About Yelawolf
Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known as Yelawolf, is an American rapper from Gadsden, Alabama. In his early years, Yelawolf released his first independent album Creek Water, which was released in 2005. During 2005 to 2010, he released one extended play and four mix-tapes. One extended play (EP), titled Trunk Muzik, amassed a strong attention that would follow the rapper's signing a record deal to Interscope Records, which re-released the mix-tape as Trunk Muzik 0-60 later that year.In January 2011, Yelawolf signed a recording contract to Eminem's record label, Shady Records, and released his major-label debut album, Radioactive on November 21, 2011. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200. Yelawolf released a sequel to his breakthrough mix-tape Trunk Muzik, titled Trunk Muzik Returns on March 14, 2013. His second album, Love Story, was released on April 21, 2015. His third album, Trial by Fire, was released on October 27, 2017.Michael Wayne Atha was born on December 30, 1979, in Gadsden, Alabama, and is of Cherokee (on his father's side) and White American descent. His mother Sheila, whom he claims was a "rockstar", gave birth to him when she was just fifteen years old. Throughout his childhood, Atha moved often. He spent much of his time in Antioch, Tennessee, and attended Carter Lawrence Elementary School in Nashville, which was located near housing projects and where he says "hip hop started making sense to me. That's where hip hop made sense culturally."Regarding his stage name, Yelawolf has said, "Yelawolf is Native American. My father is Cherokee and I'm from Cherokee county - Gadsden, Alabama. Yela represents light, the sun, power, fire, hunger and Wolf represents my ability to survive... my fierceness."In 2005, Yelawolf appeared on UPN Network reality series The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott, which made him gaining attention as a contract artist (mural painting) from Rainbow City, Alabama. After his elimination from the show, he released his independent debut album Creek Water in 2005, later the same year he released his debut mix-tape Pissn' in a Barrel of Beez. Two years later, Yelawolf signed to Columbia Records and released the single "Kickin'" from his unreleased first studio album, Fearin' and Loathin' in Smalltown, U.S.A.. The album was never released, after Yelawolf was dropped from the label later that year. Yelawolf released two mix-tapes following his release from Columbia, titled Ball of Flames: The Ballad of Slick Rick E. Bobby and Stereo: A Hip Hop Tribute to Classic Rock, the two of which went mainly unnoticed. In 2009, he signed with Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment and released his debut extended play Arena Rap.In 2009, he began to work with Ghet-O-Vision producer, WLPWR, on his breakthrough mix-tape titled Trunk Muzik. Released in January 2010, the mix-tape created an enormous online following for Yelawolf. Later that year, Yelawolf signed a major record deal with Interscope Records, and began to work on a re-release of the mix-tape, titled Trunk Muzik 0-60. It was released on November 22, 2010, under Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment and Interscope Records, which became his most acclaimed work to date. For the rest of 2010, he made guest appearance on Bizarre's Friday Night at St. Andrews, as well appeared on albums by rappers Big Boi and Paul Wall.In March 2011, after speculation of a joint record deal with Eminem, Yelawolf was featured on the cover of XXL's March 2011 issue, with E...