Lyay.net - West Coast Rap News

Ya Boy is the Future

People often talk about how the West Coast isn’t producing artists that have worldwide appeal. The argument goes that we’re stuck in gangsta rap mode and it’s limiting our potential. I know its bullshit, but rarely does an artist come around that so completely dispels any preconceptions people have about the West Coast. Ya boy is one of those artists and if he gets the right push, he could be huge.

With a unique and confident swagger, Ya Boy sounds at home on any type of track. For some reason, XXL has been sleeping on Ya Boy. They left him off their cover when featuring new artists, and recently they left him completely out of their feature on the West Coast. I’m glad XXL is showing love to the West Coast, but to leave out one of it’s brightest and most talented artists is suspect. Here’s an open post to XXL: Peep this music and fix your mistake by showing Ya Boy some love! I’ve included a few of my favorite tracks below with a small writeup. Enjoy.

First up, we’ve got Precise Gang produced by Infra Red. Using a haunting sample and driving beat, producer Infra Red laced Ya Boy with a true West Coast heater. Ya Boy  gets to flex his lyrical/gangsta muscles and does so splendidly. You can get a sample of how nice dude’s flow is on this track.

Up next is the We Takin Over remix. Produced by DJ Khaled, Ya Boy jacks this beat and completely destroys the original song. Showing off his versatility, Ya Boy flows JUST like Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, and the other artists on the original track.

The next track in our Ya Boy feature is the recent 100 bars of death. A five min freestyle, this song single handedly shows the west coast has lyricists. My favorite line: “Spit so much crack, the feds got the mic tapped” Infra Red on the beat again, nothing but heat.

Say Girl is a perfect swagger track. Ya boy spits that pimp shit with reckless abandon. This track is off his mixtape Chapter One The Rise. I HIGHLY recommend you pick it up as a easy introduction to Ya Boy musc.

Finally we finish the Lyay introduction with Stay the night. Sampling the famous Chicago song from the 80’s, it starts off sounding like a typical “For the Ladies” song, but careful listeners will quickly realize that Ya Boy is rapping about something much deeper.

On a side note, the video for the original “Stay the night” track is fucking ridiculous. Featuring Cop killing, explosions, car chases and a truly angry skeeza, artists could take notes from Chicago when making their videos. Peep it below.

Chicago - Stay The Night
Uploaded by killeraf

If I could recommend anything to Ya Boy, it would be to get a team around him that can help capitalize on his success.Recently, he’s been slipping in that respect.Yaboymusic.com used to be a well designed site with a large and active community. Sometime late last year, the site went down and it’s been saying “Coming Soon” ever since. Ya Boy’s Blog hasn’t been updated since 2007 either. That’s damn near criminal to abandon a community like that. Those people would have helped spread the good word about Ya Boy if asked, and instead they’re wasting away waiting for the website to get finished.I’d also suggest a weekly or bi-weekly release of songs. Some of my favorite Ya Boy tracks are the ones he does over other peoples beats. Many times the remixes are better than the original tracks. If Ya Boy were to adapt the “hip hop weekly” strategy so that people would know when songs from him were coming out, I think it’d do wonders for him.

I’d also like to see:
More Phat Rat
Hook Back up with BWS
REALLY work the mixtape circuit. Make unique tracks for specific DJ’s.
More reality shows highlighting the recording process
Have somebody drive to XXL offices and personally make sure they know about Ya Boy.

Is Ya Boy the future of the west? He’s certainly a main ingredient. With both the lyrical skills and the swagger, Ya boy has the potential to be a mainstream and household name with the right push. I just hope he realizes that rap music isn’t a 100 yard dash, it’s a 5k run. He’s off to a great start, I just hope he has the staying power to see his career reach the levels he certainly deserves.

Related posts:

1. Good Week For Gangsta Rap
2. Ya Boy - Murder this Shit [AUDIO]
3. New Ya Boy Mixtape Available Now
4. Ya Boy - Wide Open Produced by Infra Red [Mastered/CDQ]
5. New Ya Boy - Shoebox [NO DJ]