Yelawolf is dropping his Shady sophomore effort Love Story on April 21, and while he’s hit us with a few offerings prior to this one with King Em’, they all sort of take a back seat. It’s interesting, though, because the song isn’t the quick fire, lyrical blue flame we normally get from the Alabama spitter. Instead, a very different thing is done with Wolf’s yowling “Best Friend” throughout. So interesting is the song that we had to take some time to talk about it.
Today we’ve got our Sr. Features Writer Ural Garrett and myself, Features Editor Andre Grant giving you our one-two step about this Shady collaboration.
Will This Song Finally Help Propel Yelawolf Into National Prominence?
Andre: Whatever you may want to say about Yela’, it isn’t that he doesn’t do whatever he wants. His bluesy run on moonshine, oxy, coke and Bama-ness served his box chevy fueled rise to prominence. But it’s what he’s done since Trunk Muzik that’s been the most interesting. Namely — and after signing with Shady Records/Interscope — becoming a mostly polished Mark Twain of the Rap game. All suspenders and bottles of creek whiskey decked out in colorful imagery and down-home charm. What separates Yela’ from the rest is his penchant to meld low and high concept while weaving through multiple cadences in colorful rhyme patterns. He’s a showman, too. Usually providing a necessary amount of enthusiasm to a predilection to Rap over chopped, bass-heavy tracks or double time BPM’s.
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“Best Friend” is different, though. He’s singing, mostly. And with Eminem looming down around the 2:30 mark it feels a lot like “Love The Way You Lie” sans Rihanna. You’re not exactly schlepping through Yela’s carefully intonated yawps to get to Em’, but you can’t help but breathe out when you do as Eminem explodes through wild bars on multiple topics. Utilizing, of course, his unique ability to roll syllables into each other in what becomes a cascade of vowels and consonants slickly rendered. The subject matter is both spiritual and contemporary, describing the uneasy tension between the Bible belt and belief that has helped to shape Yela into who he is. The experiment on singing was a worthy one, and while it isn’t perfect, it juts into place, his incantations doing well enough to hold the track to the fire while Em’ spits his angry magic. But will this help Yelawolf eclipse his previous highs? It’s hard to say. At the very least it’s interesting and radio ready (an accomplishment in and of itself), and if promoted enough might have a chance to win the hearts and minds of America’s now fickle listening public.
Ural: There was a time where the hype around Yelawolf reached a fever pitch after he released one of 2010’s best mixtapes, Trunk Muzik. There was no stopping Catfish Billy himself. Yela was even placed alongside Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill, Big K.R.I.T., Mac Miller, YG and even Lil B in XXL’s 2011 Freshmen list. It was clear he could spit well enough to find his way under Eminem’s Shady Records/Interscope umbrella along with Slaughterhouse for what many referred to as Shady 2.0. Made sense, as some looked at Yela as the southern fried equivalent to Em thematically. However, the Alabama native hasn’t been able to sustain the momentum leading to a yo-yoing career. For every dope project like Trunk Muzik Returns and Psycho White (with Travis Barker), there are disappointments, including his major label debut Radioactive and that Ed Sheeran collaboration The Slumdon Bridge. Pushing forward 2015, the one’s in his class he’s managed to only outshine are Lil Twist, Fred Tha Godson and Diggy Simmons. No one has to explain why that’s not saying much.
This leads us to another disappointment in “Best Friend” which ultimately sounds like all the best parts of Radioactive minus Yelawolf. The singing approach sounds like a long-winded take on Kid Rock’s “Let’s Roll” and Em’s verse unfortunately becomes the center point similar to “Throw It Up.” Even the rock influenced production feels by the numbers in regards to Yela’s catalogue. It almost feels as if Yela lacks creative confidence and is cowering behind Em’s scowling performance. Maybe, the southern rock stuff works better for Yela than for example “Hard White” (featuring Lil Jon), but that doesn’t necessarily make it better quality.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
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Ural Garrett is an Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
