay out of it.
AllHipHop: What was the household like growing up in West Oakland?
YID: Me, my brother, and my mom. I didn’t really grow up with my father like that, it was us 3. We had to make the best of it.
AllHipHop: When did music come into play?
YID: Music’s always been a part of me. I always like the music. I grew up off music. My mom used to stay playing all the old jams, so I always loved music. I started really taking it seriously when I was in jail and then when I got out.
AllHipHop: Who were you bumping coming up?
YID: The Hot Boyz. My mom used to play a lot of female artists like Monica, all that. A bunch of different people really.
AllHipHop: What happened when you got out? How did you change your lifestyle?
YID: I already had people in my neighborhood doing music so I was already familiar with how it goes, but I took it by myself and ran with it. I had an older dude that did music, he used to take me to the studio with him. I got on a song before. We did the video and it did good. It’s at 400K views right now, my first video ever. After that, I kept making music. I fell in love with it.
AllHipHop: “ALL CAP” out now, bring us back to when you recorded this one.
YID: I recorded that a month ago. Shout out SpaceOnTheBeat, the producer. He sent me the beat, I went from there. I was at an Airbnb In Discovery Bay when I made the song. I wrote that song fast, I got done with that b#### real quick.
AllHipHop: What was going through your head?
YID: I was sitting down thinking about a lot of stuff: a lot of people, a lot of fake going on. I was reflecting basically. I was on social media looking, people were doing a lot of fake stuff.
AllHipHop: What does it mean to be real versus fake?
YID: To me, being real is being true with yourself. Not being a follower, having your own mind.
AllHipHop: You say your visuals are moving each time, how involved are you in the creative process?
YID: I love my videos. At first, I was more creative with the videos as far as storyline. I want to get back to that. Videos are a big part of doing music to me, giving your fans something to look at and have them be interested in what you’re doing. I love it, I gotta make a movie every time.
AllHipHop: What happened at the video shoot? You were arrested?
YID: I got arrested after the video shoot. I wasn’t even done with the video, we were at the gas station. I was trying to get the car. This car I was using, it kept cutting off on me. I guess the police saw us at the gas station. We tried to leave and go back to where we’re at, then they pulled us over. Made us get out the car, searched the car.
AllHipHop: What were you arrested for?
YID: I was arrested for allegedly having firearms, but I never had no firearm on my person. They found firearms around me. I’m on 3-year probation, so that’s the reason they took me.
AllHipHop: How did you bounce back?
YID: I got bailed out, hopefully it gets dropped though. I gotta go back next month on the 12th, hopefully everything turns out. I just got released, I got bailed out again a couple weeks before that for another firearm case. I’m fighting for my freedom right now.
AllHipHop: How does music help you cope?
YID: Music’s therapy for me really, that’s my own thing I run to. All day I play beats, I think of new melodies. I think of new things to say. My life, I put everything in music. All the stuff I deal with, I put it all into my music. I don’t have anybody to talk to. I’m not good with talking about my problems to nobody, so I deal with it with music.
AllHipHop: I know you lost your brother too, what happened?
YID: He passed in a car crash, him and his best friend. This happened on April 4th. It’s crazy, the car crash happened on the 4th. His birthday was April 8th, then he passed away April 9th. Right after his birthday. That’s the hardest pain ever, I’m still coping and dealing with that. I got a way of dealing with my own pain, but it’s more seeing my mom go through it and trying to help her deal with it. It’s a lot for me. Also my little sister and his daughter. I have to deal with a lot of stuff.
AllHipHop: What do you do for self-care?
YID: I try to deal with my anxiety the best way I can. I try not to think about too much. When I think about too much, that’s when my anxiety starts coming and everything starts hitting me. I try to stay busy, stay moving.
AllHipHop: What is it you want fans to get from your story?
YID: My life’s real, it’s authentic. I’m not out here rapping about nothing. I want everything I say to really mean something. I want someone to take something from me that’s going through the same thing I’m going through.
AllHipHop: What do you need in the studio to record?
YID: I don’t like being too deep in the studio with a lot of people, but I need at least 2 or 3 people in the studio with me. I really don’t need nothing really in the studio with me, honestly.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3BNBhyKw3AkwFvRowETcnh
AllHipHop: What can we expect from “Wins & Losses”?
YID: It’s a follow-up from “ALL CAP.” Every music I put out right now is really reflecting on my brother. I mention my brother in a lot of my music, so that’s what they gon’ hear a lot. I’m explaining the wins, the accomplishments I have doing music. Then the losses I took, that I’m dealing with. I’m in movie mode, I got a video coming for people to visually see. Personally I love the song, it’s dope. I hope everybody else enjoys it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHQ70zYM5yc/
AllHipHop: Talk about the independent grind.
YID: As far as me starting out, it’s been really me behind everything. From my project to everything. I never had no manager so I do everything on my own, still to this day. I’m still learning the business side, that’s really what I got to get in tune with because I don’t really know too much about the business side. Being independent, you really got to come out the pocket with a lot of money though. That’s the only thing. You got to know where to spend your bag at who to go to. It gets frustrating, but I’m cool with it. I like it honestly.
AllHipHop: Have people tried to manage you? I would imagine.
YID: Yeah, I ran through a few managers but it didn’t work out. They had other clients, etc. Some people will put you on the backburner… you got to make sure you’re a priority. I want to be a priority wherever I’m at. I don’t want to be on the shelf. My work ethic’s crazy so the stuff I do, I want a manager to be on the same type of time I’m on. The same type of hype I’m on. If not, I can’t deal with it.
AllHipHop: Goals for yourself at this point in your career?
YID: Right now, I’m still proving my point. Trying to get my story across. I’m real underrated on that. I’m trying to prove my point right now.
AllHipHop: Dream collab?
YID: That’s hard. As of right now, I’d say say Rod Wave. I rock with Rod Wave’s music. Not gon’ lie, I play him all day. We on the same type of wave, we talk about the same stuff. I could listen to his music if I’m going through something, I play a song that he’s talking about. No Cap too, there’s a few people I like.