Following a string of singles, Cleveland’s buzzing rapper YSN Flow drops off his latest creative clip for new single, “Illegal Guns.” Flow says the dramatic Kevin Von Puttkammer-directed clip was inspired by Migos‘ “Narcos” video.
“I just wanted to shoot something different and something no one my age has never done before,” he said.
Flow racked up millions of YouTube streams for his viral “Want Beef?” single, which was followed by “Want Beef? 2.0” and more recently, “Geeked Up.” Inspired by the likes of Lil Baby and Juice WRLD, the 15-year-old rapper boasts a melodic cadence and catchy rhymes, which has made him a steadily rising force in the Cleveland scene.
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HipHopDX caught up with the young up-and-comer, who talked about his upcoming debut project, balancing school and music and the Cleveland-based YSN crew. Check out the interview below and watch “Illegal Guns” above.
HipHopDX: What can you tell us about your new “Illegal Guns” video?
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YSN Flow: It’s a movie. It took 10 hours [to film]. It was inspired by the Migos’ “Narcos” video. I just wanted to shoot something different and something no one my age has never done before.
HipHopDX: What was filming the videos for “Geeked Up” and “Want Beef” like?
YSN Flow: It was different for both of them. “Want Beef” probably took like an hour and “Geeked Up” took eight hours and we did “Geeked Up” in New Jersey. We did “Want Beef” out here in Ohio.
HipHopDX: You’ve dropped a few singles this year, are you thinking about piecing together an EP or an album?
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YSN Flow: Yeah, either late this year or in January.
HipHopDX: Tell me about YSN. Your friend started the group, right?
YSN Flow: Yeah, my friend started the group in like seventh grade. And then over the last two years, he’s been adding other local artists to the group.
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HipHopDX: So how many artists are in it now?
YSN Flow: Right now, it’s me and three others.
HipHopDX: Do you think it’ll continue to grow locally?
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YSN Flow: Yeah, for sure.
HipHopDX: I read in an interview that you don’t listen to Kid Cudi. Who, in your opinion, is popping in Cleveland?
YSN Flow: Nobody right now! We had Q Money, but he got locked up. So there ain’t nobody.
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HipHopDX: Who are some rappers outside of the area that you find inspiration from?
YSN Flow:XXXTENTACION, Juice WRLD [and] Lil Baby are probably the biggest.
HipHopDX: Would you like to collaborate with Lil Baby and Juice WRLD in the future?
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YSN Flow: Of course!
HipHopDX: Are there any particular producers you’d like to work with?
YSN Flow: Not right now. We’ve been working with Murda Beatz, but we already worked with him. But not anybody else right now.
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HipHopDX: You’re still in school, so how has it been trying to balance school life and the music?
YSN Flow: It’s gonna be easy because this is my last week. But it’s been pretty easy because the people there have known me my whole life, so it’s like they don’t come up to me asking for pictures all the time and stuff. Like they just know me. I’m gonna be taking online classes.
HipHopDX: So people at school don’t treat you differently but has anything else changed since your music took off?
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YSN Flow: A lot of n*ggas wanna be my friend!
HipHopDX: You initially started blowing up on YouTube. What did you think when the songs you were releasing starting racking up millions of views?
YSN Flow: I actually did research on YouTube’s algorithms to make sure my videos would blow up.
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HipHopDX: So since you learned to market them in the best way, were you not too surprised when they got traction?
YSN Flow: Not really. I mean I was shocked, a little, but I’m just humble for real.
