Yelawolf

Yelawolf (2015)

Yelawolf (* the thirtieth December 1979 in Gadsden , Alabama as Michael Wayne Atha ) is an American rapper . He was signed to Eminem's Shady Records label from early 2011 to March 2019 .

Life

Yelawolf (2008)

Yelawolf is of European descent. Some of his ancestors were Cherokee Indians. In his childhood he often moved and therefore had to change schools frequently. Cities he lived in during his childhood and adolescence include Baton Rouge , Antioch, Tennessee, Gainesville, and Atlanta . He moved across the United States and was influenced by different cultures. On College in Gadsden he finally regained his university and his stepfather gave him a car with which he according to Berkeley moved to a career as a professional skateboarder to start. After several injuries, he decided to get into the music business.

Yelawolf has a lot of tattoos with different motifs. For example, a catfish adorns his left arm, to which he owes his nickname "Catfish Billy". He also has portraits of Michael Landon and John Wayne on his right arm, these were his mother's favorite actors and he is named after them. On his neck is also a RED tattoo with a revolver , which means "redneck".

He has been married to Canadian singer Fefe Dobson since September 2019 .

Career

Yelawolf at a performance (2012)

After Yelawolf released his first solo album Creek Water in 2005, he signed a contract with Columbia Records in 2007 , but separated from the label in the same year. This was followed by an EP and several mix tapes on underground labels before he was able to draw attention to himself in 2009/2010 with guest appearances on albums by rappers Bizarre , Juelz Santana , Big Boi and Paul Wall .

The EP Trunk Muzik 0-60 , which was released on November 22, 2010, was his first release in collaboration with the major label Interscope Records . In early 2011, the rapper Eminem signed him to his label Shady Records , on which his second solo album Radioactive was released on November 21 of the same year . With the album, he reached the US charts for the first time and reached number 27.

On April 21, 2015, Yelawolf's third solo album Love Story was also released via Shady Records. The album, which combines the music genres rap and country , was his biggest commercial success to date. It reached number 3 on the US charts and was awarded a gold record for more than 500,000 sales in the United States . The album also entered the German charts at number 51.

Yelawolf's fourth solo album Trial by Fire was released on October 27, 2017. It could not build on the commercial success of its predecessor and only ranked 42nd in the US charts.

On March 29, 2019, Yelawolf's fifth solo album Trunk Muzik 3 was released , which is his last release on Shady Records. In the same year, the sixth studio album Ghetto Cowboy was released on November 1st .

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
2005	Creek Water	-	-	-	-	-	First published: June 23, 2005
2011	Radioactive	-	-	CH91 (1 week) CH	-	US27 (16 weeks) US	First published: November 21, 2011
2015	Love story	DE51 (2 weeks) DE	AT39 (1 week) AT	CH13 (3 weeks) CH	UK25 (2 weeks) UK	US3 gold (12 weeks)US	First published: April 21, 2015 Sales: + 500,000
2017	Trial by Fire	-	-	CH76 (1 week) CH	-	US42 (1 week) US	First published: October 27, 2017
2019	Trunk Muzik 3	-	-	CH60 (1 week) CH	-	US28 (1 week) US	First published: March 29, 2019
2019	Ghetto cowboy	-	-	-	-	US76 (1 week) US	First published: November 1st, 2019

EPs

2008: Arena Rap
2010: Trunk Muzik 0-60
2017: Catfish Billy x Cub Cook Up Boss (as Catfish Billy, with Cook Up Boss)

Collaborations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
2012	The Slumdon Bridge	-	-	-	-	-	First published: February 14, 2012 with Ed Sheeran
2012	Psycho White	-	-	-	-	US50 (1 week) US	First published: November 13, 2012 with Travis Barker

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
2014	Shady XV	DE8 (5 weeks) DE	AT13 (3 weeks) AT	CH7 (5 weeks) CH	UK5 (16 weeks) UK	US3 gold (13 weeks)US	First release: November 24th, 2014 Sampler of the Shady Records label

Mix tapes

2007: Ball of Flames: The Ballad of Slick Rick E. Bobby
2008: Stereo
2010: Trunk Muzik
2012: Heart of Dixie
2013: Trunk Muzik Returns
2013: Black Fall
2016: Hotel

Singles

own singles

2010: Pop the Trunk
2010: I Just Wanna Party ( feat.Gucci Mane )
2011: Daddy's Lambo (US:gold)
2011: Hard White (Up in the Club) ( feat.Lil Jon )
2011: Let's Roll (feat. Kid Rock ) (US:gold)
2014: Box Chevy V
2014: Honey Brown
2014: Till It's Gone (US:platinum)
2015: Whiskey in a Bottle
2015: American You
2015: Best Friend (feat. Eminem ) (US:platinum)
2016: Daylight
2016: Shadows (feat.Joshua Hedley)
2017: Row Your Boat
2017: Punk (feat. Travis Barker and Juicy J )
2017: Get Mine (feat.Kid Rock)
2019: TM3
2019: Catfish Billy 2
2019: Unnatural Born Killer
2019: Opie Taylor

Singles as guest musicians

2009: I Run with Slim Thug
2009: Mixin 'Up the Medicine with Juelz Santana
2010: You Ain't No DJ with Big Boi
2011: Worldwide Choppers with Tech N9ne , Ceza , JL B.Hood, U $ O, Twista , Busta Rhymes , D-Loc and Twisted Insane (US:platinum)
2011: Let's Go with Travis Barker , Lil Jon, Busta Rhymes and Twista
2012: 1 Train with A $ AP Rocky , Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada $$ , Danny Brown , Action Bronson & Big KRIT
2016: Out of Control with Travis Barker

statistics

Chart evaluation

	DE	AT	CH	UK	US
Number one albums	DE-DE	AT-AT	CH-CH	UK-UK	US-US
Top 10 albums	DE1DE	AT-AT	CH1CH	UK1UK	US2US
Albums in the charts	DE2DE	AT2AT	CH4thCH	UK2UK	US5US

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United States (RIAA)	4 × gold4th	3 × platinum3	5,000,000	riaa.com
All in all	4 × gold4th	3 × platinum3

Individual evidence

↑ since 2011: Shady Records
^ Shawn Grant: Yelawolf announces the end of his deal with Shady Records. In: The Source. The Northstar Group, August 16, 2018, accessed December 18, 2019 .
↑ Interview on exclaim.ca
↑ 2007: Columbia Records ( Memento of February 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Trunk Muzik 0-60
↑ Radioactive
↑ Love Story - April 21, 2015
↑ Last Yelawolf album on Shady Records
↑ ^a ^b ^c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

Web links

Commons : Yelawolf - collection of images, videos and audio files

Official website
Literature by and about Yelawolf in the catalog of the German National Library
Yelawolf in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Label Slumerican

personal data
SURNAME	Yelawolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Atha, Michael Wayne (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	US-American rapper
DATE OF BIRTH	December 30, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gadsden , Alabama , USA

[1] since 2011: Shady Records

[2] Shawn Grant: Yelawolf announces the end of his deal with Shady Records. In: The Source. The Northstar Group, August 16, 2018, accessed December 18, 2019 .

[3] Interview on exclaim.ca

[4] 2007: Columbia Records ( Memento of February 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

[5] Trunk Muzik 0-60

[6] Radioactive

[7] Love Story - April 21, 2015

[8] Last Yelawolf album on Shady Records

[charts-9] Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US


Studio albums	Creek Water • Radioactive • Love Story • Trial by Fire • Trunk Muzik 3 • Ghetto Cowboy
Mix tapes	Trunk Muzik • Trunk Muzik Returns
Extended plays	Arena Rap • Trunk Muzik 0-60 • The Slumdon Bridge • Psycho White
Compilation albums	Shady XV