Born December 30, 1979 in Gadsden, Alabama, Yelawolf spent much of his childhood in various locations around the southern United States, including Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Atlanta, Georgia, and Antioch, Tennessee. Atha is of Caucasian and Cherokee descent, and the name Yelawolf is a reference to his Native American roots. Yelawolf is an avid skateboarder and made attempts at a professional skateboarding career but was forced to abandon it due to injuries. He began releasing mixtapes independently in 2007, and was briefly signed to Columbia Records in 2007, leaving the label the same year along with Kawan "KP" Prather. In 2010 he appeared on the track "Down This Road" from Bizarre's third studio album "Friday Night at St. Andrews", and on Big Boi's first solo album "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty" track "You Ain't No DJ" which was produced by André 3000. Appearing on Paul Wall's fifth studio album "Heart of a Champion" track "Live It", which also featured Jay Electronica and Raekwon, which was produced by Travis Barker, as well. In 2010, Yelawolf confirmed he had signed with Interscope Records, announcing that he is working in his debut studio album with the label, and that he had a desire to work with Eminem.On July 2, 2010, Yelawolf told Rap-Up that he went to Eminem's Studio in Detroit, Michigan to meet him and record a track for Yelawolf's upcoming debut studio album titled "Trunk Muzik: 0-60", being his first project with a major label and set to be released at October 26 of the year under Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment/Interscope Records.
Yelawolf (A.K.A. Catfish Billy)
was born in Gadsden, Alabama. He spent much of his childhood in various locations around the southern United States, including Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Atlanta, Georgia, and Antioch, Tennessee.[4] Atha is half white and Cherokee, and the name Yelawolf is a reference to his Native American roots.[5] Yelawolf is an avid skateboarder and made attempts at a professional skateboarding career but was forced to abandon due to injuries. Yelawolf began releasing mixtapes independently in 2007. He was briefly signed to Columbia Records in 2007 and left the label the same year.[6] In 2009, Yelawolf was featured on the Slim Thug album Boss of All Bosses, and in the lead single "Mixin' Up the Medicine" from Juelz Santana's upcoming album Born to Lose, Built to Win. In 2010 he appeared in the track "Down This Road" from Bizarre's third studio album Friday Night at St. Andrews, in Big Boi's first solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty track "You Ain't No DJ" which was produced by André 3000, and his most recent appareance is in Paul Wall's fifth studio album Heart of a Champion track "Live It" which also features Jay Electronica and Raekwon, produced by Travis Barker. In 2010, Atha confirmed he has signed with Interscope Records, he announced that he is working in his debut studio album with the label, and has a desire to work with Eminem.[7][8]
On July 2nd Yealwolf told Rap-Up TV that he went to Eminem's Studio in Detroit, Michigan to meet him and record a track for Yelawolf's upcoming debut studio album titled "Trunk Muzik: 0-60", being his first project with a major label and set to be released at September 4 of the year under Interscope Records.[9][10]
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Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name YelaWolf, is an American rapper. He is currently signed to Shady Records, Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment and Interscope Records. He is co-managed by Redd Klay Entertainment along with his personal manager Jeremy "J Dot" Jones.
Raised in Gadsden, Alabama, Atha appeared on the reality series The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott and released his independent debut album Creek Water in 2005. Two years later, Atha signed to Columbia Records and released the single "Kickin'" from his unreleased first studio album, before being released from the label later that same year. From 2008 to 2010, Atha released an extended play and four mixtapes with Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. Trunk Muzik 0-60, Atha's fourth mixtape, was also released by Interscope Records. In 2011, Atha signed to Shady Records and his debut studio album Radioactive was released on 21 November 2011 and entered the Billboard 200 at number 27.