Young E Class is a rapper and philanthropist from the DMV. He spoke with rolling out about what inspired him to start rapping, how his past helped him build a promising future, and the importance of being yourself in the music industry.
How would you describe yourself?
I’m original, like back when being a real individual meant something. I still represent that era in time where your word and your background meant something, and you can’t just wake up one day and be who you want to be.
How did you get into music?
When I was young my older brother used to rap, so looking at him I wanted to do [the] stuff he did. I had a brother [who] played basketball, but I couldn’t do that. I always played with rapping for years and I used to recite Tupac lyrics. It got to the point where I was 9 or 10 and I started putting my own words to it. I went to a studio when I was 11 and I was rapping. They were impressed with me, but they said I was too young to be rapping like a gangster. When I was 11, I was on house arrest, so I was rapping about my life and my surroundings but they wanted me to be like Bow Wow and Lil Romeo, and I couldn’t do that.
What is your process for making a song?
One process is that I feed off people. I like watching interviews and documentaries, and I’m a YouTube person. I might see a story on YouTube or a documentary, and it might just give me so much to the point I start writing. If I’m in a studio I let the beat take me because I rap from an emotional pool no matter what I’m talking about. I’m telling you about how I feel going through the process. So if I’m rapping about money, jewelry, females, the streets, or jail, I’m rapping from the point of how I felt when I was there, when I had it, how I feel letting it go, and things of that nature. It’s just an energy thing, and I let the room control it.
What does success look like for you?
Being able to put my team on and for everybody to start getting paid for what they do, down to the smallest aspect. That’s what it means to be a part of a team. When people get to start eating and then they might get business on the other end outside of me, that’s what success looks like. Anything I get and gain, it’s a plus and a win, but when somebody else is able to gain from the work we put in, that’s what success is.
