INNERVIEW 022: 'YK' or 'You Know My Name'? Ykmyname on the Trilogy, Truth in Art, and Finding Community in THE DOOBIES
- Jameka
- 11 minutes ago
- 41 min read
In a digital landscape saturated with artists, few manage to cut through the noise with the sheer conceptual. Texas-based artist, Ykmyname first captured my attention last October with the release of Panhandling Picasso (2024), the first installment in a uniquely ambitious trilogy named after iconic visual artists. Since then, he followed up with the "dusty" sonic palette of Dusty Da Vinci and the final act, Vosswater Van Gogh was completely produced by STIX, creating a three-part exploration of the "stages of being broke" through a masterful blend of boom-bap and trap influences. His relentless creative momentum didn't stop there. Beyond the trilogy, Ykmyname also released the full-length album Flowers (with STIX), the collective album MR.SUMMERTIME PRESENTS: SUMMERS OVER (with THE DOOBIES), and three EPs: we need to talk, silvertooth surfer, and i don't owe you.
I caught up with YK (as he clarified his stage name) in May/June of 2025 to dive deep into the mythology he's created. In this candid conversation, Ykmyname discusses the organic, FaceTime-initiated chemistry with his prolific producer STIX, the inspiration behind naming projects after Renaissance masters, and the true meaning of his bold moniker, which he discovered accidentally took on a life of its own.
Beyond the music, YK offers a revealing look into THE DOOBIES, the multi-city collective of underground artists who have re-sparked his creative drive, turning a group chat into an engine of relentless artistic output and genuine friendship and a supportive environment. From doing his own cover art, to being an "unbothered" voice critical of societal BS, Ykmyname’s primary goal is to use his music as a vehicle for truth and emotion.
"I think my music is the perfect oxymoron poems. I think every song I'd say something that's so oxymoron. Like it's so contrasting. I just want people to appreciate it for just art."
Read on to hear Ykmyname’s perspective on the influence of Lil Wayne, being a father, why he believes the best art should make you feel something, no matter what that emotion is, and a lot more.
JAMEKA
Hey, so I don't want to say your name wrong. Is it uh, YK, or is it, you know, my name?
YKMYNAME
It's Y, K. A lot of people, a lot of people think it's, you know, my name, but I just let people do and say whatever they wanted, as long as they listen. I don't really care, you know, but it is technically Y, K.
JAMEKA
Okay, I got you where the Y, K come from?
YKMYNAME
Um, shit, young being high, coming up with dumb rap names and shit. I was on shrooms and I listened to this JFK speech. So I started calling myself Young Kennedy. And then I got drunk one night and was freestyling and said something about better get it right, ykmyname. And then my homeboys just started saying y k, my name, my name, like they all just started calling me that. So then I just went with y k, and then because of my name, my name thing, I just added it to the name. And then fast forward, everybody to start choosing no abbreviations. Like nobody was really using y k for, you know, until, like, maybe a year ago. You know what I mean?
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME But now it's like the new thing. So it's like, gotta kind of take it. Don't ever get mad about it. It's just, it is what it is.
JAMEKA
It works, though, at the same time though..
YKMYNAME
It does.
JAMEKA
It declares, like, a certain type of like, you know, like the confidence is there.
YKMYNAME
Nah, real shit.
JAMEKA
But it's just like, yeah, you know what it is type thing too.
YKMYNAME
Which crazy part is it kind of worked out that way. And I never planned for it to work. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I didn't know who know ykmyname would be like. I thought it was fire because, like, I say bars, like, with my name like, it's almost automatically a double entendre.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
But like, once people started saying, you know my name, I'm like, Oh, damn. That's kind of crazy that it's, it almost took a life of its own. And I'm not somebody that's gonna get mad about that shit, you know like, it is what it is.
JAMEKA
Well, that's just good to know. So either way, I guess. YK, huh.
YKMYNAME
And we go, YK, yeah, either way at the end of the day. YK, whether it's, you know, whether it's the other meaning, it don't even matter to me.
JAMEKA
Alright, bet that, bet that. Well, that's good. Um, so where you at? Where are you located?
YKMYNAME
I stay probably like 10-15 outside of Dallas. Okay, Dallas, Texas. Yeah.
JAMEKA
Okay, you in the South.
YKMYNAME
C’mon now.
JAMEKA
Yeah, no, I knew it. I knew it from the accent already, but I just didn't know what part.
The only thing I can't even tell you how I came across you really, but I just remember last October when you dropped, what was it, Panhandling Picasso, and it came across my timeline, or something like that. And I was like, whoa. This album art is just dope. Like, who's this person I've never met and then it was, of course, I was just like, [ykmyname] you know, my name. I was just like, but I don't know him. Let me see what it's about.
YKMYNAME Fire. JAMEKA And, yeah, and, and then you just like, drop those other two parts of the trilogy, Dusty Da Vinci and Vosswater Van Gogh. And that shit just really caught my attention. Because I'm just like, seemed like, there's a lot of onset there. You know what I'm saying, like, that process. And I was just wondering if you could tell me about that.
YKMYNAME
Crazy. Because, like, I'm real close with STIX, the producer. JAMEKA Yeah. YKMYNAME We actually met probably about a year ago. I ran across Dru Kelly, which I'm sure you've probably seen on Twitter, but I ran across Dru Kelly's page, and I hit him up to work, and I hit him through email, because old school, like, I'm 30. JAMEKA Same, haha. YKMYNAME So like, see some if I see something in the bio that says, hit the email, I'm gonna hit the email. I don't even think to DM him, or none of that shit. JAMEKA Yeah. YKMYNAME So I just sent him an email. We ended up doing this song together. And then, I was really fucking with the beats that he was on, and I saw that it was STIX so I went and hit STIX, but I hit him in the DM.
Man, he was telling me he's like, bro, I never checked DMs, but he caught me like, two o'clock in the morning. I'm just surfing Twitter, but we connected kind of like that. And then, you know, we were just kind of, he was sending me beats, I was working on stuff, you know, we didn't really know each other, know each other like that. And then I had did this one song over this beat of his, and he asked for my number. But then he FaceTimed. The first time we ever, like, talked like, not through DM or text or whatever was a FaceTime. He was like, man, I just had to make sure you was real.
And he just, he's crazy, like, but me and him ended up building this crazy relationship. And then I think it was towards the end of Dru finishing up Aileen, his last album he dropped.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
STIX was like, when are we going to start yours? I'm like, well fuck, let's get it.
So then we started kind of bouncing around some ideas and then he had sent me the beat for “Picasso.” Originally, I forgot what the fuck the name of the beat was. But it was, because he's busy, he deals with a lot of artists, constantly making beats for people. So I did was, is, I was like, I'll chop up samples, and you could just throw drums over the samples.
JAMEKA Oh wow. YKMYNAME And that way it'll, you know, kind of lessen your workload a little bit, you know, like, I'm all into the full collaboration of it or whatever. JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
So he had sent me the beat for “Picasso,” and he was freestyling over, like, in the background, and he said something about, “I take a piss on a Picasso painting.” And I was like, alright, bro, I gotta go. And he was like, what, I said I gotta go. I got it. So I ended up doing a song, “Picasso.”
And then we were sitting there and we were trying to figure out a name for the album. And he was like, just thinking of, like, something that started with a P that would match with Picasso. And then he said, Panhandling Picasso. He just kind of was like, oh yeah, that's it, you know what I mean, I was like, oh shit. Like, yeah, that's fire. Because then I'm like, in that moment, I'm like, bro, we could build off Da Vinci. We could build off all these other painter names, you know.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
So I was like, I bet that's what we'll do. And then we finished Panhandling Picasso, that was dope. I think that was kind of the first album that really, like, started putting me in a different, you know, getting eyes, you know.
JAMEKA
Yeah, different audience, yeah.
YKMYNAME
And then we just, we like, right now, it's just a trilogy, but we got a fourth one in the works.
JAMEKA
Oh nice!
YKMYNAME
Actually, it's almost done. We are just waiting on a few things, putting it together. But, yeah, nah STIX is fucking, he's a mastermind. I just do the raps. He's the fucking man.
JAMEKA
But, you know, yeah the soundscape he provided for all three of them are amazing, and they're distinct in different ways, but they're still like, there's still a foundation there.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, mmhm.
JAMEKA
What is it like? What's it like having the same producer for one album, for three, for three in a row, like that?
YKMYNAME
So I've been making my own beats for like, 12 years and I got to a point where I'm like, I'm not going to YouTube for beats, like, I'm not doing remixes, like, I'm not I'm off that. You know what I mean? Like, I was like, if I want to make my hobbies, I'm just going to make my own.
He was the first producer I had heard that was like, I really like his sound, you know, like his sound just caught me, and I was like, I want to work with him. You know, I never like, I would have, like, year and a half ago if, if somebody would have told me, I would have had three albums with a different producer, I would have been like, you're fucking crazy. Because I just never, like, I was even, like, even my homeboys, like, before, like, I started getting, like, eyes on the internet and shit. Like, all my homeboys were like, bro, like, you got this shit. When you blow up, you don't need nobody. I'm like, Yeah, I don't need no fucking body. I'm gonna do this. You know, they have me all hyped up, and then once I started actually networking and branching out, that's when I started noticing the shift and, like, not only the amount of people that would listen, but music itself, like, yeah, because, like I said, with with the whole creative direction of these albums is we have titles so, like, we kind of go, like, when we were done with Panhandling Picasso, and literally, the day we finished mix for because I mixed it.
JAMEKA
Oh okay.
YKMYNAME
The day we finished the mix for Panhandling Picasso, he had a different beat in my email. It ended up being “Mom You Ain't A Pastor” on Dusty Da Vinci.
JAMEKA
Mhmm, yeah.
YKMYNAME
So once we finish an album, like the day the album's done, mix whatever. He sends me a beat, and we start the next album. So it's like, I work, but like, not only am I working on albums with him, also my homeboy Blvff, he's a producer on an album together.
JAMEKA
And he just dropped one too, didn’t he?
YKMYNAME Yeah, he just dropped an EP (BENTO弁当: VOLUME 1), he forgot he uploaded it. He remembered the day he woke up that he dropped it. So we all, I mean, when I like, we have our whole collective now, THE DOOBIES, which is, I think it's like 10,12, of us, 13 of us in there.
JAMEKA
Oh, wow!
YKMYNAME
We're all working. So it's like everybody's dropping music and making music at such a quick frequency. The time you sit back and look, you're like, oh shit, I've got like, six albums I could drop, which is what inspired my month and I took or I took last month off. I am going to take this month off too, but next month, I'm dropping two albums just to get them out, because I don't want to, if I sit on them, they're just going to sit and never see the light of day. I try to push that message, like, can't be holding this shit. Like we pay these distributors to put our music out. And, I mean, there's people that want to take a year, take two years, whatever, to make an album, and it's just like, the time you're done with that album, ain't even gonna like that album when you drop it. I'm trying to make an album quick and drop it, so I'll still listen to it when I drop it.
JAMEKA
Yeah, that makes sense to me. It's so different for everybody. But like, seems like, since you're such an inspired space as well, that there's just a lot of stuff to put out there.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, and Wayne. I grew up on Wayne, so like, I watched Wayne's come up, and it was like, Wayne didn't do shit, but be in the studio. So it was like, for me, it was like, okay, that's all I'm gonna do. I'm just, you know, like, we got real life shit, you know, we not, we not making no money off this shit.
JAMEKA
Not yet.
YKMYNAME
Until we get to that point. So gotta, I got a 9-5. I got my son, no, I have a fiance. Like, I got real life shit that goes on. I just know how to handle my business at home and handle my business on the internet, which is kind of conflicting sometimes, you know, but for me, I really give a shit like that. Like, I just, I make it work.
JAMEKA
Yeah, does your son listen to your music?
YKMYNAME
No, not yet.
JAMEKA
Oh, okay, he's still pretty young.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, he's my son's six, so, like, or he, actually, he'll turn seven next month, but just, like, I don't know, like, he, he be in the car, you know, he'll hear, like, hear what we listen to. So, like, we listen to, like, a bunch of different like, my girl only listen to fucking whatever's fucking popping at the time.
But like, when he gets in the car with me, you know, like, I try not to, I go try to find clean versions, and I can't put them on, like, Gucci mixtapes, because, of course, there's no clean versions. But like, I played them Flockaveli the other day, like I be trying to put them on all this shit I grew up on, but he don't want to hear that shit. He want to hear fucking weird ass kids song, but, you know, you got to respect it.
But, nah, he'll come in the room sometimes, and he'll kind of listen to the beats and stuff, and he'll be like, yeah, I like that. Or he'll dance around, which is cool, but like, I don’t know, I feel like the themes and some of the some of the things I say in there, I don't really want him to like, it’s cool. Because, like, I don’t know. Like, when I grew up, once I started listening to or getting into the music. It was just like, I wanted to live that life, you know what I mean? So, you like, I didn't grow up in the best area, so all that shit was, like, pretty easily accessible. So like, once I started getting in it, I was in it. And then, you know, I really don't, like, I don't want that for him, but once he's older, yeah. He’s gonna have to listen to all these classics, on repeat. Nah, he likes the art aspect. Like I do the cover arts. Because I'll set up, and I'll set him up to color and shit. And then that's when I sit down to do the cover, then he's doing something, looking at mine, getting inspiration and shit like that.
JAMEKA
That's what I was wondering. You do your cover art too?
YKMYNAME
Yeah, everything. I'm so hands on. I hate for anybody that I have to do anything I can do, like, when it comes to mixing the record, like, but I have people I could send the records to, and probably get a way better mix, yeah. But, no, hey, if I can do it and it sounds good to me, like, if it sounds good to me, then we straight.
JAMEKA
Right.
YKMYNAME
But, you know, yeah, I do. I'm so hands on. Like, honestly, I got friends that mix records so crazy. Like Blvff, Blvff is an insane engineer, but, nah, I can't, I'm too hands on. I'm too picky.
JAMEKA
So like, would you when you do those cover arts for your projects? Do you do them before, after the music is done?
YKMYNAME
Um, uh, trying to think like, Picasso we were probably also we were either halfway done or we were right on the verge. So once I did the Picasso, I think the same day did the Picasso, I was like, oh, let me try, because we said we we talk a lot, so we are constantly bouncing ideas on we had already came up with Dusty Da Vinci before Picasso was even done.
JAMEKA
Ohhh, okay.
YKMYNAME
So I went ahead and made the cover for it. Well, once I made the cover for Da Vinci, we already knew what we needed it to sound like, to match the cover. So I think we, when I started making the covers, kind of pre-making the music, it was like, almost, kind of like a visual, like, when you put this album on and you see the cover art, like the music has to almost encapsulate the cover art, if you will.
JAMEKA
Yeah, yeah!
YKMYNAME
And how it all comes together… I don't even know. God.
JAMEKA
Yeah, nah for real… divine intervention, but I would say that that's the same. I feel that, especially with Dusty Da Vinci, because the cover art is in black and white, the other ones are colored, and it really do give off this like, I know it's all underground because you're underground artists, but the Dusty Da Vinci really does get out give off like an actual dusty feel to it.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, and what’s crazy is when we were working on Van Gogh, STIX, was like, and it's kind of crazy, how you go Panhandling to done Panhandling, but now you kind of Dusty. And then in the Vosswater is kind of like, no, it's the three stages of, like, being broke. And then, you know, and I was like, damn, like I said, like, all this is just, it's not even, I feel like I want to say this and sound like a hater, but I feel like, when you know like Kendrick do some shit, I think Kendrick has earned people to do what they do for him. You know what I mean?
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
Because I don't think Kendrick does a lot of shit intentional like that. I think his fans are crazy enough to make it believably intentional, then you're like, oh, shit. Oh, he dropped this on this day at this time with this person, they connect all these dots, and I would put so much money down. He don't look at it like that. I mean, like, just do the shit. And people do it for him, right?
JAMEKA
Because even in one of his songs, he says, you know, I'm a scribe, you know, I'm a, I'm a, what? He's like a vessel. He's like, He literally says that, you know, he's just doing what he's been led to do.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, exactly that. And I think that's kind of where we are, like, we just kind of do this shit. And once it's done like, it's done. So STIX's favorite number is 11. It was like his number when he was in school and played sports, and he was always 11. So every album will always and only have this… any me and STIX album, it will only ever have 11 songs.
JAMEKA
That’s really cool.
YKMYNAME
And that gives us, like, a good start and stop point too, you know what I mean. So, like, we make 13, 14, records, and we know we're going to have to cut three. There's no sense of making three or four more records. It's just like, okay, let's look at what we got. Let's cut what we don't want, and then let's fucking do it. You know? Like, just work so quick together, because I think we'd be on the same wavelength. But yeah, when we did Dusty, I said, bro, I want to, want to make a fucking trap Griselda album. And that's what.
JAMEKA
Yeah, no, fasho.
YKMYNAME
Because, yeah, no, for sure, part is I don't listen to that kind of music, I never really listened to that kind of music.
JAMEKA
Like traditional boom bap?
YKMYNAME
But like, The Alchemist, yeah, you know, like all that shit. Like, I don't listen to that. And like, everybody thought that was crazy when they heard my beats when I was first coming around the scene and shit. But I was like, I'm like, bro, I listen to fucking Lex Luger.
JAMEKA
Mmm, shout out Lex Luger.
YKMYNAME
I fucking I listen to Gucci, Wayne and Future.
JAMEKA
Real southern, real southern boy.
YKMYNAME
Yes, Lex is the goat.
JAMEKA
He is.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, I don't have… all my favorite beats, the Lex Luger sound is on it.
JAMEKA
Yeah, yeah.
YKMYNAME
So, I mean, I grew up on fucking Future. I mean, like, Zaytoven and shit.
JAMEKA
Yeah, yeah.
YKMYNAME
This whole, like, really rap and shit, like, this whole, like, Alchemist, underground, drumless wave, like, this whole shit that's going on in underground.
I wasn't even privy to it. I didn't even know about it. Just making that over sample shit was cool. And then I find out though all my friends and shit, like, yo, like, nah, this is a whole genre shit. I’m like oh, damn. But then I listened to it, and I'm like, alright, don't really hit like Future hit so sorry, I can't, you know, like, if Future and The Alchemist get together, I'll probably run that album a billion times.
But that's kind of what we decided to do, was make a sound as if, as STIX tells me that my cadence is very similar to Wayne. But when he goes into the album, he thinks of it as if Alchemist and Wayne were working together, what kind of sound would that be? And yeah, so we kind of really play off that dynamic a lot. And yeah, I mean, like I said, I think STIX is the mastermind behind all of this. I just, I'm a fellow creative that knows how to do a couple things, and we just, we, I think we're a great pair, but I say that, but he's got so many artists that he can do that with. So when it comes down to who's the mastermind, it's all him, like he's just, I'm so shocked that he's not out of here already.
JAMEKA
Mhm, I heard that.
YKMYNAME
Like he should be out of here.
JAMEKA
I hear that for sure, because I do see, I do see his name pop up a lot in production credits. I'll be surfing and digging and stuff for music all the time. And then I saw you just do all these projects with him. And then I followed him. And then off your projects, I learned, oh, you introduced me to, like, Dom Mooney.
YKMYNAME
Oh my gosh, that’s dope.
JAMEKA
Yeah. And then, like you were saying, I didn't know you all were a collective like that. I thought you all just, you know, sometimes people just share shit.
YKMYNAME
A community, being in the same.
JAMEKA
Yeah! But off of, “Snowstorm Coupe,” I followed them right?
YKMYNAME
Yup.
JAMEKA
And then I'm just like, damn, they got all these projects that dropped at the end of last year and this year too, that I still have to catch up on and I'm just like, that shit crazy. Y'all are all unique too, right? Because collectives can sometimes like, too similar sometimes.
YKMYNAME
That, yeah. Me, I think I'm very good at, like, endings, you know, I mean, like, uh, like, I could do it. Like, if somebody send me a trap beat, I could rap on that bitch, and then I can do a drumless, I could do pop, I could do whatever.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And Dru Kelly is that way too. Like Dru is, Dru could do whatever the fuck he wants, type shit. So like him, and then you got Reed Starks, is another dude.
JAMEKA
Okay, yeah!
YKMYNAME
Mike Quill, Nik Moody, Blvff, Dallas Kaye, Kiran the Nomad. JAMEKA Oh, yeah I know of them!
YKMYNAME
Who else, there's so many. There's so many, like, just so many people.
JAMEKA
Is everybody based in Texas?
YKMYNAME
Oh, so I'm the only one in Texas. Um, Blvff and Nik live in New York. Dru and Kiran are in St. Louis. Mike Quill actually lives in Dubai, but he's from the UK.
JAMEKA
Woah.
YKMYNAME
STIX is out of Minnesota. Dom is in Minnesota with STIX, but Dom is actually from Denton. So Dom's from, like, maybe 20 minutes from where I am.
JAMEKA
Oh Okay.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, so I met Dom through STIX because the first beat I ever wanted to hop on by STIX, Dom had already had a song on. And STIX hit me one day and asked for the acapella, and I sent him the acapella [“Randy,”] and he ended up putting it on Dom's album, which went viral. Dom's album ended up going viral.
JAMEKA
The one from last year?
YKMYNAME
Uh yeah, We'll Be Home Soon.
JAMEKA
Yeah, yeah.
YKMYNAME
Anyways, I think Reed lives in Illinois or some shit, I don't know.
Everybody's different. We all come from different walks of life we all love, different kinds of music. They used to and we're all in a text chat, so we're literally, all. We text all day.
JAMEKA
That was like, ask, how do you stay connected?
YKMYNAME
ALL DAY. And we have a group chat with 13 of us. And when I tell you that chat goes from 6:30 in the morning till three o'clock in the morning every day. It's kind of, there's never a break in there. Like, and we just, we really don't even be in there talking about music. We just there as friends. Like, we have gained a friendship. We can talk about real life shit, what's going on at home and shit, like venting about whatever, like just all became a really good, connected group of friends, and music just came out of it. The whole reason the group was created in the first place was to not be about music.
Blvff wanted to create a group of artists that just talk about real life shit without having to be about some music shit. And then, of course, you put the 13 artists in a group chat together… music is gonna happen. So it's all just, it's just a snowball effect. And then I said, over the year and a half we've been created, it's just been go, go, go, go, go, drop, drop, drop. I think we're probably sitting on at least 70 unreleased songs.
JAMEKA
That’s crazy.
YKMYNAME
It's non stop.
JAMEKA
When y'all created this, when they put y'all in this group chat. Did y'all know of each other before then? Or did you learn about each other through that?
YKMYNAME
I knew, already Dru and I had already kind of had, like a working relationship, like had sent him a couple songs to be on. We would, you know, talk here, there, comment on each other's posts and shit. Me, like I said, same thing with STIX, they said, I was the closest with STIX before any chat was created me and STIX were already FaceTime being, you know, talking about music and shit.
JAMEKA
I gotcha.
YKMYNAME
So we're already kind of close. And then Blvff used to run a, he would do a live review stream, and we'll go in there and be like, yeah, I just recorded this over this STIX beat. I know they all know STIX is, drop my name in there with this produced by STIX on there, you know, like trying to get into this in-crowd. Because that's what it felt like, like it felt like I was the new kid at the school who's trying to get in with this clique, and I didn't really know how. So let me try to kind of, because they all, like, they all knew each other from Twitter, like they all kind of already had worked with each other, or knew of each other, seeing each other. I was kind of the new guy on the block and then, literally, Blvff was running these live streams, and I just wanted to be like, I just thought he was cool from the live streaming, he had a good personality.
So, like, I'd hit him up to work a couple times. He never opened the DM. Anytime he’d go on the livestream, I would tell my girl, hey I gotta be in this quick stream.
I know I’m not old, but I'm older, so like, I don't know how to fuck, to work discord and all this extra shit. Gotta know how to navigate and collab with people. I just know email. So like, email, and I'm trying to learn social media shoot these fucking videos that I've never done. I'm like, okay, cool. I got to do all this shit, whatever.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And then they've been awesome, teaching me how to do all that shit. But Blvff tweeted one day. He was like, hey, I want to start a group, like a group chat for artists, and not talk about music. I put a comment on it, saying, I got, I got hella jokes. And he threw me in the chat. And I was in this chat, and I was like, oh shit. And then we actually have, uh, Kembe, Kembe X, I don't know.
JAMEKA
Yeah!
YKMYNAME
X is actually in our chat too.
JAMEKA
Oh, wow, yeah, Kembe is kind of a big deal.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, so he gives us a lot of advice, like, he's still cool. Like, I've talked it up with him a couple times outside of the chat too, like, he’s a real cool guy, and he puts us on a lot of game. On kind of how to move and, like, obviously, I don't think he's in a position to, like, put anybody on, but he does everything he can to kind of steer us in the right direction. He'd be around people that he knows what to look for, and he just kind of, you know, he gives a lot of game too. But the whole chat started on some this is a break from music.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And then it was a day. I think we were in the chat all day, because chat started on Twitter, we were on Twitter all day, just, I mean talking. If I go to sleep, like say, I put my phone down right now and walk away from my phone for like, three or four hours, I come back to my phone, I will easily have missed 500 texts. That's just what we jumping in here, clowning all day, crack we've done when the Kendrick and Drake shit happened, we started dissing each other in the chat, but we only kept it in the chat.
Not on, not on the timeline, not for people to see, just some shit between rappers like I you think you better, let's go. But it's all love, like nobody ever feels a way. It's never like him, I wanted to get on that song that y'all made. It's just everybody praises each and it helps with the algorithm too. Like, if somebody posts a video, they throw it in the chat, and then we get on Twitter and start reposting, you know, liking shit.
So you got 15 people already liking and retweeting everything.
JAMEKA
That’s facts.
YKMYNAME
That's already a good number for the people that ain't in the chat. Then, you know, people kind of see it and it's like, oh, I want what I can't have. And so, you know, we've had people text us about applications, and we're like…
JAMEKA
Uhhh, what??
YKMYNAME
We have people say, Hey, can I put my application in for, like, I had this dude that collaborated, he got a feature from me, and then try to use that as a way to try to get in the chat. And we're like, bro, we’re like friends.
JAMEKA
That’s so weird.
YKMYNAME
We don't really know these people like that, you know. We crack a lot, and we kind of like, you know, we have our own little insiders about this shit we see on Twitter, and some of the people we see on Twitter like.
JAMEKA
Yeah, of course.
YKMYNAME
We’re just talking. It's like a big ass barber shop all day, really. Like, no bullshit. Its barbershop talk all motherfucking day. So it's cool. It is, and I was on the verge of, like, right before the chat started, I was kind of, you know, talking with my girl a lot, and I'm like, man, I'm getting older. Really don't understand how this fucking internet shit works. Like, this shit is just starting to get kind of stressful.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And I was like, man, I think I'm gonna just, like, fuck around with it when I fuck around with it. But as far as, like dropping songs and like trying to market myself, like, cool on all that, like I'm done. And chat kind of re-sparked my love for it because I've been doing this shit since I was like 14.
JAMEKA
Oh wow.
YKMYNAME
So you know, it's been a long time of this coming, and I think everybody's right there. You know what I mean? I think everybody's kind of at a point where it's only going to take one to go.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
But we're not making viral music. That's kind of the only other thing.
JAMEKA
Well, that's the good thing about it.
YKMYNAME
Exactly. Not chasing nothing. We just making art at this point. We all just kind of content with if we make dope ass music and grow up have a cool ass group of artist friends, you know, if nothing ever happens, this happened type shit, you know what I mean. And we’re all humble dudes too. That's the thing is, like everybody in that chat super fucking cool, and everybody's cool with everybody. You know, obviously we're all grown ass men, so there's time shit gets a little crazy in there, but do nothing but support each other at the end of the day. We could be mad as hell, but be on Twitter fucking shit because, no, that's just what we do.
JAMEKA
Well, that's real community.
YKMYNAME
Yep, exactly. Blvff is the mastermind behind that whole shit. Blvff is the one that gets the albums ready. He's the one that makes the songs like Blvff is the mastermind of that, we just get to record. You know, we got it easy, but I mean, I wouldn't say it's too much work that goes into it, just because we all have a level of understanding of what it takes to do whatever. So it all ends up working out at the end anyway.
JAMEKA
Sounds like a really cool, like, community to just kind of stumble upon.
YKMYNAME
Yeah.
JAMEKA
Especially at a time like, were you saying you were, like, kind of done with promoting yourself and just letting it be.
YKMYNAME
Yup, it put a battery, and I think it put a battery in everybody's back, you know.
JAMEKA
That’s real.
YKMYNAME
You get a group chat full of killers, and you start working on sumn. You write a bar, and you go, I know that's weak. Like, I know that's weak to go back then, like, you know, like, and it's a lot of good. There's been songs somebody's made, or they maybe can sing on some shit. Let me try to get on my singer shit. And I'm sending shit to the chat, see what they think. And know they'll be like, either, hey, I fuck with this, or nah, dog, this ain't it.
And it's cool, because instead of doing that shit at your crib and then getting around your friends who are going to love whatever you do regardless. It's like, a good filter, like, it's like, oh, y'all ain't fucking with that. Okay, cool. Y'all not fucking with that. Maybe I should go back and not do that shit no more.
JAMEKA
Mmm, yeah.
YKMYNAME
So it's dope. Like we're all a good team, collective, and has been dope. I can't even I wouldn't trade like, even if I quit making music today, I would still be like, cool with all of them, like they are all fucking just real ass cool fucking regular people. We all fucking regular people, and nobody got that fake ass fucking music ego shit and they better than everybody in the world. Like, we just are regular fucking people, you know.
JAMEKA
Yeah, I love that, because it takes, I don't know. There's like, you know, social media kind of hit this place where, like, people just, well it's still there. People just be wanting to show out for no reason, right?
YKMYNAME
Yeah.
JAMEKA
And it's like, I can imagine being in a group, like a collective like that, where nobody's trying to compete with each other like that. Like, if it's competition, it's good competition, sharpening each other. You know what I'm saying? I can imagine that's a fresh breath, like for real.
YKMYNAME
And when you and when you feel like you in a group chat with the best people in that Twitter community.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
When you feel like you are already a part of a group of the best, we're not even competing with the people on Twitter. There's nobody. I couldn't be one person other than, like, bigger artists, you know, that have established fan bases and shit. Like a real big fan of Blacc Sam.
No, I've come across so many artists on Twitter that I think are really artists, and they already have deals and shit like they're out of here. So like, it makes us know that it's possible to blow up the way we're doing this shit, but at the same time, it's like, can't compete with nobody on Twitter. And if we're competing with each other, friendly competition. Okay, cool, then we already know better than the field. I just gotta be better than you. Even if I'm not better than you, I'm still there. Like, yeah, so it's, you know, like, it's cool and, and I've lately, like, what I've been trying to do is reach out to the other communities of I'll be in live streams, or they be playing people's songs. I'll be like, what the fuck is this? But I try to show love, because I remember being an artist trying to get my shit off and, like, put on, like, because we do live stream where it's like, all of us live and we're listening to the music and shit, and no, I try to, like, if I even if I think it is the worst fucking song I've ever heard. I'm never the guy that's like, this shit, trash, hang it up!
JAMEKA
Yeah, yeah.
YKMYNAME
Like, I'm gonna be like, you know, hey bro. Like, here's some things to think about next time you go to do this. Like, some people to go listen to, maybe you can try this. You know, it's all about, like, I said, I’m a regular fucking person. I'm nobody special. I just have a good talent.
JAMEKA
A few good talents!
YKMYNAME
Yeah, a couple. I try to be humble. I feel like when I'm not humble, that's when shit in my life starts going crazy. But I think being able to, like, go to some of these artists that don't have the quality, don't have good sound yet, you know, just turning it and maybe being like, hey, bro, I see what you're trying to do. There's maybe a way you could make it fly.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And I was that way, you know, in high school. I was like the druggie kid. I was just fucking chilling and shit. But I didn't let people fuck with people that you know were the unpopular kids, like, I didn't fuck with shit like that. So now that I'm older and I see that shit, like, I don't – on the internet, I don't really fuck with that shit.
So I'm like, Alright, cool, and all the communities are so open and loving, like, I think Twitter is like, a real cool place to find your network of people, because it don't really matter what the fuck you make. You can make whatever the fuck you want. You will find a fucking network of people somewhere on Twitter. And I don't think you can use Twitter to really blow up anymore. But I mean, hell, I've met so many big artists there, and had conversations with them. I've had the opportunity to talk with Sauce Walka. I have Sauce Walka’s number on my phone.
JAMEKA
Oh mann, he’s one of my faves.
YKMYNAME
Oh my god, oh yeah. He's the – beside Go Yayo, I'm a huge Go Yayo fan, which sucks that they beef.I got to FaceTime Sauce Walka, it was cool. It was like, kind of one of those.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And I sent them everything. He never replied. I don't really expect it to.
JAMEKA
He might one day.
YKMYNAME
One day, right? And I'm not saying I want to sign the TSF. I don't even really want to do that. I'm just like, I fuck with Sauce Walka tough. I've had the pleasure of working with Big Tuck, a Texas legend.
JAMEKA
Yeah!
YKMYNAME
It's just, I've had a really a bunch of dope shit happen and now we’re just making dope music. I could completely care less if we blow up today or tomorrow. Stix is very adamant that we’re all out of here, like, in the next couple months. Stix is just, he's a freak.
I don't know if you know what [untitled] is.
JAMEKA
Yeah! The app?
YKMYNAME
Yeah. So, I have his link and he's got an album on there where he just puts all his favorite beats from the year in there. I'll be sitting there, and out of nowhere, my phone will start fucking going off crazy, and I look and he's adding, like, 13 beats. I'm like, and it's daily, like, he does this shit daily, my bro, you are sick.
JAMEKA
Yeah, that’s amazing, though.
YKMYNAME
He’s incredible and he raps! Anytime he's rapped on the fucking albums, it's the best fucking verse on the album for me. Like, I'm a huge fan of his. I think that's the thing too, it's like, not only are we friends, we're all fans of each other and what each other do. Stix just knows how to take whatever the fuck it is you do and make it perfect.
JAMEKA
He magnifies it for you.
YKMYNAME
And he's by far, such a great like, he's, no we've had vent conversations. We've talked about real life. We've talked about music life. Stix is like one of the greatest friends I have not had the pleasure of shaking hands with yet.
JAMEKA
Oh man, it’s going to be beautiful when y’all do.
YKMYNAME
Oh, yeah, I already told him I'm probably gonna cry. It's just cool, like, we've shared a lot of deep trauma. It's real, like, that's what I'm saying. Like, we're all, like a real – you would have thought we all grew up together. If somebody was to open the chat and read the chat, would literally think we all grew up together and just moved to fucking different states. We’re that close.
JAMEKA
That's how you make it seem. That's why I was just like, are you all in Texas or what?
YKMYNAME
I’m telling you. Sometimes I wish they was I’d pull up on ‘em. Some of the places I’ll go to. I’ll go to Minnesota and New York. I'm supposed to actually be meeting Blvff like in person for the first time in November, fly out to New York and shit and kick it with him and Moody. Moody's another one, super fucking awesome guy by the game, real OG in this shit. Been in the streets doing ciphers in the hood. Like, Moody is a real rap guy. Like, he's the epitome of New York fucking street rap. Like, That's Nik Moody, and he's fucking challenging and shit. He makes me go rewrite bars when I listen to his music. I'll be like, nah, if he's saying shit like that, I gotta go do something else, you know.
But everybody’s got a different style, something to contribute, and I do all the cover arts for the DOOBIES’ aesthetic that we created together.
JAMEKA
Yeah!
YKMYNAME
So they're actually the ones that told me to start drawing and using it for cover art.
JAMEKA
Yeah, because I'm glad you did.
YKMYNAME
‘Cause all my homies out here were telling me to take pictures. Like brother nobody want to see a fucking drawing. Go fucking take pictures of yourself.
JAMEKA
That's boring.
YKMYNAME
I’m like, bruh I’m a bomb ass artist.
JAMEKA
No, your cover art is perfect.
YKMYNAME
I really appreciate hearing that. That means more than you know.
JAMEKA
Do you have merch?
YKMYNAME
Yeah, I actually have a Printify. I think it might be, might be in the link in my bio. If it's not in the link in my bio, I'll DM it to you. But yeah, I got, I haven't updated it with Van Gogh shirts, because I'm still finding a I want to find a certain color to put that on. I don't want to just put it on a fucking probably end up just putting it on a fucking black shirt. But yeah, we slapped the cover art on some t-shirts. We were talking about getting, like, hard copies, like vinyls and shit, like special for people.
JAMEKA
Yeah, I definitely like to see that.
YKMYNAME
I definitely want to do more for Stix just period, because he's fucking awesome. And, you know, once we finish and I feel like we're like, alright, cool like done with the painter shit. I want to be able to get all the albums on vinyl and give them to him as, like, a set, like, be able to design a set, maybe wrap it like a brick, or something, I don't know, something fucking wild. Yeah, like, just do something for him because, like I said, he's just fucking awesome. All these guys are fucking, super fucking awesome people.
JAMEKA
Love that. The last question I have for you, because you really covered a lot of stuff that I had. Yeah, it's been a good conversation so far.
YKMYNAME
I'm a talker. I apologize.
JAMEKA
No, you don't have to apologize. I always, I like that you feel like you can talk, you know.
YKMYNAME
I'm passionate about this shit! And I'm not fucking… don't have money that these famous artists that get to act a certain way have.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And even if I had it, I don't even, I mean, do you know how excited I was to watch a Migos’ interview for the first time? I was hype! And then they got up there and said two words. I'm like, I know y'all know how to fucking talk. You know what? I mean, I'm a fan first. I just hate when people get in front of something and don't say anything. It's like one of my biggest like, come the fuck on, bro.
No one’s really gonna hate you if you didn't really sell drugs dawg. Like, that's not gonna kill your credibility for me. I just want to know your story, you know?
JAMEKA
Yeah, Yeah.
YKMYNAME
And then what happens is, we lose an artist everybody fucking loves, and you don't know shit about them. And it's like, damn you know? Like, that's the shit that'd be frustrating to me.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
Yeah, but sorry. You realize I talk a lot.
JAMEKA
Don’t even apologize.
The last one I have for you is, what do you hope that the listeners, like the people that find your music? What do you hope that they take away from your music or gain from your music? That too.
YKMYNAME
That's a good ass question. That's a really good fucking question. Never been asked that before. You stumped me on that one.
I think I would want the most. I would want the most for somebody is, one to maybe find something that resonates. I think, you know, a lot of us grew up in certain just shit. Like, I think everybody grew up with, I don't judge people where they're from. So, like, I know people that had real nice lives, that had fucked up shit happened to him.
Just hope somebody hears something and goes, damn man, I feel that like when I was growing up. I try to like, I want, like, yeah, there's parts where it's like, the bars are cool, but I'd be trying to give a lot of game in these songs too. Like, just on life shit. Like, there's times I'll say a bar where it might come across as, like, I'm just saying some fly shit. But like, like, I said one line. I said something like, I think my music is the perfect oxymoron poems. I think every song I'd say something that's so oxymoron. Like it's so contrasting. So when people, I want people to appreciate it for just art.
I don't think I'm the greatest rapper to ever do it. I, you know, I'm a guest in the culture. I just want people to know that, like, I really love this shit, like, I want when people hear this shit be like, oh, he's not just doing this shit, no, dude, like he's not just doing he's not just being a rapper because he wanted to be a rapper, yeah, like, I really love this shit. Like I fought for this shit. I've been fucked over, scammed. I've scammed. You know, so much shit that comes with this lifestyle that especially when I was younger, now that I'm older, it's just kind of like putting out the music is more of a reflection of like, how to get there, want to go and if not, if there's some shit you could fucking put on in the car and fucking get mad or be in the gym and get some stress out, just as long as people leave feeling happy, that's all I would I just would want my music to create some emotion, whatever the emotion is, whether it makes you feel anger, not because the music trash. Like anger in the sense of, like, oh, damn. Like, he really saying some shit, or, you know, some joy, or, you know, sad, like, I mean, I made songs I cried listening to like, just, know, whatever emotion it can generate in you, I want you to feel it. And I want you to just feel it like. I don't want you to feel like, damn, why am I feeling like this about this? Nah, feel that shit like, feel it, live it, it, and then, man, fuck it. Go and go to fucking Best Buy, buy a microphone and go, fuckin’ make some rap.
Like why not? If you want to put some words together, go put some words together. Go get these fucking rage beats and try to be [unknown audio,] and then all them. Go fucking like, try to write some rap, and then learn how to rap, because that's the problem. A lot of people can write a rap. They don't know how to rap. If you sound like you are reading that shit off the phone, chances are I’m not going to be listening to that shit.
You gotta feel that shit. I feel that shit like, go, do the history. Go, you know, I'm not somebody that'll tell you Tupac and Biggie are in my five just because you gotta say that shit to be Hip Hop, you know?
JAMEKA
Right, right.
YKMYNAME
You know, like I'm a Wayne head. I grew up on Wayne. I studied Wayne. I watched his whole career from Tha Carter I on, you know, like, I just that's who I try to know. Like, I hope my music gets people to go find somebody that they really fucking like through the style that I made, right, damn, I like this style. Oh, this guy makes his style too. Man, don't really build something, but I just want people to feel something. I don't know what the feeling is, but just feel that shit.
And they can hit me whenever, my DMs is open. I open my DMs up. I'm not the guy that's gonna read your DM and keep it pushing like, I hope people that hear that shit come talk to me. Because you know, like, I think it's cool if I can make you feel something and then, you know, you come tell me what it made you feel. It'll help me for my next work. Like, oh, damn, this did this? Let me try to do that again, you know, with something else, you know.
JAMEKA
I like that. That's a good answer. Okay, I lied, I have one more.
I think it well, there were a lot of songs that you're, you're very critical of society at the same time, which I appreciate. You know, especially, like “Balenciagas Are Trash” and the other stuff that you're saying in that track, but the one that, like, really grasped, like, emotional attention, was “Mom You Ain't A Pastor”.
YKMYNAME
Ohh yeah.
JAMEKA
There's a lot of things embedded in that one that was like, damn, this is, there's levels to this shit. And I think with some of the things you talked about in that song too, it kind of gave me a little bit more context to where you're coming from as an artist as well.
YKMYNAME
Because it's like, I think “Mona Lisa” is the one for me that really, like Mona Lisa, my mother, was too subtle for me to love a diva.
JAMEKA
Oh yeah, that one too.
YKMYNAME
…when my digi-scale start tripping, it must be a Libra. I dated a Libra, and she was a trip.
So, like, you just Libra is the scale, you know.
JAMEKA
Yeah, yeah, they're literal signs.
YKMYNAME
There’s so much. It's so much. I try to sprinkle so much in there because, like, I played some songs for my mom. Mom, being here, “Mom You Ain't A Pastor,” and my mom laughed like, my mom hit me and was laughing because she was, like, I've said that to her before. You know what I mean. Like my mom, you got to stop preachin’ you are not a pastor.
But when you say it, you ain't a fucking pastor! I was scared my mom was gonna hear that shit. But my mom thought that shit was funny. You know, because we've had that convo. So it's, it's a lot of real life in that. Well, the whole shit is real. I can't be the guy that gets on there and, like, I pull it off in the Lambo, you know, I can't do that. I don't have a Lamborghini so, like, you gotta know how to make certain shit that's not fly– fly, and you gotta it's the art to it. Everything in this shit is art to me. So I like, there's so much real shit in there. On one of these new songs I have coming out, because I don't know, I know it's kind of controversial, and there's like, it's kind of big, but it happened kind of down the street from where I'm at. But the Carmelo situation, stabbing that happened at the school, or whatever.
JAMEKA
Yeahyeahyeah.
YKMYNAME
On this, on this new song that I got on the next tape with STIX I have this bar where I say, if you go and run your mouth, just make sure the story tracks shoutout Karmelo. And I dropped the beat right there, and I played it for my homeboys and they were like, “oh, that's how you feel? That's what you coming with.” And I'm like, yeah, bro, it's time. I’m white.
JAMEKA
Yeah.
YKMYNAME
I’m a real white man, you know. But never, I didn't have white friends till I was, like, in my teenage years, you know? I didn't really like I just, I grew up in an area that I was the minority. But so, like, I didn't really kick it with white people like that. So, once I got around some white people and their families, and I was like, oh, okay, yeah.
JAMEKA
It’s different.
YKMYNAME
It was like, culture shock, almost for me. And I was like, the like, What the fuck? And then, so now I'm starting to get like, I was talking to even STIX. I was telling STIX I'm like, bro, like, about to just start calling white people out on bullshit just randomly, like, you know, sprinkled in. I don't want to be – I’m not, I'm not a messenger. I'm not fucking somebody that's super fucking, like…I'm not, I'm spiritual, but my spirituality is my spirituality, I'm the type that wants to, like, want to call people out on bullshit. Like, I think if you want bullshit, I should be able to call you out on it, like, that's what we– you know. I'm not, like, Eminem, I don't listen to Eminem. I've never been an Eminem guy, um, never. It just he don't fucking do it for me. But I want to be able to create a little bit of conversation, not necessarily, like, viral. Like, Oh, damn! He said this about white people and he's white.
JAMEKA
Yeah…
YKMYNAME
Like, yeah, let's blow him up. Nah. I don’t want to do all that, like, I'm not political I'm not there's none of that shit. Like, I don't have a political party. I give a fuck less about that shit.
JAMEKA
Right.
YKMYNAME
I just… there's some bullshit that be going on, and somebody gotta say something.
JAMEKA
Yeah, yeah.
YKMYNAME
So I'll be the person I don't give a fuck and if it blows up cool, then they get the message. That's the biggest part of it all, is just getting your message out there. For real.
JAMEKA
And it's funny because, as when I took notes on your projects and stuff, the one thing that I said was just all like, I like his delivery in the way that he's unbothered with saying things that need to be said. Literally.
YKMYNAME
I really appreciate that.
JAMEKA
I mean, that's, yeah, I like that type of stuff because I feel like you don't have to be a politician like you say you don't have to do it to go viral. But like to just speak truth and seek truth through your art. What else are you doing art for?
YKMYNAME
Exactly. You doing that shit to make some cool little bops with your friends, put it in the car, whatever you saying something, that's my thing. If you saying something, you're gonna get me. That’s why I hate that the two artists that actually have the platform to fucking say something, because it's like, we're both so great for saying something.
I know Drake is more of a poppy sound. But when he be talking to people, he be talking to people. And I've learned that from just because, I mean, like, I said, I'm not even the biggest Kendrick fan. I think he makes some of the greatest music I've ever heard. I'm not slapping that shit when I'm running down the highway. But, like, he says something, you know what I mean? I mean, he says something, you got to sit there and go, oh shit. I feel that. You gotta do this shit to say something.
And it goes for all art, whether you're painting, or because I'm not even big enough paintings like, I know, we did this whole painter series and named it after all these artists. But I don't understand paint art like that either, because a lot of that shit looks like they took a paint can and fucking slapped that shit on the thing, and people sell it for $4,000. I don't get it. But somebody's trying to convey some sort of message that I just don't get. But whether you're doing videos, pictures, making music, any genre… art, like physical art, digital art, whatever you do, even if it's your job that you go to work at, like, what are you doing to not be for the every dayer. Because we got so many every dayers. What are you doing to show that you're an actual person? You know what I mean? You gotta, you gotta stand out.
Can't like… I've been sagging since I was 13. You know how many people told me before my pants up? Everybody. Have I done it yet? No. I don’t give a fuck about that shit. Can't tell me how to wear my shit. You just have to find who– I think that's the problem nowadays is people don't know who they are, and once you find out who you are, and I think your life will become what you want it to be, while you trying to impress people, be somebody you not just to get somewhere like that shit. Ain't doing nothing for nobody like you gotta be you do? You gotta stand on your own beliefs, your own values, and you can't be led astray based off some shit somebody might say. It could be somebody you’ve fucked with since day one. They might have a different opinion. Don't switch yours. That's what makes you, you. And I think art is the best way to convey that. And I think everybody's an artist in their own way. I think anybody that does any sort of trade or anything like you're an artist all the way. And you just gotta make your argument, whether whatever it be.
JAMEKA
I heard that.
YKMYNAME
You know.
JAMEKA
Heard that fasho.
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