Born in Brooklyn, New York but raised in Louisville, KY – hip-hop artist “Mr. Yola” has experienced the best of both worlds, in terms of musical influences.
The 24 year-old rapper possesses the lyrical prowess expected of a native New Yorker, yet his Southern drawl and fondness of bass heavy production, blend perfectly to give hip-hop fans complex vocabulary eargasms – over melodic danceable beats.
When Mr. Yola entered the music industry just a few short years ago, he had one goal in mind – He wanted to “Go Global”.
After witnessing an abundance of rappers only seeking local notoriety and becoming complacent with the perks of free club admissions, fan photo requests and the occasional free drinks – Mr. Yola knew that he wanted more.
He decided to partner with Louisville-based manager De-Mond Beasley who encouraged him to record a catalog, consisting of several dozen original records.
After selecting the standout tracks, Beasley began shopping Yola’s best music to A&R Executives of major record companies. In addition, the pair booked performances at every major music conference in the Midwest and Southern region, that would put Mr. Yola onstage in front of major record label executives.
Those tactics landed Mr. Yola on a 16 city national tour where he opened up for artists such as: Rick Ross, Bone Thugs & Harmony, Lil Kim, Mase, Mya, Plies, Waka Flocka Flame, Ja Rule, Ashanti and others.
During the first quarter of 2019, Mr. Yola officially dropped his first hit single “Abandon Me” ft. Rose Royce & Qwen Dickey.
The single is a tribute to missing black women in America and quickly gained hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify, resulting in the song being placed in rotation at radio stations in Detroit and Atlanta.
Recognizing the single’s early success, Mr. Yola and Beasley took a break from the tour, to return to Louisville to shoot the video for Abandon Me. They enlisted Louisville videographer Kevin C. Cosby to help develop the concept and shoot the music video.
After completing the national tour, Mr. Yola has decided to finally release his long anticipated mixtape entitled, “That’s Yola.”
Louisville residents will have the opportunity to hang out with Mr. Yola while he performs and previews the 13 track mixtape at Virtue the Venue (103 W. Oak Street, Louisville, KY 40203) – Monday November 18th from 7pm-10pm. Admission is FREE!!
Early registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thats-yola-mixtape-release-tickets-80809392067
TRACK LISTING:
1.) Freestyle 1
2.) They Don’t Like Me
3.) Pretty Thangs
4.) Down To Slide
5.) No Street Love
6.) Catch The Wave
7.) Cautious
8.) I’m Dope Man
9.) Guntucky
10.) I Ain’t Mad @ Ya
11.) It’s Real
12.) Know It All
13.) That’s Yola
Follow Mr. Yola and access his music on the following streaming and social media sites:
Mr Yola Out now: http://hyperurl.co/MrYolaY4L
Follow Mr Yola:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mryolay4l/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mryolay4l
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mryolay4
Webpage: http://mryola.com/
Check out the video for “Abandon Me” below:
Brad Harrison is a journalist/motivational speaker/entrepreneur and on-air personality. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with cum laude honors from the University of Louisville. In October 2015, he started UrbanMaxx Magazine to provide positive role models for Urban residents that reside in at-risk-communities and lack positive leadership in their lives.
For booking or advertising – contact Brad Harrison at bradharrison@urbanmaxx.com