Hey, my name is Young Money and I'm a rapper from the U.K. not a U.K. rapper and I'm coming out of Birmingham with a movement behind me. I'm locally know well respected with connects worldwide from NYC to LA and my newest mixtape Be Cool "Hosted by Tim Westwood" will be coming real soon featuring worldwide artists including: The Bout Dat Warriorz, Dino West (No Limit) & Harry-O (Murder Inc).
OK, let’s get straight into this. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about where you are from / coming from?
Young Money a.k.a. Chili Palmer a.k.a. Lil’ Eedy b.k.a. Da Bad Guy Razor Ramon a.k.a. Mr. Malachi Young b.k.a. Guttar Boy Slim b.k.a. the Big Bossman a.k.a the Don Dramacydal b.k.a. Dat Jiggalator a.k.a. the King of the U.K. ha that’s all. And I’m coming from out of B-town (that’s Birmingham city for those that don’t know).
Where were you born, where did you grow up & where do you live now?
I was born out here grew up out here but have been tied to the states due to my back and forward travels and time spent out there.
What is the hip hop scene there like?
The scene out here is more of a garage thing you got a bunch of folks starting to rap now and you got dudes who have been throwing it down on the mic. But the scene generally is on the come up.
Since the early days, how has the scene developed over the years? Who are the acts that have come and gone and apart from yourselves, who is prevailing and building a bit of a following?
A lot of artists have come & gone and to be honest I don’t recall none of there names. At the moment there is a lot of new acts.
How would you describe yourself and how did you come by your name?
I’d describe my self as real off top. My name just has devolved along with my skillz when I 1st was rappin I was going under my street name Lil’ P with became P-Money which became Young Money lol, everything else is just aliases I like to have fun and get krazy wid it.
Are you affiliated with any other crews and are you working with any young cats you are hoping to bring through? Who should we look out for?
Yeah I’m affiliated with Guttar Music new No Limit artists, I’m the UK black $oprano. I’m working with Big Doug of the Rich Boyz, Dino West, & as far as from my camp my lil’ homie Young Rocky I’m hoping to bring him through. There’s a lot of other guys talented too, I mean I got my ears open looking for the youngsters on the come up.
So talk us through your recording career so far. Have you had any records out in the past or collaborated with other artists?
I’ve had a bunch of mixtapes out so far but as far as records no solicited material. I’ve collaborated with Dino West, Grafh, Maino, Rakka & Ms. Peaches.
What sort of a response do you get from the rest of the country, and are there regional differences you can discern? Are there any reasons for this?
It variates. I’ve never got any hate I get love from most people, the only negativity I’ve had is if somebody is like you sound too American to rep the U.K. but, I feel they don’t understand where I’m coming from or how the industry is. I mean if a guy from the U.K. can become a reggae artist and speak in a Jamaican slang what is the crime when rappers from the U.K. do it, especially when they have American roots.
Who are your influences? What is it about them you like?
I’d have to say Master-P off top he’s the best hustler in the game. I like the fact that he hustles hard and doesn’t act like he has some kinda image to hold to prove he’s real. Also what he preaches is always something positive to the kids & I can respect that.
What music are you listening to at the moment?
Motown, funk, hip-hop & r&b.
How long have you been involved in music?
All my life whodi. I’ve been raised around music.
So, when did you first move to become a hip hop practitioner, rather than consumer? What elements did you toy with? Was it straight mcing from day one?
I will always be a consumer as I’m still a fan of the music e.g. I’m a fan of No Limit / Guttar Music so I still support their artists & buy the releases. I’ve always wanted to rap but never thought I could do it. The 1st time I picked up a mic, I done a freestyle and it was crazy. U know, having listened to hip hop for so long it had just came natural.
While I was out here the jungle music was quite big and I used 2 do a lil something with it. Then by the time the garage scene came about I found my self rapping over garage beats it wasn’t mc’ing I was doing and calling it rap. I was basically doing hip hop over garage. I quickly cut that out. Realized that I might as well go against the grain and do hip hop as everybody from my section was doing garage at the time & my heart was in hip hop.
How do you feel about the current state of UK hip hop? Do you object to being categorized in this way?
There’s a lot of legitimate artists but I aint gonna lie and say I know all of them, the state of U.K. hip hop isn’t great for a few reasons. Some artists flow U.K., some flow U.S. Mainly the ones that flow U.K. resent the others and without unity and working together it won’t really blow like that.
Another thing is you got U.K. rappers saying, “we ain’t trying to be like the Americans etc etc”, but rap is American (rythmical american poetry) it ain’t right to shit on something that came before you you’ve got to respect it and get in where you fit in. Another thing is we’ve got these garage artist marketing themselves as hip hop so they are what the majors / other countries here and really think represent us, its crazy mang. Ha.
Do you think it is getting better or worse and why?
Its getting better cuz you’ve got all these young cats coming up with the heat and with everybody bubbling its like a volcano one day its gonna come to a head and blow so u gotta be able to withstand the hot lava 7 that’s like a scientifical fact right there.
Who are the UK artists you listen or have been influenced by?
Slick Rick, Prince Ital Joe, So Solid Crew, S.A.S, Swiss, Mike G.L.C. & tha Bout Dat Warriorz.
Who or what are your other influences?
God, my family, brother Malcom X, life, music, movies & reading.
Tell our readers why they should listen to you.
Cuz I’m tha realest. My flow on point and I got the U.K. on my shoulders.
What have you learned from your recording, performing and business experiences so far? What advice would you have for anyone trying to get out there now?
You can’t go into this thing half hearted you’ve got to be a 100%. It’s a job and a grind you gotta be able to hustle hard and back yourself before you expect anyone else to back you.
Do you have plans to get out to a wider audience?
Most definitely I’m trying to expand my audience as wide as possible.
How do you view the internet? Do you think it is a useful promotional tool and a good way of getting out there and loosening the grip that the major media companies an their TV schedulers have on what is broadcast, or are there too many idiots too willing to spout a load of rubbish with no control over them?
The internet is the way it’s so easy to connect and reach out to people, as far as promoting and building a name and rep you can have thousands of people worldwide stream your audio simultaneously. As far as the message boards go sometimes you do get a lot of kids spouting off behind a computer screen but when you got haters you know you doing something well.
Do you have any plans to get your own online presence? What would you want to achieve with that?
Yeah i got my site up http://www.boutdat.cjb.net/ or u can catch me on www.myspace.com/youngmoneyslim.
I ask everyone about politics, because I think it is important that we have knowledge of what is going on, but most current hip hop heads decline to answer. I guess they don’t want to upset anyone. Do you have anything to say on that? Any issues you think people need to open their eyes too?
I’ll pass I got a lot to say but over here you’ve got no protection on your words. In America not to say they all that or anything but they got freedom of speech out there yano.
Did any of you vote in the last election and why?
Nah, I didn’t follow it like dat to vote.
Why do you think the urban youth and people in general are so pissed off with the government?
The ones who ain’t blinded or stupid know that it aint an accident that them or there people are in the positions they’re in now. Plus the was the system is set up its designed to keep things just how they are the poor poorer and the rich richer.
What do you make of the so called ‘war of terrorism’ that the US and the UK are perpetrating on some of the poorest people in the world? Do you think this is legitimate after what happened on September 11th or is it total overkill?
No comment all I can say is don’t believe everything you are told, there’s facts & received facts.
What do you do when you are not doing hip hop stuff? And away from music, name one thing you’d like to do if all things were possible?
I do a lil mutlimedia graphic designing, watch movies the usually but if I wasn’t in music I’d like to still be in the entertainment industry, I could see my self as a hollywood actor ha.
Where can people hear your stuff?
http://www.boutdat.cjb.net
http://www.myspace.com/youngmoneyslim
Where can people pick up your stuff?
Local stores in B-town or check the website and you can be sure to find info on there.
Ok. To wind this up, what is going to be keeping you busy over the next few months?
Getting these mixtapes done. I got a few projects up my sleeve as well as promoting and doing these Westwood parties.
What are your longer term plans and objectives?
Mainstream success, worldwide recognition.
Anything else you would like to say?
Yeah thanks for this I appreciate you coming through.
Do your shout outs here:
Shouts out to P-Low, Dino West, Big Doug, Derrick, Dan, T-R, Janice from Write On Point magazine, G-Franchise 4 that heat, Westwood and the whole Justice street team. U.K. stand up I got this here. Thanks to you again.
Thank you very much for your time.